---
title: How we work
canonical: https://stead.ing/how-we-work/
summary: Who decides, and how your idea becomes a Steading project.
site: steading
---

# How we work

How decisions get made, and how your idea becomes a Steading project. It's short on purpose: there are no committees, no sponsors to line up, and no foundation to petition. Bring an idea, build it, and we'll talk.

## Who decides

Ivy started Steading and has the final say. She loves hearing ideas, loves it when people get excited, and wants to build things with them.

- **Decisions are made in the open.** Big ones are written up as decision records: what was decided, what else was considered, and why. Anyone can write one, and anyone can argue with one.
- **Decisions are fast.** A proposal gets a yes, a no, or a "not yet", with reasons, in public. Nobody waits months to hear.
- **Each project's maintainers run their project.** Day to day, the people who build a project decide how it works. Ivy steps in on what a project is for, how it fits with the others, and [staying open for good](open-for-good.md).
- **Disagreeing is fine, and so is forking.** Everything is ISC licensed and contributors keep their copyright. If we can't agree, take it and build your version. No hard feelings.

## How a project joins Steading

### 1. Say hi

Tell us what you're building, in an issue: what it does in one line, who it's for, and what it isn't. Half-formed is fine.

### 2. Build it, under your own name

Build in your own repository. Show your work as you go, and ask for opinions whenever you want them.

### 3. Meet the bar

A Steading project:

- does one job, and says what it isn't
- is useful on its own, with none of the other projects installed
- has an open interface someone could build a replacement for
- works with at least one other project
- is ISC licensed, with contributions signed off
- has docs a person can follow, and an `llms.txt` an agent can
- stays open for good: no gatekeeping, no relicensing

### 4. Get an answer

Ivy says yes, no, or not yet, with reasons, in public.

### 5. Move in

When the answer is yes:

- the repository moves to the `steading-ai` organization, and you stay its maintainer
- it gets a name, picked together, and its own `<name>.stead.ing`
- it gets a place on the product map, its own color, and a "built by" credit with your name
- it shows up in the console, on this site, and in `llms.txt`

### Not yet, or no?

A project that isn't a fit can still be a neighbor: built on Steading, linked from the projects it works with. Plenty of good ideas belong next door rather than inside.

## Leaving

A maintainer can step away at any time, and someone else can pick the project up. A project can leave Steading too; the code stays ISC, so nothing is lost.