What about private repos?

A GitHub sign-up shows only your public repos. Private repos appear only if you install the Caldera GitHub app on the ones you pick, and visitors see them only as padlocked buildings with no names.

Can I use it on mobile?

The Obsidian route is free on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. GitHub sign-up needs no install and works from the browser.

Is it open source? Can I self-host?

Yes, the code is open. You can self-host your page or run your own hub, and everything is signed — your Obsidian identity is a key that lives in your vault, not a password.

How do likes and reputation work?

There are no likes or downvotes. Instead you give 'gravity' to people who helped you; gravity fades over a month so recent help counts most, and asks can carry bounties of help credits.

Caldera — The social network for GitHub and Obsidian

Caldera is a free and open source social network built around GitHub and Obsidian. Your GitHub repos are rendered as a living, animated city — districts are projects, buildings are repos, lit windows are this week's commits — and your Obsidian vault becomes a self-updating public profile with a journal, activity score, streaks and topics. The two doors lead to one network: a GitHub sign-up can later move into an Obsidian vault and keep its page.

Key Features

A city that is alive

Your repos become a city where the sky follows the time of day, new visitors to your sites drop in by parachute, signups light up the city, and private repos appear only as padlocked buildings with no names. The city can pop out into a small window to watch all day.

Live site visitors and AI agents

Add one line to a website and its visitors parachute into your city as they arrive; coding agents (like Claude Code or Codex) show up as drones hovering over the repo they're working in.

A living profile

A page that updates itself with a daily journal, activity score, streaks, and topics. With Obsidian it's built on your device and refreshed daily; with GitHub it rebuilds every 6 hours.

A connected digital garden

Notes planted in a Garden folder become full public pages with a license you choose, marked seedling, budding or evergreen. Linking to a friend's note makes theirs link back.

Asks, offers and gravity

Post what you need help with or can help with, attach bounties of help credits, and give 'gravity' to people who helped you — no likes or downvotes, and gravity fades over a month so recent help counts most.

Friends, groups and daily email

Find people by what they build and write, add friends, see who's new each week, and start a group at caldera.social/g/name to see everyone's cities side by side. Get a daily summary by email.

Private, end-to-end encrypted note sharing

Send any note to a friend end-to-end encrypted; it lands in their vault as a normal note. The hub only stores ciphertext it cannot read.

Open protocol and open code

Everything is signed. Your Obsidian identity is a key that lives in your vault, not a password. You can self-host your page or run your own hub.

How It Works

Two doors, one network

Sign up with GitHub to get a city and profile built from your public repos (no install, rebuilt every 6 hours), or install the Obsidian plugin to build a living profile from your vault on your own device. A GitHub sign-up can move into an Obsidian vault any time and keep its page.

AI-assisted setup

With Obsidian, paste a provided setup prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any file-editing AI agent: it installs Obsidian and the plugin if needed, connects your calendar, email, AI and code activity sources, and schedules one routine that keeps your page fresh. Your key never passes through t

Pros & Cons

Pros

Free and open source, with self-hosting of your page or hub possible
Strong privacy design: private repos only as padlocked buildings, vault content never uploaded, email/phone scrubbed from gardens, no telemetry
Identity is a cryptographic key in your vault, not a password; everything is signed
Unique, memorable way to visualize GitHub activity (live city) and vault activity (living profile)
Runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android for Obsidian users
No lock-in: you can delete your page and Caldera's GitHub access is revoked

Who It's For

Best for

Developers who want a live, visual homepage for their public GitHub work
Obsidian users who want to publish a digital garden and a self-updating profile without a separate website
Indie makers and researchers looking to meet people by what they build and write rather than by follower counts
Privacy-conscious users who want an open protocol, signed identities, and no telemetry

Not ideal for

People who want a traditional feed-based social network with likes and upvotes — Caldera deliberately has none
Anyone wanting to showcase private repos publicly — private repos stay padlocked and anonymous even if connected

Use Cases

Developers who want a live, visual homepage for their public GitHub repos

Obsidian users who want to publish a digital garden and self-updating public profile from their vault

Finding and befriending people by what they build and write

Offering and requesting help with ask/offer posts, help-credit bounties and a gravity reputation system

Sharing individual private notes with friends end-to-end encrypted

FAQ

What is Caldera?

A free and open source social network for GitHub and Obsidian: your repos become a living city, your vault becomes a living profile, and you meet people by what they build and write.

How do I sign up?

Two doors: sign up with GitHub in about 30 seconds with no install, or install the Caldera plugin for Obsidian. The Obsidian route can also be set up by pasting a setup prompt into an AI agent like Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, which installs everything for you.

How much does it cost?

Caldera is free and open source.

Is my code or vault content read by Caldera?

No. Caldera reads repo names, languages and commit counts, never the files inside. With Obsidian, your profile is built on your device and only the finished page is sent; your vault never uploads.

Caldera