Cogito
Decentralized, permissionless cognitive AI - persistent memory, wallet-based identity, and trustless infrastructure
Cogito is a decentralized, permissionless cognitive AIthat doesn't just respond - it remembers, learns, and builds a structured understanding of you and the world over time. Every interaction makes it smarter. Your data stays yours - encrypted client-side, stored on decentralized storage, accessible only by your wallet. The agent's world model lives on permanent storage - public and permissionless.
Like ChatGPT or Gemini, but with real cognition, real privacy, and no platform lock-in.
What Makes Cogito Different
| Traditional AI Chatbots | Cogito |
|---|---|
| Stateless - forgets everything | Persistent memory across conversations |
| No real understanding | Knowledge base + knowledge graph = structured world model |
| Platform lock-in | Decentralized - no single point of failure |
| Centralized trust | Client-side encryption, wallet auth - platform never sees your data |
| One-size-fits-all | Learns your preferences, adapts to you specifically |
| Centralized identity | Wallet-based identity - anonymous, portable, self-sovereign |
Architecture
Cogito is a layered, trustless system. Users interact through a unified interface. Behind it, cognitive agents provide intelligent, memory-enhanced responses. The infrastructure is decentralized - wallet-based auth, client-side encryption, and decentralized storage ensure users don't need to trust the platform with their data.
- Unified Interface - Web and app, a single surface for all Cogito agents
- API Layer - Wallet authentication and secure sessions
- Cognitive Agents - Claude-powered agents with tools (web search, browser, code execution, cognition)
- Cognition Layer - Memory (encrypted, per-user, decentralized storage), Knowledge Base (public, permanent storage), Knowledge Graph (public, permanent storage)
- Decentralized Infrastructure - Wallet authentication, decentralized storage for encrypted user data, permanent storage for the world model, decentralized key management, USDC payments on Payproof rails
The Cognition Layer
Three storage systems give agents persistent intelligence:
Memory
User-scoped memories - observations, inferences, preferences, episodes - stored encrypted on decentralized storage. Each memory is scored by relevance, recency, accuracy, and impact. A periodic sleep phase prunes decayed memories and consolidates related ones.
Knowledge Base
Structured world knowledge - entities, facts, models, scripts - stored publicly on the permanent storage layer. This is the agent's shared understanding of the world, available to all users and all Cogito instances.
Knowledge Graph
Typed nodes (concepts, entities, assets, people, events) connected by weighted edges. Relationships, cause-effect chains, and semantic connections form the agent's structured world model. Stored publicly on the permanent storage layer.
Privacy Model
Two data scopes with strict separation:
| Scope | Storage | Encryption | Embeddings |
|---|---|---|---|
| User data (memories, preferences, threads) | Decentralized storage (mutable, pinned) | End-to-end encryption, wallet-derived key | Local AI models (private) |
| Shared cognition (KB, graph, world model) | Permanent storage | None (public) | Cloud embeddings |
User data is encrypted client-side before reaching the server. The platform never sees plaintext. Keys are derived deterministically from wallet signatures using wallet-derived keys - the key never leaves the client.
Decentralization
Wallet Authentication
No passwords, no emails, no centralized identity provider. Your wallet is your identity. Wallet authentication provides trustless, portable, anonymous sign-in.
Decentralized + Permanent Storage
User data lives on decentralized storage - encrypted, portable to any compatible node. World knowledge lives on permanent storage - immutable and censorship-resistant. If the platform goes offline, users can self-host and read from the permanent layer.
Wallet-Derived Encryption
The client requests a deterministic message to sign. The user signs with their wallet, producing a signature. That signature is used to derive an encryption key. This key encrypts and decrypts all user data. The key never leaves the client. The server never sees the signature.
For advanced access control (sharing encrypted data between wallets), decentralized key management ensures no single node holds the full key.
Agent Turn Lifecycle
Each conversation turn follows a strict lifecycle:
- Pre-turn - Fetch encrypted user memories from decentralized storage, decrypt in-memory. Query shared knowledge base and graph from the permanent layer. Inject all context into the system prompt.
- LLM call - Claude processes the enriched context with tools (web search, browser, code execution, cognition).
- Post-turn - Extract new observations, inferences, and preferences. Encrypt user-scoped learnings and store to decentralized storage. Store world knowledge to the permanent layer (unencrypted).
Self-Hosted Nodes
Users can run their own Cogito instance - reading shared cognition from the permanent storage layer, storing user data locally, bringing their own LLM, and paying via USDC on Payproof rails. No permission needed.
Threat Model
| Threat | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Platform reads user data | Client-side encryption - platform never sees plaintext |
| Platform loses user data | Decentralized replication + user can re-pin from any node |
| Platform goes offline | Self-hosted nodes read from the permanent layer (permissionless) |
| Key compromise | Wallet-derived keys - rotate by signing with a new wallet |
| Platform censors users | Permanent storage is immutable and censorship-resistant |
Roadmap
| Phase | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 - MVP | Working cognition layer, wallet authentication, client-side encryption, decentralized + permanent storage, dual embeddings, unified web interface |
| 2 - Specialist Agents | Domain-specific agents, agent switching, cross-agent cognition |
| 3 - Deep Cognition | World model, second-order effects, cause-effect simulations |
| 4 - Self-Hosted | Self-hosted Cogito nodes, cognitive portability, P2P deployment, USDC payments |