Relay · Field memos

The architecture behind Relay.

Two reading arcs explain the product from the inside. Relay Packs covers the operating system you install for a domain. Relay Host & Cells covers the boundaries that keep managed customer instances honest, recoverable, and legible.

Installable operating systems

Relay Packs

Why a Pack is different from a skill, server, or plugin, followed by four domain memos that show the architecture at work.

A different layer. Not a better one. MCP SKILL PLUGIN GPT FRAMEWORK five tools · one capability each vs agent profiles workflow blueprints data tables schedules ONE RELAY PACK four primitives · one owned app
Start here · Pillar draft

Why Relay Packs: not a skill, not an MCP server, not a plugin

Skills teach one agent. MCP connects a model to a tool. Plugins extend someone else's app. A Relay Pack is a different category: an installable bundle of composable primitives you own that turns a generic workspace into a domain operating system. The structural argument, fair to every alternative.

Start the series
A table becomes a page you own. OFFLINE · ON YOUR MACHINE web_ sections rows static-site generator deterministic index .html artifact GitHub Pages your repo YOU PRESS PUBLISH the exact artifact crosses — only on your press
Memo 02 draft

The Web Designer Pack: a landing page you own, generated from a table

Relay Web Designer turns a table of page sections into a self-contained static site and publishes the exact reviewed artifact to a GitHub Pages repo you own. No egress until you press publish, no vendor holding the keys. Built from four composable primitives, not a plugin.

Read
One free spine. Any industry clicks on. FREE Agency spine clients engagements intake · pipeline SLEEVE · CRE rent roll · renewals SLEEVE · NONPROFIT grants · compliance same spine, different sleeve — one bundle install
Memo 03 draft

The Agency Bundle: one free spine, two industries, one app

The free Relay Agency pack is a reusable operating system for a service business. An industry vertical like CRE or Nonprofit is a thin layer that flattens onto that same spine at install. Not basic-versus-advanced. Manual-versus-automated, composed.

Read
Two funnels. One join key. CRM lead flow source_campaign SOCIAL campaign flow utm_campaign SEAM == the match is the whole attribution — dormant apart, live bundled
Memo 04 draft

The Marketing Line: a bundle split across two function domains

A lead in CRM and a campaign in Social are strangers until one shared key makes them a funnel. The Marketing line bundles two function packs and binds them with an attribution key that only lights up after the flatten. Composition across function domains, encoded as data.

Read
Same machine. Two domains. CRE rent_roll empty queue row-insert lease-abstraction abstract + LOI deliverable NONPROFIT grants empty queue row-insert grant-pipeline application deliverable add a row, the work starts — same skeleton, different fields
Memo 05 draft

CRE and Nonprofit: what a vertical actually adds

A vertical pack is not a coat of paint. It is a real domain data model plus a triggered pipeline that works it. CRE ships a rent roll and a renewal engine; Nonprofit ships a grants queue and a grant pipeline. Two industries, the same four primitives, the same free spine underneath.

Read

Honest operating boundaries

Relay Host & Cells

How Hosts and Cells separate organization from isolation, delivery, licensed authority, customer trust, recovery, and the gated cloud direction.

A folder is not a tenant. FUTURE FLEET ONE HOST · LOCAL SUPERVISOR CELL A CUSTOMER FOLDER PROJECT FOLDER CELL B CELL C organization lives inside · isolation begins at the Cell
Start here · Pillar review

A folder is not a tenant: why Relay has Hosts and Cells

Relay separates work organization from operational isolation: folders organize one Relay, while each Cell is a complete instance on a Host. That distinction makes customer boundaries, recovery, and responsibility legible.

Start the series
One Relay. Two delivery shapes. SAME RELEASE npm DIRECT CELL · HOST CONTROL OCI SEALED MANAGED CELL DIGEST-BOUND CONTRACT
Memo 02 review

One Relay, two delivery shapes: npm and the Cell image

npm and the Relay Cell image carry the same product release for different operating jobs: npm supports a direct Cell and installs Host control, while OCI gives a managed Host a sealed, repeatable Cell runtime.

Read
Separate Cells. Shared trust. ONE HOST CUSTOMER A OWN STATE CUSTOMER B OWN STATE CUSTOMER C OWN STATE HOST ADMIN operational isolation is not hostile-admin isolation
Memo 03 review

Ten customers, one Host: isolation with an honest trust boundary

Managed Cells give customers independent Relay state and lifecycle on one Host, while honestly retaining trust in that Host's administrator. Containers improve operations; they do not erase machine-level authority.

Read
Free runtime. Licensed authority. MANAGED HOST RIGHTS RELAY CELL FREE RUNTIME PACKS SEPARATE CONTENT authentic bytes · commercial rights · content rights
Memo 04 review

Free Cell, licensed Host: what customers actually pay for

Relay Core, the direct Cell path, and the public Cell image remain free. A Host license pays for managed lifecycle authority within signed capacity; Packs remain a separate content entitlement.

Read
Lose the Host. Keep the Cell. LOST HOST ENCRYPTED BUNDLE CUSTOMER KEY NEW HOST SAME CELL create · verify · drill · restore
Memo 05 review

Lose the Host, keep the Cell

A Relay Cell can leave a failed Host as a customer-owned encrypted recovery bundle containing the state needed to rebuild it. The customer keeps the key, verifies the bundle, and practices restoration.

Read
Same Host. New address. LAPTOP / LOCAL CONFORMANCE GATE CUSTOMER-OWNED CLOUD HOST CELLS move the operating contract before adding platform layers
Memo 06 draft

Same Host, new address: from a laptop to customer-owned cloud

Relay's customer-owned cloud direction moves the same single-Host contract to infrastructure the customer controls. It favors a complete, recoverable Host over premature platform architecture; provider proof remains gated.

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Orionfold Relay

Choose the Relay boundary your work needs.

Explore Relay Core, premium Packs, and Relay Host from one product overview.

Explore Orionfold Relay