Everything we build gets turned into something you can learn from, adapt, and replicate. Playbooks, templates, workshops, and live events — all open, all free.
Inspired by the Transition Towns model of open knowledge sharing.
Each playbook documents a real project from start to finish — not theory, but the actual decisions, mistakes, and patterns that worked.
How we built retail intelligence for a specialty food shop — from POS data export to demand prediction dashboard. Every architecture decision, every pivot, documented.
RetailAI-assistedBuilding a cooperative social network from scratch — ActivityPub federation, no-algorithm design, city-by-city deployment model. The full SPEC and every design decision.
SocialFederationHow to set up a cooperative (SC) under Belgian law for your community software project. Templates for statutes, contribution tracking, and decision-making processes.
GovernanceLegalComing soon
Take any Grassroots Hoppers project and run it for your own community. Step-by-step: fork the repo, configure for your context, deploy, and maintain.
TechnicalNo-code friendlyComing soon
Ready-to-use documents, configs, and frameworks. All CC BY-SA 4.0 — use them freely, just share your improvements back.
The template we use to write every project specification. Identity, architecture, governance, replication strategy — all in one document.
Model statutes for a Belgian SC (société coopérative) adapted for community software projects. Fill in the blanks, file with the notary.
Coming soon
Run a "Build Your Own Tool" workshop for your community. Slide deck, facilitator notes, participant handouts, and a 3-hour session plan.
Coming soon
Hands-on sessions where communities go from idea to working prototype. Each workshop produces a real, deployable tool — not a slide deck.
3 hours. One community need. Walk out with a working prototype. Designed for non-technical participants using no-code and AI-assisted development tools.
Beginner-friendlyLaunching Q2 2026
Take an existing Grassroots Hoppers project, fork it, adapt it to your community's context, deploy it, and set up governance. You leave with a running tool and an ownership structure.
IntermediateLaunching Q3 2026
Hackathons, build sprints, and community meetups. Real tools built in real time, documented as they happen.
Five days. Two tools. One shop. Julien builds two open-source tools for Chez Julien live — a sales prediction engine (3 years of POS data + weather forecast correlation) and an interactive workflow map for employees. Every day documented. Every decision logged.
This is what Grassroots Hoppers looks like in practice: real tools for real needs, built in the open, documented so any shop owner can replicate them.
Concepts, patterns, and reference material for community-owned software. Growing as we build.
The core flywheel. How every project feeds the next community. The operating method explained.
Why each city runs its own instance. How federation works. When to fork vs. contribute upstream.
How Rob Hopkins built a movement from a handbook. What we borrow, what we change, and why software is different from food and energy.
Full wiki launching with the GitHub org. All content CC BY-SA 4.0.
The whole point is that this grows beyond one person. If you've built something for your community, we want to help you document it and share it.