01
Reconcile the whole day
Decisions, business journeys, customer messages, delivery, appointments, receivables, and the current growth constraint enter one ranked operating queue instead of separate status cards.
OBTUSE WORK 0.37 · PUBLIC PREVIEW · WINDOWS + MOBILE
Run a small operation from one governed workspace.
Obtuse Work is a local-first Windows workspace that turns demand, customer work, delivery, money, scheduling, communications, knowledge, and automation into one legible operation. Exact receipts, portable recovery, named authority, and human gates keep the business measurable and owned.
Unsigned preview — expect a SmartScreen prompt. Verify the SHA-256 below.
ConnectObserveDecideMoveImprove
- Availability
- v0.37 public preview + private pilots
- Platform
- Windows desktop + encrypted mobile companion
- Team scope
- Up to 5 named people / one device
- Data
- Local SQLite + rotating backups
- Portability
- Export + recovery + reviewed CSV migration
- Money
- Quotes, invoices, bank reconciliation, recurring drafts, test checkout
- Scheduling
- Create, cancel, replacement, reminders + public requests
- Communications
- Encrypted inbound edge + local channel control
- Integrations
- Loopback API + review-only signal inbox
- Intelligence
- OpenRouter / local Ollama / direct BYOK
- Pilot investment
- $2,500–$7,500 guided onboarding
- Pricing model
- Ownership-first: one-time license + optional updates — never per-seat rent
Flagship system · Private local-first operator workspace
OBTUSE WORK
One operator. One governed workspace. No mystery autonomy.
Our Windows desktop workspace gives a single operator one business-aware assistant across demand, sales, service, delivery, encrypted inbound communications, strategy, knowledge, growth, and governed improvement. The operating ledger stays local, the intelligence route is explicit, payments remain test-mode, and consequential moves stay behind visible human gates.
Native desktop Local-first Human-controlled
ACTIVE SURFACE // Operating workspace
Coordinate the company from one living workspace
Personal intelligence, adversarial strategy, neural activity, operating graphs, approvals, and immediate tools converge in one readable cockpit.
- Personal operator
- Demand + sales
- Customer service
- Encrypted inbound communications
- Delivery + approvals
- Google Workspace
- OpenRouter + local Ollama + direct BYOK
- Live research + strategy
- Autonomous market intelligence
- Neural activity + decision graphs
- Relationship memory
- Governed improvement
- Growth + planning
- Money + operating reports
- Portable data + signed events
Authority stays visible. Consequential actions stop at human gates until you approve them.
Module index
Every Obtuse Work module has its own page.
Open the contract, workflow, or capability you came to inspect.
AAutomation contract
Automation
Inspectable automation with explicit inputs, policy, human gates, and closure receipts.
BMobile companionMobile
Encrypted Android and iOS field capture with desktop review and no mobile execution authority.
COperating graphBusiness Core
CRM, field service, projects, time, people, compliance, communications, and accounting on one record graph.
DCustomer fileCustomer Operations
One customer record and one explainable queue from first contact through delivery.
EReviewed importsMigration Center
Preview every row, preserve the source, and commit deliberately.
FRevenue mathGrowth System
One constraint, one measurable move, and a receipt at the end of every loop.
GPortability contractData Ownership
Whole-workspace export, encrypted recovery, and an exit that is a product feature.
HBrowser demoTry the Demo
Walk the workspace in your browser before downloading anything.
COMMAND QUEUE · SOURCE-BACKED PRIORITY
Open Work. Know what moves next.
Version 0.37 turns the operating workspace into a daily decision surface that opens the exact source record. Priority is derived from local state, timing, response targets, missing evidence, authority boundaries, ownership, and open financial value—not from an unexplained model score.
02
Show the reason and source
Every item explains why it is present, which durable record proves it, and which source state must change before the item can clear.
03
Move without hunting
Filter by operating lane, inspect with Arrow or J/K keys, and open the exact native work surface with one action. Gated journeys are deduplicated against their live approvals.
- Lanes
- Decisions / sales / customer / delivery / money / growth
- Priority inputs
- State / time / SLA / evidence / authority / open value
- Model required
- No — deterministic from local records
- Closure
- Underlying source record must resolve
OFFLINE CLIENT REVIEW · EXACT RECEIPTS
Move a quote forward without renting a portal.
Prepare a polished client-review packet for an issued quote or invoice, share the file through the channel you choose, and bring the response back into the local record. Every consequential step stays tied to the exact document the client saw.
01
Seal the exact document
Each packet binds the issued document ID, version, number, type, currency, and integer total to a random challenge and a local SHA-256 artifact receipt.
02
Let the client respond offline
The self-contained HTML packet makes no network request. The client can review the terms and download a bounded JSON response to return through the channel you choose.
03
Confirm before consequence
Obtuse Work inspects the returned challenge, document identity, exact version, totals, and response hash before the operator confirms the record. Only an exact current issued quote can become accepted.
- Packet
- Self-contained offline HTML
- Network requests
- Zero
- Response
- Bounded JSON + SHA-256 receipt
- Acceptance
- Exact current issued quote only
The response is evidence, not broad authority. A client response cannot create an invoice, collect payment, send a message, or approve a later document version.
ENCRYPTED HOSTED REVIEW · LIVE QUALIFICATION
Encrypt first. Expire precisely. Delete with proof.
Obtuse Work can turn an exact prepared quote or invoice packet into an opt-in one-time review link. Eight native contract cases establish the boundary, then ten device-bound live cases must prove the deployed host end to end before upload authority becomes eligible for the next 24 hours.
01
Encrypt before the host
Obtuse Work encrypts the exact prepared packet on the Windows device with XChaCha20-Poly1305. The host receives ciphertext and opaque routing identifiers; the key and nonce stay in the browser-only URL fragment and are never sent to or stored by the host.
02
Bind device, identity, and time
A named workstation receives its own current and previous credential pair in Windows Credential Manager while the host stores token hashes only. One opaque recipient is bound to one exact delivery and one-time access; rotation invalidates upload eligibility until the live suite passes again.
03
Minimize, delete, and receipt
The live host is limited to ciphertext and minimal routing metadata with no review analytics or raw-IP retention. Explicit revoke and delete remove ciphertext immediately; expiry cleanup runs through the desktop cycle and opportunistic site maintenance, with content-addressed provider receipts.
- Encryption
- XChaCha20-Poly1305 on the device
- Qualification
- 8 contract cases + 10 live cases
- Device authority
- Named workstation + two-generation rotation
- Access
- One-time browser decryption
- Delivery baseline
- Offline packet always available
Hosted delivery stays optional and operator-controlled. Every upload starts from a locally prepared, hash-verified packet and requires an explicit operator action plus a fresh successful live qualification. Link creation cannot issue a document, accept a quote, collect payment, or remove the offline path.
APPOINTMENT REMINDERS · CONSENT + RECEIPTS
Prepare the reminder. Keep the send honest.
Turn a confirmed future appointment into a portable reminder artifact for email, SMS, or a manual handoff. The record preserves consent, timing, exact-version integrity, and what the operator later observed—without silently granting a transport provider authority.
01
Bind consent to the appointment
Each reminder records the exact confirmed appointment version, selected channel, recipient, scheduled time, bounded message, and the operator-supplied basis for consent.
02
Carry a portable local artifact
Obtuse Work prepares a human-readable text file and receipts both the message and the complete artifact with SHA-256 before the operator chooses an external channel.
03
Reconcile what was observed
Before retaining a provider receipt or direct observation, Work rehashes the managed artifact and confirms that the appointment is still confirmed at the exact bound version.
- Channels
- Email / SMS / manual handoff
- Automatic send
- Off — operator chooses the channel
- Integrity
- Message + artifact SHA-256
- Delivery state
- Observed external receipt only
The reminder is a governed local record. Preparing or reconciling it cannot confirm, move, or cancel an appointment, and delivery is recorded only from a provider receipt or direct operator observation.
COMMUNICATIONS BAY · ENCRYPTED INBOUND EDGE
Bring provider events in. Keep the host blind.
A qualified adapter can deliver strict inbound voice, SMS, and web events through a ciphertext-only queue. Work verifies and decrypts them on the Windows device, reconciles each identity once, exposes recent local queue health, and lets the operator pause any qualified channel without granting the host access to contact content.
01
Encrypt before the host
A bounded adapter encrypts each strict normalized event with XChaCha20-Poly1305 and signs the exact envelope. The hosted queue receives ciphertext and routing metadata, never the end-to-end root or contact content.
02
Verify on the Windows device
Work verifies the provider receipt, original-body SHA-256, exact HMAC, credential generation, replay window, adapter and channel scope, ciphertext hash, and authenticated decryption before interpreting the event.
03
Import before acknowledgement
A valid event or bounded quarantine receipt is durable locally before acknowledgement clears the raw encrypted envelope. Routine replies remain local drafts; opt-out, failure, transfer, and consequential language preserve human ownership.
04
Control each channel locally
Pause voice, SMS, or web intake independently from Communications Bay. Verified events on a paused channel become durable quarantine receipts without creating sessions, while recent imported, quarantined, acknowledged, and pending counts keep queue posture visible.
- Channels
- Inbound voice / SMS / web events
- Hosted content
- Ciphertext only
- Rotation
- Current + one previous generation
- Local control
- Per-adapter voice / SMS / web posture
- Health scope
- 100 most recent local edge receipts
- Reply authority
- Local unsent drafts only
Inbound transport is real; outbound authority is not. The generic edge creates no carrier account or phone number, streams no audio, records nothing, sends no message, calls no model, confirms no appointment, and makes no commercial commitment.
COMMUNICATION QUALIFICATION · EXACT RETENTION
Test every route. Retain only what you choose.
The same fixed suite measures the deterministic router before each expansion. Closed simulation cleanup then requires an exact preview, an exact challenge, and an unchanged row-set hash; imported provider transcripts are excluded from that simulation-only control.
01
Fixed case suite
Eight unchanged cases compare expected and observed status, specialist, and intent across opt-out, safety, consequential requests, scheduling, account status, service, qualification, and word-boundary behavior.
02
Closed-only preview
A cleanup preview binds the exact cutoff, closed-session count, transcript-turn count, date range, complete row-set SHA-256, short-lived challenge, and expiry before anything can be removed.
03
Non-content deletion receipt
Execution re-reads and re-hashes the exact rows inside one transaction. Imported provider transcripts, active sessions, consent-waiting sessions, and human handoffs stay protected while the receipt retains only cutoff, counts, and integrity hash.
- Qualification suite
- 8 fixed cases
- Qualified
- Exact 8 / 8 only
- Retention scope
- Closed local simulations only
- Receipt
- Cutoff + counts + SHA-256
Router qualification does not create authority. The suite, previews, challenges, and receipts stay local; encrypted inbound events still cannot create a carrier account, recording, external send, or consequential commitment.
DECLARATIVE ADAPTER QUALIFICATION
Add the contract. Then provision the bounded edge.
One strict manifest proves the normalized adapter contract before the operator provisions its encrypted inbound path. The generic reference adapter can submit that event without adding provider-specific code to the desktop; provider webhook validation remains inside the bounded upstream translator.
01
Strict manifest boundary
A provider-neutral JSON contract is capped at 64 KB, rejects unknown fields, bounds channel scope, and names only an operating-system vault slot. It carries no credential value or executable code.
02
Eight native fixtures
The same native suite checks stable identity, credential isolation, HMAC-SHA256 positive and tampered-body behavior, replay freshness, distinct consent and outcome events, integer-micro cost ceilings, and confirmed human transfer.
03
Qualification before provisioning
Exact current 8/8 is required before the operator can provision or rotate that adapter's encrypted inbound edge. Regressions remain visible, and every requalification run stays in exportable history.
- Manifest
- Strict schema v1 JSON
- Qualification
- 8 fixed native cases
- Extension
- New contract / no app rebuild
- Authority
- Inbound edge only / no external send
Provisioning grants one narrow capability. A qualified adapter can deliver authenticated encrypted inbound events; it cannot open a desktop listener, reach a carrier on its own, record audio, or send a message.
LOCAL INTEGRATION KIT · REVIEW-ONLY INTAKE
Connect local tools without handing them the operation.
Version 0.37 retains the narrow, loopback-only signal rail introduced in 0.29 for scripts, utilities, and companion tools running on the same Windows machine. A reference connector shows the complete workflow; every accepted signal stops in a separate review inbox until a person decides what it means.
01
Connect on the machine
Local tools submit strict JSON signals to one fixed loopback endpoint. No public listener, browser access, cross-origin surface, executable payload, or provider-specific desktop code is introduced.
02
Scope every connector
The operator chooses the permitted signal kinds and receives each token once. Work stores only token hashes, retains one short rotation overlap, rate-limits new signals, and rejects stale, oversized, or shape-changing replays.
03
Review before consequence
Accepted signals enter a separate review-only inbox where they can be inspected, marked reviewed, or dismissed. They cannot promote themselves into work, invoke a model, send a message, schedule anything, or move money.
- Endpoint
- Windows loopback only
- Signal kinds
- Lead / message / work / schedule / commerce / knowledge / custom
- Token handling
- One-time reveal + hash-only storage
- Rotation
- Current + 15-minute previous-token overlap
- Replay
- Exact bytes idempotent / changed payload rejected
- Authority
- Review inbox only
An integration can inform Work; it cannot operate Work. Provisioning, rotation, review, dismissal, and revocation stay local and operator-owned. No connector token grants code execution, automatic promotion, external communication, scheduling authority, model access, or payment authority.
OPERATOR-CONTROLLED INTELLIGENCE
Choose where the intelligence runs.
One selected route now powers intake, the Personal Operator, Market Pulse, Strategy Council, and governed evaluation. Routes never switch behind the operator’s back.
01
Governed cloud
Use OpenRouter with data-collection denial, provider price filters, structured response repair, and bounded search when current external evidence is required.
02
On your machine
Run through local Ollama on loopback only. Model calls stay on the Windows machine while the same schemas, cost ledger, quarantine rules, and human gates remain in force.
03
Bring your own provider
Connect a direct OpenAI-compatible HTTPS endpoint with an isolated vault key, explicit privacy confirmation, and declared token rates for meaningful cost receipts.
- Route scope
- Operator + intake + strategy + evaluation
- Readiness check
- Authenticated model catalog
- Cross-provider fallback
- None
- Authority
- Human-owned on every route
TEAM AUTHORITY · NAMED LOCAL ACCESS
One workspace. Named people. Authority you can inspect.
Version 0.37 retains the shared-device operating environment for up to five people. Identity, role, command enforcement, lock state, and access evidence are part of the native application—not a visual convention.
01
Name every person
Activate a local workspace with an administrator, then add up to four more people. Each person unlocks with a separate passphrase; restart and explicit lock return Work to the identity gate.
02
Give each role a boundary
Administrators manage people and the complete workspace. Members can run day-to-day work. Viewers can inspect the operation without changing it.
03
Enforce access below the interface
Every human-invoked native command checks the active member and required capability in Rust before data is returned or changed. A hidden button is never the security boundary.
04
Keep durable receipts
Successful, failed, interrupted, and denied changes leave access receipts tied to the named member and command. Locked screens conceal identities and access history until someone unlocks.
- People
- Up to 5 named local members
- Roles
- Admin / member / viewer
- Credentials
- Argon2id-derived / separate per person
- Restart posture
- Locked until a named member unlocks
- Attempt control
- 5 failures / 5-minute pause
- Enforcement
- Native command boundary + durable receipts
Shared-device authority is the foundation. Each named person has an inspectable local boundary today; multi-device synchronization and remote team administration remain separate future capabilities.
THE OPERATING RHYTHM
Fast enough for every day. Deep enough to reshape the company.
No command maze. No mystery autonomy. Every move has a job, a visible state, and a clear owner.
Bring demand, Workspace, customer work, and operating signals into one governed environment.
See pressure, opportunities, commitments, neural activity, and exceptions without hunting through disconnected tools.
Deploy current research, independent specialists, an adversarial red team, and a separate judge against the pressure.
Approve, edit, schedule, assign, synchronize, or stop an action from one explicit control surface.
Research the market, challenge the playbook, measure alternatives, promote deliberately, and keep rollback within reach.
WHAT IT CHANGES
Stop managing fragments. Start commanding one operation.
This is not another dashboard dropped on top of the mess. It is a source-aware operating memory, an embedded personal operator, an adversarial strategy layer, an autonomous market-intelligence cycle, and one place where intelligence creates momentum without quietly taking authority.
- One ranked Command Queue across decisions, sales, customer signals, delivery, money, scheduling, and growth—with the source and closure rule visible
- Exact-record execution from the queue into the invoice, message, approval, appointment, relationship, or delivery record that created the pressure
- One unified customer file across communication, sales, scheduling, authority, money, delivery, and continuity
- One operating picture instead of scattered tabs, inbox archaeology, and status hunting
- A Personal Operator and Strategy Council embedded directly in the main workspace
- Up to five named people with separate passphrases, explicit roles, native command enforcement, and durable access receipts on one Windows workspace
- A neural-activity layer, live operating graphs, and contextual tools across every module
- Faster lead response with context carried from intake through delivery
- One evidence-backed customer journey from attribution and qualification through conversation, agreement, payment, delivery, continuity, and explicit closeout
- A Growth Operating System that back-solves revenue into daily inputs, strengthens the offer, identifies one constraint, and opens the exact working surface
- Six owned workflow blueprints for intake, lead context, voice qualification, reactivation, onboarding, and evidence-led content, each with a human gate and closure receipt
- Operator-published fit-call windows with conflict-aware availability and human-confirmed website requests
- Exact-receipt Google Calendar cancellation, separate replacement-time drafts, and explicit website slot release
- Consent-bound appointment reminder artifacts with exact appointment, message, integrity, and observed-delivery receipts
- Signed end-to-end encrypted inbound voice, SMS, and web events with local verification, per-channel pause controls, visible queue health, consent, draft-only routing, opt-out, quarantine, acknowledgement, and human handoff
- Customer, work, decisions, sources, relationships, freshness, and contradictions preserved in operating memory
- Weekly market intelligence for improvement, expansion, innovation, cost reduction, and optimization
- Independent strategic perspectives, adversarial challenge, ranked recommendations, and one final synthesis
- Visible impact, effort, time-to-value, confidence, dissent, source context, decision gates, and operating cost
- Controlled improvement through versioned challengers, evaluation, human promotion, and rollback
- Explicit approval boundaries for communication, publication, credentials, money, and consequential action
- A reusable commercial line-item library for repeatable scope, quantity, price, and tax defaults inside editable drafts
- Quotes, invoices, PDF documents, payment receipts, and test-mode checkout tied to one local money ledger
- Local CSV, OFX, and QFX statement import with duplicate protection, invoice suggestions, human reconciliation, categorization, exclusions, undo, and receivables aging
- Recurring plans that create idempotent invoice drafts while issue, delivery, and collection stay behind normal human gates
- Exact-version offline client review packets with artifact integrity, observed sharing evidence, bounded response receipts, and confirmed quote acceptance
- Opt-in encrypted hosted review with on-device XChaCha20-Poly1305, one-time links, exact identity, expiry, revocation, deletion, and provider receipts
- Named-workstation exchange provisioning with token-hash-only server storage, one-generation rotation overlap, device-scoped lifecycle access, and revocation receipts
- Revenue, pipeline, and activity reports with reusable date windows and local CSV export
- One explicit intelligence route across intake, the Personal Operator, Market Pulse, Strategy Council, and governed evaluation
- Choose governed OpenRouter, loopback-only local Ollama, or a direct OpenAI-compatible BYOK endpoint without silent cross-provider fallback
- Whole-workspace JSON, table-by-table CSV, and recovery-database exports that do not hold the operator hostage
- Row-level migration previews for CRM contacts, task-board work, and ledger history with exact source hashing and repeat-import deduplication
- Password-encrypted recovery files for protected off-device storage and manual transfer to another Windows computer
- Strict provider-neutral communications adapter manifests that prove identity, signatures, replay, consent, failure, cost, and human transfer before explicit edge provisioning
- A fixed eight-case communications suite plus exact closed-transcript retention previews and non-content deletion receipts
- A loopback-only Local Integration Kit for bringing scoped signals from local tools into a dedicated human-review inbox without rebuilding the desktop application
- A synchronized Android and iOS companion with QR pairing, end-to-end encrypted operating projections, secure device vaults, revocation, key rotation, and review-only field capture
PORTABLE BY DESIGN
Your exit is a product feature.
Ownership is implemented in the private-pilot build: complete export, guarded recovery, local backups, and an open signed event rail.
01
Export the whole operation
Every durable application table is written to portable JSON and a matching CSV, alongside a recovery database.
02
Encrypt the transfer
Create one password-encrypted .obtuse-work file for protected off-device storage or manual transfer to another Windows computer without writing a plaintext temporary database.
03
Restore without gambling
Imports are schema-verified, the current workspace receives a safety copy, and replacement requires explicit confirmation.
04
Keep credentials protected
Connector secrets stay in Windows Credential Manager, and readable JSON/CSV exports redact derived Team Authority credential hashes. Full-fidelity recovery retains the protected local access state.
Start with the workflow creating the most drag.
Download the public Windows preview, or scope a private pilot around the workflow creating the most drag. The installer is not yet code-signed; verify the published SHA-256 before running.
Preview installer SHA-256 (v0.37.0): A7BFAE17D8D0CAC47B2984635BDC1BB8BED17C5C626AC496E0C57CB357A4F058
Prefer the stable release? Download v0.35.0 · SHA-256: 14AEA8239A683E6ECB3032E869F52C527BE23F937A575C6F94662B64D416521C
Release status — Windows v0.35.0: stable release · Windows v0.37.0: public preview · Android 0.36.0: debug-signed qualification build · iOS: source complete, not yet distributed · Not shipped: live payment rails, carrier telephony, concurrent multi-device collaboration, extension marketplace.
When general pricing launches it will be ownership-first: a license you buy once and keep, with updates and support as optional add-ons — never per-seat rent. Guided founding pilots start at $2,500.