Cyberspace Protocol

A 256-bit coordinate system enabling distance traversal and trustless location-based encryption through proof-of-work.

Protocol Versions

Cyberspace v2 (current)

• Spec: (https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace/blob/master/CYBERSPACE_V2.md)[CYBERSPACE_V2.md]
• Design rationale (non-normative): RATIONALE.md (https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace/blob/master/RATIONALE.md)[RATIONALE.md]
• Reference implementation: (https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace-cli)[https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace-cli]

Cyberspace v1 (DEPRECATED)

Cyberspace v1 drafts are deprecated and archived. They are not a valid basis for new implementations.

• Archived snapshot: archive/v1/readme.md

What Is Cyberspace?

Cyberspace is a thermodynamic spatial protocol that imposes locality on a digital system. The coordinate system maps to reality providing a substrate for single-presence AI embodiment and location-based access controls.

Unlike proof-of-location systems that rely on trusted witnesses, hardware attestation, or centralized infrastructure, Cyberspace derives spatial presence from pure computational work via Cantor pairing tree traversal.

Key properties:

• Space as a mathematical fabric, movement as computation: computing Cantor numbers that represent the mathematical structure between coordinates is the fundamental movement operation.
• Schnorr keypairs prove navigation through space by publishing signed movement events (Nostr events) containing computation proofs.
• Public key = spawn coordinate: your identity is where you begin in cyberspace.
• Verifiable traversal: hash chains of movement events prove where you’ve been in the coordinate system and force a single keypair to commit to a single location.
• Location-based encryption: keys derive from stable spatial Cantor region numbers, not trust.

What Can You Build?

Examples (non-normative):

• Location-gated content: "chalk on the sidewalk" secrets discoverable only by entities who compute a region preimage.
• AI embodiment constraints: constrain an agent to one verifiable location at a time (per keypair).
• Ephemeral regional communication: messages that are local in scope and time.

What Cyberspace Does NOT Provide

Non-normative limitations:

• Physical location proof: cryptographic presence is not proof that a body is at a GPS coordinate.
• Privacy by default: movement events are public unless you layer privacy mechanisms.
• Sybil resistance: one person can control multiple keypairs. However, nostr-based web-of-trust mechanisms can make a keypair's reputation a factor.
• Traversal necessity for decryption: region preimages can be computed directly without maintaining a movement chain; traversal is required for verifiable movement history, not for decryption.

See CYBERSPACE_V2.md (Threat model section) and RATIONALE.md.

Documentation

• CYBERSPACE_V2.md — protocol specification (normative).
• decks/ — protocol extensions - Design Extension and Compatibility Kits (DECKs).
• RATIONALE.md — design decisions, limitations, and philosophical foundation (non-normative).
• https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace-cli — reference implementation and CLI docs.

Protocol Integration (Nostr)

Cyberspace uses Nostr as its transmission layer. The state of cyberspace is the sum of cyberspace-related nostr events. Being based on a decentralized permissionless system, knowledge of global state is not possible (just as in reality). Cyberspace events conform to NIP-01.

• Action events (spawn and movement) are kind: 3333
• Location-encrypted content events are kind: 33334
• DECKs define other event kinds and structures.

This means Cyberspace does not require new network infrastructure; it composes on top of existing relays.

Getting Started (reference implementation)

The reference CLI is still evolving; follow its repo for installation and usage:

• https://github.com/arkin0x/cyberspace-cli

A minimal local-only flow (example):

cyberspace spawn
cyberspace whereami
cyberspace move --by 100,0,0
cyberspace history
cyberspace chain status

Other useful utilities in the reference CLI:

cyberspace sector
cyberspace gps 37.7749,-122.4194
cyberspace cantor --from-xyz 0,0,0 --to-xyz 3,2,1

Note: additional commands sometimes discussed in design notes (e.g., scanning for encrypted content, publishing helpers, encrypt/decrypt helpers) are not part of this spec and may or may not exist in a given implementation.

Status

The v2 spec is intended to be implementable. Implementations are in progress.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome: protocol critique, alternative implementations, test vectors, DECKs, and clarity improvements.

License

See LICENSE (CC BY-SA 4.0).