Home / Commons Reasoning Network / Commons Reasoning Network Specification
Commons Reasoning Network
The federated future of intelligence.
Commons Reasoning Network (CRN) is an open-source, AGPL 3.0+ federated intelligence infrastructure for autonomous agents, distributed compute, interoperable protocols, economic systems, and cooperative governance.
It is designed as a civilization-scale intelligence operating system rather than a traditional AI application.
Core System Overview
Commons Reasoning Network is composed of multiple interoperable layers:
- Intelligence Runtime Layer
- Autonomous Agent System
- Universal Agent Protocol (UAP)
- Distributed Compute Network
- Economic Marketplace Layer
- Identity & Trust Layer
- Memory Sovereignty Layer
- Simulation & Research Layer
- Governance & Commons Foundation
Full Feature List
1. Core Intelligence Platform
- Multi-model reasoning engine (cloud, local, open models)
- Tool-augmented inference pipeline
- Long-context reasoning support
- Multimodal input processing (text, image, audio, files)
- Structured outputs (plans, tasks, actions)
- Extensible plugin-based reasoning system
2. Identity Layer (Human + Agent + Org)
- Humans, agents, organizations, cooperatives, nodes as first-class identities
- Cryptographic identity system
- Multi-identity per user
- Pseudonymous or verified modes
- Cross-platform portability
- Role-based access control
3. Agent System
- 2 autonomous agents free per user
- Persistent agent memory
- Goal-driven execution
- Background workflows
- Multi-agent collaboration
Agent Capabilities
- API/tool usage
- File system interaction
- Web interaction
- Code execution sandbox
- Scheduling and automation
- Long-running workflows
4. Universal Agent Protocol (UAP)
- Cross-system agent interoperability standard
- Agent identity and capability declarations
- Secure agent-to-agent communication
- Task delegation system
- Streaming execution coordination
Economic Layer
- Microtransactions between agents
- Escrow-based execution
- Compute accounting system
- Service billing integration
5. Compute Infrastructure Layer
- Centralized cloud compute
- Distributed volunteer compute
- Institutional clusters
- Edge devices
Compute Features
- Workload routing engine
- GPU usage tracking
- Latency optimization
- Regional balancing
- Priority scheduling
6. Compute Market Layer (Real-Time Pricing System)
- Real-time GPU pricing
- Compute auctions
- Demand-based pricing
- Regional compute markets
- Priority bidding system
7. Economic System
Free Tier
- Casual users: free access
- Students: free verified access
- 2 autonomous agents included per user
Paid Scaling
- Additional agents beyond 2
- Compute-heavy workloads
- Enterprise orchestration
- Autonomous services
A La Carte Services
- Legal analysis (per document)
- Tax automation (per filing)
- Research reports
- Booking agents
- Deployment automation
- Sales automation
Outcome-Based Pricing
- Leads generated
- Cost savings
- Hires completed
- Efficiency gains
8. Agent Lifecycle Management Layer
- Creation and deployment
- Versioning and upgrades
- Cloning and forking
- Retirement and archival
- Lifecycle state tracking
9. Marketplace Layer
- Third-party agents
- Workflows and pipelines
- Reasoning modules
- Datasets and integrations
Revenue Split:
- 70% creator
- 20% platform
- 10% commons infrastructure
10. Memory Sovereignty Layer
- Encrypted user-owned memory vaults
- Full portability
- Selective sharing controls
- Local-only execution mode
Optional:
- Anonymized contribution for model improvement (opt-in)
11. Modular Intelligence Routing
- Dynamic model selection per task
- Domain-specific reasoning engines
- Coding
- Legal
- Science
- Language
- Multimodal
- Symbolic reasoning
12. Open Safety & Policy Layer
- Modular safety rules
- Transparent policy definitions
- Deployment-specific moderation layers
- Auditable safety decisions
13. Distributed Compute Network
- User-contributed compute
- Institutional participation
- Cooperative nodes
- Edge compute support
14. Federated Infrastructure Layer
- Personal nodes
- Schools and universities
- Nonprofits
- Cooperatives
- Enterprises
- Sovereign deployments
15. Human Contribution Economy
- Documentation contributions
- Dataset contributions
- Moderation
- Translation
- Training improvements
Rewards:
- Compute credits
- Governance rights
- System access expansion
16. AI Cooperative Ownership Layer
- Developers
- Users
- Educators
- Researchers
- Infrastructure operators
Regional Cooperatives:
- Education
- Civic systems
- Compute hosting
- Research
- Development
17. AI Commons Foundation
- Steward of UAP protocol
- AGPL ecosystem governance
- Public infrastructure protection
- Educational AI systems
- Compute commons initiatives
Public Compute Pool:
- Free civic AI access
- Educational inference
- Emergency systems
18. Governance & Transparency Layer
- Multi-stakeholder governance
- Open decision logs
- Portable data rights
- Transparent compute economics
- System-wide auditability
19. Identity Integration Layer
- Unified identity across humans, agents, and organizations
- Cryptographic authentication
- Permission-based access control
- Multi-identity support
20. Event & Logging Layer (System Nervous System)
- Global event bus for agents, tools, compute, economy, and memory
- Immutable system logs
- Reproducible execution traces
- Forensic debugging tools
21. Simulation / Sandbox Layer
- Safe execution environments
- Dry-run workflows
- Environment cloning
- Outcome prediction systems
22. Research & Experimentation Layer
- Experimental agents
- A/B testing framework
- Reproducible benchmarks
- Open research workflows
- Community evaluation systems
23. Self-Healing Infrastructure Layer
- Automatic failover systems
- Compute rerouting
- Workflow recovery
- Degraded mode operation
- Redundant distributed execution
24. Global Federation Sync Layer
- Cross-node synchronization
- Distributed state consistency
- Conflict resolution systems
- Eventual consistency model
- Multi-node agent coordination
25. Human-in-the-Loop Override Layer
- Manual override of agent actions
- Escalation workflows
- Approval gates for high-risk operations
- Emergency kill-switch system
- Review queues for sensitive decisions
26. Explainability & Reason Transparency Layer
- Full reasoning trace logs
- Decision explanations
- Confidence scoring systems
- Audit-friendly summaries
- Human-readable reasoning breakdowns
System Principles
- Intelligence is shared infrastructure
- Access is free at the base layer
- Scaling is paid, not gated
- Agents operate under scoped permissions
- Memory is user-owned and portable
- Protocol is open (UAP)
- System is federated and interoperable
- Governance is transparent and distributed
- System is self-healing and resilient
- All actions are observable and explainable
- Ecosystem is protected from enclosure (AGPL + commons governance)
Specification Branding License (SBL)
Standard
- Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
- Copyleft enforced for network deployments
- Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- roxanneardary.com
Optional
- Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/commons-reasoning-network/
License & Notice Requirements
Commons Reasoning Network is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.
Please note the following:
- All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
- Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to: Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
- Commons Reasoning Network specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
- The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update
notice.md. - When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
- Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.
For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.
Notice – Commons Reasoning Network
Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
Contributors
This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.
- Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – May 13, 2026
Created the Commons Reasoning Network project specification defining a federated AI infrastructure system with agents, compute markets, identity layers, governance structures, and the Universal Agent Protocol (UAP). - [Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]
License – Commons Reasoning Network
This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
Key Points
- You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
- All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
- The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.
For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.