| README.md | ||
Godwit
Local-first emergency identity recovery toolkit. Encrypted document vault, printable offline backup, camera fingerprinting — no cloud required.
Part of the Circuit Forge LLC menagerie — AI for the tasks the system made hard on purpose.
Status: Backlog — not yet started. See the roadmap for priority order.
What it does
Godwit helps you prepare for identity loss before it happens: an encrypted local vault for scanned documents, a printable offline recovery kit, camera fingerprinting to prove device ownership, and LLM-assisted guidance through government identity recovery processes.
The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) holds the world record for the longest non-stop migratory flight: over 11,000 km without landing, eating, or sleeping. It survives by pre-loading everything it will need before departure — tripling its body weight in fat, re-absorbing organs it will not use, memorizing its route in advance. Godwit is that preparation discipline applied to your identity: everything you need, ready before the disaster.
Why it is hard
Identity recovery is one of the hardest bureaucratic experiences:
- Agencies require documents to prove identity, but the documents are what was lost
- Recovery processes differ by document type, jurisdiction, and which documents you still have
- The window after a disaster (fire, flood, theft, displacement) is the worst time to be figuring this out for the first time
- Existing "document storage" apps are cloud-dependent, which is the first thing that fails when your devices are gone or compromised
Core pipeline
Inventory your identity documents (passport, SSN card, birth certificate, licenses, etc.)
→ Scan and encrypt each document into your local vault
→ Generate a printable offline recovery kit (watermark-protected, QR-linked to recovery guides)
→ Camera fingerprint your devices (unique sensor noise signature for ownership proof)
→ Store vault key via fuzzy vault scheme (recoverable from biometric or secret shares)
→ Verify recovery procedure before you need it
→ LLM-assisted walkthrough of replacement process for any lost document, by jurisdiction
Feature areas
- Document vault: encrypted local store for scanned identity documents; no cloud upload required
- Printable recovery kit: offline-usable document that lists what you have, what recovery steps apply, and QR codes linking to official replacement portals
- Camera fingerprinting: extract unique PRNU (Photo Response Non-Uniformity) sensor signature from device photos to prove device ownership to insurers or law enforcement
- Fuzzy vault: threshold secret-sharing scheme for vault key recovery — recoverable from biometric plus a secondary factor, without a central key escrow
- Recovery guides: LLM-assisted, jurisdiction-aware step-by-step instructions for replacing passport, SSN card, driver's license, birth certificate, and other critical documents
- Verification mode: dry-run your recovery procedure while your documents are still intact
- Offline-first: designed to work with no internet access after setup
Privacy · Safety · Accessibility
Privacy: Your documents never leave your device unless you explicitly export them. The vault uses local encryption only. Camera fingerprinting data is stored locally and never transmitted. Godwit has no cloud component in the Free tier by design.
Safety: Camera fingerprinting is a probabilistic tool, not a legal guarantee. Recovery guides are current-best-effort references, not legal advice. All time-sensitive government processes should be verified against official sources before acting.
Accessibility: Printable recovery kit is designed to be usable by someone other than you in a crisis (family member, emergency contact). Plain-language instructions throughout. Screen reader support for all document entry flows.
Tiers
| Tier | What you get |
|---|---|
| Free | Full document vault, printable recovery kit, camera fingerprinting, fuzzy vault, local LLM recovery guides |
| Paid | Encrypted off-device backup to your own storage (S3-compatible, Nextcloud, or SFTP), automatic recovery guide updates |
| Premium | Shared family vault with role-based access, multi-device sync, estate planning document support |
Get involved
Godwit is pre-development. The best thing you can do right now is open an issue with:
- A specific identity recovery scenario you have experienced or are worried about (theft, disaster, displacement, identity fraud)
- Documents or jurisdictions you want supported in the recovery guide database
- Usability requirements for the printable kit (what needs to be usable in a high-stress situation)
- Technical feedback on the fuzzy vault or camera fingerprinting approach
Early issues shape what gets built first. Star the repo to follow progress.
Product code
License key format: CFG-GDWT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Tech notes
- Built on the shared circuitforge-core scaffold
- Vault encryption: AES-256-GCM with locally generated key
- Fuzzy vault: threshold secret-sharing (Shamir's Secret Sharing adapted for biometric tolerance)
- Camera fingerprinting: PRNU extraction from multiple reference photos; comparison score with confidence interval
- Recovery guides: jurisdiction-keyed document database with LLM-assisted walkthrough generation
- Printable kit: PDF generation with QR codes; no internet required to use the printed output
- Offline-first backup: Paid tier supports rclone-compatible targets (no proprietary cloud)
License
Business Source License 1.1 — free for personal non-commercial self-hosting. Converts to MIT after four years. Commercial use requires a paid license.