Foundation

Table of Contents

Built for the Real World

Internet goes down. Teams span continents. Servers belong to you. We built for this reality.

Our foundation isn’t about features—it’s about how software should work. Offline-first. Self-sovereign. Universal deployment. These principles run through everything we build.


Offline-First Architecture

Work without internet. Sync when connected. Never lose data.

Real work happens in places with bad WiFi—construction sites, factory floors, government buildings, hospital rooms, remote offices. Our foundation assumes disconnection, not connectivity.

How It Works

ComponentWhat It Does
Local-First DataYour data lives on your device first, not in a distant server
Automerge CRDTConflict-free merging when multiple people edit simultaneously
Background SyncAutomatic synchronization when connectivity returns
Offline QueuesActions queue locally, execute when possible

No spinners. No “connection lost” errors. Just work.


Deploy Anywhere

One codebase. Every platform. Native experience.

Same application runs in the browser, on the desktop, and on mobile devices. Not three separate products—one codebase that deploys everywhere.

Supported Platforms

PlatformDelivery
WebAny modern browser—Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
DesktopNative apps for Windows, macOS, Linux
MobileNative apps for iOS and Android

Your team uses desktops in the office. Field workers use tablets. Customers use phones. Everyone accesses the same system with the same data.

Write once. Deploy everywhere. Maintain one codebase.


Cloud Sync Options

Your cloud. Our cloud. No cloud. Your choice.

Sync doesn’t require our servers. Connect to whatever infrastructure makes sense for your organization.

Deployment Models

ModelBest For
Ubuntu Software CloudFastest setup, we handle operations
Your CloudAWS, Azure, GCP—your infrastructure, our software
On-PremisesYour data center, complete control
HybridSome data in cloud, sensitive data on-prem
Air-GappedFully disconnected networks, defense and secure environments

Switching between models? Straightforward. Your data format doesn’t change based on where it lives.

No vendor lock-in. No forced cloud dependency. Real deployment flexibility.


Self-Sovereign

Your data. Your servers. Your rules.

Self-sovereign means you control your infrastructure. Not “your data hosted on our terms”—actually yours.

What Self-Sovereign Means

  • Run anywhere — Your data center, your cloud account, your laptop
  • No call-home — Software works without contacting our servers
  • Export everything — Standard formats, complete data portability
  • No usage tracking — We don’t see what you do with our software
  • Perpetual license options — Keep running even if we disappear

This isn’t just privacy—it’s operational independence.


Embeddable

Integrate into existing systems. Don’t rip and replace.

Organizations have existing workflows, databases, identity systems. Our foundation integrates rather than replaces.

Integration Patterns

PatternUse Case
API-FirstEverything accessible programmatically
Database ConnectorsRead/write to your existing databases
SSO IntegrationYour identity provider, not another login
Webhook EventsPush notifications to your systems
White-LabelYour branding, our engine

Extend your systems. Don’t abandon them.


Wellknown Gateway

Publish to Big Tech platforms. Own the relationship.

The web’s gateways—Google, Apple, YouTube—have massive reach. But publishing TO them doesn’t mean being owned BY them.

Reverse the Relationship

Traditional approach:

User → YouTube (owns everything) → Your content (captive)

Wellknown approach:

User → Your Gateway → Your System (primary)
                   ↳→ YouTube (mirror for discovery)

You control the front door. Big Tech becomes optional distribution, not a prison.

How It Works

CapabilityWhat It Means
Your URIs everywhereLinks point to YOUR gateway, not theirs
Smart routingSend iOS users to Apple, Android to Google, web to your player
Mirror publishingAuto-publish copies to YouTube, Google Maps, Apple Calendar
Analytics you ownSee everything, track everyone, no data sharing
Exit strategy built-inRemove any platform from routing without breaking links

Works With Everything

  • Video — Host on your server, mirror to YouTube/Twitch for reach
  • Calendar — Your CalDAV server, sync to Google/Apple for convenience
  • Maps — Your geographic data, integrate with Google/Apple Maps
  • Email — Your mail server, compatible with Gmail
  • Files — Your storage, selective sharing to Drive/Dropbox

Publish TO their platforms. Never be locked IN.


25 Years of Enterprise Experience

Ubuntu Software started in 1999. We’ve built enterprise systems through dot-com, mobile revolution, cloud transition, and AI emergence.

What Experience Taught Us

  • Vendors disappear — Build for data portability from day one
  • Networks fail — Offline-first isn’t optional, it’s essential
  • Requirements change — Open standards outlast proprietary formats
  • Scale surprises — Architecture matters more than optimization
  • Integration is hard — Design for it, don’t bolt it on

We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. This foundation reflects decades of lessons learned in production environments.


The Foundation Powers Everything

Both Publish and Spatial platforms inherit these capabilities automatically:

CapabilityPublishSpatial
Offline editingEdit documents without internetDesign 3D models without internet
Real-time syncMultiple editors, one documentMultiple designers, one model
Universal deployForms on any device3D viewer on any device
Self-hostedYour document serverYour design server
Cloud optionsManaged or self-managedManaged or self-managed

Choose your platform. Get the foundation free.


Technical Details

For teams evaluating our architecture:

LayerTechnology
StorageSQLite everywhere—local devices and servers
Sync EngineCRDT-based replication via NATS JetStream
MessagingNATS JetStream
UI FrameworkCross-platform native rendering
APIHTTP REST + SSE (Server-Sent Events)
AI IntegrationModel Context Protocol (MCP)
AuthOIDC-compatible, bring your own IdP

Distributed SQLite

Every node—your laptop, your phone, your servers—runs SQLite. Changes replicate via NATS JetStream using CRDT semantics.

  • Any server can fail — Others keep serving
  • Any server can go offline — Sync when reconnected
  • No single point of failure — True distributed architecture
  • Same database everywhere — Local device to global cluster

Standard technologies. No proprietary lock-in.


Scale Without Limits

No Single Point of Failure (SPOF)

Every component is redundant. No single server, service, or data center can take down the system. Fail any node—the system keeps running.

No Single Point of Performance (SPOP)

Computation scales horizontally. Add capacity by adding nodes, not by buying bigger servers. Workloads distribute automatically across available resources.

Hundreds of Data Centers

Architecture designed for global distribution:

CapabilityWhat It Means
Deploy anywhereCloud, on-prem, edge, air-gapped
Deploy close to usersLow latency, local compliance
Replicate for redundancySurvive regional outages
Partition toleranceOperate independently when networks split

Deployment Options

MethodUse Case
BinariesSingle-file deployment, minimal dependencies
DockerContainerized, reproducible environments
KubernetesOrchestrated, auto-scaling clusters

From a single laptop to hundreds of data centers. Same architecture. Same codebase.


Get Started

The foundation is built in. When you use Publish or Spatial, you get offline-first, universal deployment, and self-sovereign options automatically.

Explore Publish → | Explore Spatial → | Linux & Cross-Platform → | Contact Us →