{% extends "base.html" %} {% block title %}Maxim Hivemind + Oasis | Federated Bio-Substrate{% endblock %} {% block meta_description %}A federated peer-to-peer architecture where multiple Maxim instances share distilled bio-substrate (NAc weights, EC concepts, reflexes) across users.{% endblock %} {% block meta_keywords %}Maxim Hivemind, Maxim Oasis, federated cognition, distributed bio-substrate, peer-to-peer learning, hive mind AI, collective intelligence, substrate sharing{% endblock %} {% block meta_author %}Maxim Project{% endblock %} {% block og_site_name %}Maxim{% endblock %} {% block og_type %}article{% endblock %} {% block structured_data %}
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← Back to Overview

### Status

Design complete (2026-05-09). Implementation phased: shareability infrastructure in v1.0 (B5), Oasis software in v1.1, full Hivemind P2P protocol in v1.2. Supersedes the older Mother Maxim plan (2,224 LOC) with a more bio-coherent ~2,100 LOC architecture that's federated, not hierarchical.

### Contents

1. What this is
2. Why this exists
3. What's shareable
4. The Oasis
5. The Hivemind
6. Phasing
7. What got dropped from Mother Maxim

## What this is

The Maxim Hivemind is a peer-to-peer substrate-sharing layer that lets multiple Maxim instances exchange learned bio-substrate (NAc causal weights, EC concept centroids, reflex thresholds, Cerebellum forward models, ATL semantic concepts). It is not a service — nobody hosts "the Hivemind." It is a protocol + portable data format + exchange convention.

A Maxim Oasis is a persistent, substrate-primary Maxim instance that runs on operator hardware (a Mac Mini, a server, an old laptop, a Raspberry Pi 5 cluster), accepts substrate contributions from connected Maxims, processes those contributions as percepts through her own bio-stack, distills consensus patterns, and broadcasts to the Hivemind. Multiple Oases coexist; nobody is THE Oasis. Each Oasis is a real bio-agent in her own right, not a passive database.

## Why this exists

The headline insight that motivated promoting the old Mother Maxim plan from deferred to active:

Every LLM-AUT run already trains a bio-substrate as a side effect. When a user runs `maxim --sim "...some D&D campaign..."`, the bio-systems are running underneath: NAc forms causal links from tool outcomes, EC clusters concepts, ATL builds semantic structure, Hippocampus captures episodes. The substrate is being trained right now by your existing user base, just by an LLM-driven action selector instead of a substrate-driven one.

That changes the federated-learning calculus radically:

#### 1. The Hivemind has rich seed data immediately

It doesn't have to wait for substrate-primary mode to mature. Day-1 contributions come from existing LLM-AUT users.

#### 2. Substrate-primary Maxims bootstrap from accumulated experience

When substrate-primary mode lands in v1.1, new instances can pull a baseline substrate from the Hivemind rather than starting from zero. Massively accelerates substrate-primary development.

#### 3. The privacy surface collapses

Distilled bio-substrate doesn't carry the same PII risk as raw episodes. The 700-LOC dual-pass deidentification pipeline from the old plan becomes optional polish rather than load-bearing safety.

#### 4. LLM-AUT mode gets a permanent role

It's not transitional waiting to be replaced; it's the perpetual data-collection mechanism that feeds the Hivemind. Users running D&D campaigns today are inadvertently training tomorrow's substrate-primary cognition.

## What's shareable — and what stays local

Substrate component | Shareability | Privacy risk | Hivemind value
--- | --- | --- | ---
Reflex specs + thresholds | Trivial — pure config | Zero | High
NAc causal weights | High — Bayesian aggregation | Low | Very high
EC concept centroids | Medium — encoder-dependent | Low (after identity scrub) | High
Cerebellum forward models | Medium — parameter snapshots | Zero | Medium
ATL semantic concepts | Medium — cluster purity | Low | Medium
Hippocampus episodes | LOW — literal records | HIGH | Low
Working memory | None — ephemeral | High | Zero

Default policy: ship everything in the top section. NEVER ship hippocampus episodes through the Hivemind. Episodes are local-only by construction. The single exception: an Oasis may receive hippocampus episodes from connected Maxims as private contributions to her own substrate (she processes them as percepts), but she never re-broadcasts them. Episodes feed the Oasis's substrate; only the Oasis's distilled substrate ever leaves.

## The Oasis

#### What an Oasis does

- Accepts substrate contributions from connected LLM-AUT or substrate-primary Maxims
- Processes contributions as percepts through her own bio-stack (NAc/EC/ATL/Hippocampus all run continuously)
- Distills consensus patterns: aggregates NAc links across contributors via Bayesian confidence math
- Broadcasts her distilled substrate to the Hivemind on a configurable cadence
- Syncs substrate snapshots from peer Oases and from substrate-primary Maxim instances

#### Why "Oasis"?

A bio-coherent metaphor: an oasis is a sustaining gathering place that travelers approach to refresh themselves and that produces life from accumulated water/nutrients. Maxims approach an Oasis to contribute experience and to receive distilled patterns. Multiple oases coexist in a desert ecosystem; no single one is canonical; together they form a network.

### Hardware footprint

A Mac Mini, an old laptop, or a Raspberry Pi 5 cluster is sufficient to run an Oasis IF substrate-primary mode is the operating mode (no LLM, just bio-systems running). During the transitional phase (v1.1) when substrate-primary is still maturing, Oases may need a small LLM (e.g., qwen-7B) to process LLM-AUT contributions. Once substrate-primary works (post-Phase 0/1), Oases can run pure-substrate and Mac-Mini-class hardware suffices.

### Multiple Oases, no central authority

There is no THE Oasis. Each operator runs their own. A natural evolution emerges:

🏠

#### Personal Oasis

Your Mac Mini, hosting substrate from your own Maxims and friends.

👥

#### Community Oasis

A Discord server or research group running an Oasis their members contribute to.

🌐

#### Public Oasis

Eventual reference instances anyone can connect to.

## The Hivemind

### Substrate snapshot bundle

The unit of exchange. A versioned, signed archive containing:

    maxim-substrate.zip
    ├── manifest.json           # _format_version, schema_version, contributor_id, domain, signature slots
    ├── nac.json                # causal links + confidence + provenance tags  (v1.0)
    └── ec.json                 # concept centroids + cluster metadata          (v1.0)

ATL, reflexes, and Cerebellum payloads are reserved for v1.1 (the migration-registry seam is already in place). Schema-stable, version-aware, scrubbable. Extends the existing `_format_version` contract per Maxim's v1.0 freeze.

### Substrate domains

Bundles are tagged by substrate domain (combat, cooking, medical, fantasy, robotics, conversation, ...). Subscribers opt into specific domains. Two purposes: relevance (a medical-AI hobbyist doesn't want combat patterns polluting their substrate) and curation (domain maintainers can flag bad patterns).

### Conflict resolution

Two Maxims learn opposite things ("X is good" vs "X is bad"). On merge, the Hivemind uses NAc's existing confidence math:

- Confidence aggregates Bayesian-style across contributors
- Multi-source confirmation weighted higher than single-source
- Outcome valence (positive vs negative) preserved as separate distributions
- Provenance preserved — receivers can selectively trust patterns from specific contributors

When real conflict persists (e.g., 50 Maxims learned each side), the Hivemind preserves both with full distributions. The local Maxim's behavior remains coherent because it weights its own learning above any single Hivemind pattern.

### Poison resistance

Adversaries trying to corrupt the Hivemind by spreading bad learning are mitigated by:

1. Multi-source consensus — patterns require N independent contributors before promotion
2. Domain curation — domain maintainers can flag specific contributors as untrusted
3. Local provenance tracking — every pattern carries source tags; receivers can blacklist sources
4. Outcome correlation check — Hivemind patterns that hurt locally are weighted lower over time (the substrate naturally distrusts patterns that hurt it)
5. Identity-bearing concept detection — patterns that map to specific named entities are quarantined automatically

This won't be perfect — pure peer-to-peer systems with open contribution always have an arms race with abuse. Mitigations are practical, not theoretical.

## Phasing

Version | Substrate-primary | Oasis | Hivemind
--- | --- | --- | ---
v1.0 | B5: Phase −1 + Phase 0 harness + shareability infra | Format exists. No software runs. | None.
v1.1 | Substrate-primary AUT mode lands. Phase 0 validation. Phase 1 starts. | Oasis software ships (~800 LOC). Mac-Mini hostable. `maxim oasis serve`. | Direct Oasis-to-Oasis sync only.
v1.2 | Phase 1 ships. Substrate-primary Maxims pull bootstrap. | Multi-Oasis federation. Curation tools. | Full Hivemind P2P protocol (~600 LOC).
v1.3+ | Phase 3 from-scratch sequence model. | Pure substrate-primary; no LLM needed. | Cross-version migration; domain ecosystem.

## What got dropped from the old Mother Maxim plan

The 2,224-line Mother Maxim plan was designed in the LLM-AUT-only world where memories (dialogue + episode traces) were the unit of value. The 2026-05-09 substrate-primary pivot reframed the architecture significantly.

#### Dropped

- Pecking Order Graph hierarchy → flat peer-to-peer mesh
- Database backend (SQL) → portable file-based snapshots
- Dual-pass deidentification (700 LOC) → ~80 LOC identity-bearing detection (no raw episodes shipped)
- Central Mother server → multiple peer Oases
- REST `/v1/contribute` → Hivemind P2P protocol
- Tenant isolation → substrate domains + opt-in subscription

#### Preserved

- Mother-as-full-agent → Oasis is a substrate-primary Maxim instance
- Bio-system identity-bearing concept detection → ported into B5
- Substrate-stays-private invariant → hippocampus-episodes-never-leave
- Multi-tenant separation → substrate domains

← Previous Substrate-Primary Mode Next → Networking & Mesh

### All Chapters

Overview The Agent Brain Memory Systems Substrate-Primary Hivemind + Oasis Embodiment Body Awareness Operating Modes Networking Simulation Roadmap
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