We Published Our Protocol Before We Had Users. Here's Why.

Most protocol projects follow a familiar path: find a market need, build a solution, publish the spec, drive adoption.

We did it differently. We published CPS-0001 before we had evidence that anyone needs it. And we did it deliberately.

1. Protocol objects benefit from early visibility. JWT was published before it was widely adopted. OAuth 1.0 was published and then rewritten. HTTP/2 had public drafts long before broad deployment. Early publication gives the community time to find problems, suggest changes, and build compatible tools before the spec is frozen.

CPS-0001 defines a genuinely new protocol object—the Continuity Receipt. If it has value, early publication is the fastest way to find out.

1. We want to discover if the problem is real — not pretend it is. Most projects start with a problem and build a solution. We started with a technical capability—an engine-independent protocol for continuity receipts—and are now investigating whether a problem exists that requires it.

This is research, not product development. The honest research posture is: "We built something. We don't know if it's useful. Here it is. Help us find out."

This is not a marketing position. It’s a scientific one.

1. A falsified hypothesis is a valid research outcome. We have three formal experiments in progress:

EXP-001: AI Agent Authorization — do agent frameworks need a standardized continuity object?

EXP-002: Enterprise Session Continuity — is TLS + session cookie insufficient?

EXP-003: XR Spatial Session — do spatial computing platforms need session-level continuity?

Each has a falsifiable hypothesis. If 20 interviews across robotics, XR, security, and agent frameworks reveal that no one needs this—we will publish that conclusion.

That’s a better outcome than spending two years pretending there’s demand when there isn't.

What happens next?
We are running structured discovery interviews. If we find three or more unrelated teams independently solving the same continuity problem with different proprietary formats, the protocol has a reason to exist. If we don't, the protocol will be archived as a research artifact—a well-specified solution to a problem that, at this moment in time, does not exist.

Either outcome is worth publishing.

👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or reach out if you'd like to participate in our discovery interviews.

The Continuity Lab: thecontinuitylab.org

MyShape Protocol Specs: github.com/myshapeprotocol/myshape-protocol

ProtocolDesign #DigitalContinuity #CPS0001 #Research #OpenSource #IdentityLayer