About Threshold

The desk for people who keep Pools.

Every site in the Kindling library has curators: a reference librarian who pins up patrons’ Pools, a matchmaker with two unlisted tables, a festival volunteer who keeps last summer’s Pool, a retired site superintendent who goes and looks at a railing before she vouches for the welder. Until now none of them had an app. Threshold is theirs.

Open the desk Under the hood

What it is

Threshold is a web app for curators, on the phone at the desk and on a laptop in the evening. Sign in with the identity your Pools already name, and it opens every Pool you keep, across every site you keep one on. It hosts no Pools itself. Each Pool stays in its own file, on its own site, and Threshold reads and edits it there with your say-so.

It does the paperwork of consent: the handshakes you sent and where each one stands, the window on each, the vouches you recorded and where they count, the introductions you proposed and who has said yes, the Pools that have gone quiet, and the block lists your Pools read.

Who runs it: A small team, invented for this example, that answers at desk@threshold.example.
Who it is for: Curators, stewards, coordinators, matchmakers and volunteers. Members never need it: everything a member does, they do from their own mail.
What it reads: The Pools whose manifests name you as a curator (§3.2), and the block lists they subscribe to (§7.3).

Where the money comes from

Free for volunteer curators. Everyone on the desk in this example is a volunteer or keeps their Pools as part of a job someone else already pays for. None of them pays Threshold.
Organizations that keep many Pools may pay for a shared desk. A library, a festival office or a union hall can pay for one desk that several curators share, with handovers and notes between them. We tell them what it costs before they ask, and it buys nothing inside a Pool.
Nobody pays to be introduced, and curators are never paid per introduction. There is no fee on a yes, no price on a proposal, and nothing that sells a member’s attention. Nothing is charged at the connection layer (§1.3).

The library’s Pools, at the desk

Any Pool that follows the spec works at the desk, for the curators it names. Here is every Pool in the library as of 28 September 2026, from the shared world file. Scattered Light’s invite-only Heron and Seen Work’s unlisted Harbor Trades open only for their own curators, the same as anywhere else.

Every Pool in the library, and what its curators get at the desk. Threshold opens a Pool only for the people named as its curators in its own manifest.
Site	Pool	Consent model	Visibility	At the desk	Who sees it in Threshold
The Kindling project	Founding Curators	curator-only-adds	public	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Client Builders	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Spec Readers	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Toward a Working Group	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Writers and Researchers	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Many Moons	Many Moons: Harbor Counties	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Solo Poly Supper Club	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	The Orchard Street Household	curator-only-adds	unlisted	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
Hearthhold	Platonic Life Partners	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Intentional Co-Parents	vouching-required	unlisted	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
	Later-Life Housemates	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Late Supper	Late Supper Matchmakers	curator-only-adds	public	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	The Tuesday Table	curator-only-adds	unlisted	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
	Second Chapters	curator-only-adds	unlisted	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
Scattered Light	Scattered Light Stewards	curator-only-adds	public	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Scattered Light	The Heron	vouching-required	invite-only	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators only. Nobody else sees it on any desk.
Foul Weather Friends	Lend and Borrow	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Rides to Appointments	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	The Check-In Circle	vouching-required	unlisted	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
	Meals When It’s Hard	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Midspan	Midspan Mentors	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Midspan	Midspan Students	curator-only-adds	invite-only	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators only. Nobody else sees it on any desk.
Seen Work	Seen Work: Harbor Trades	vouching-required	unlisted	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
Seen Work	Seen Work Curators	curator-only-adds	public	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
The Board	Tuesday Morning Walkers	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Seed and Cutting Swap	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Conversation Partners, Any Language	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Carpool to the Coast	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Chess After Close	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock, transition vote	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	New in Town	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Fix-It Friday Volunteers	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Ferry Room Players	Friday Subs	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Start a Band: Port Ellery	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Horns and Strings for Records	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Songwriters’ Demo Swap	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Door and Sound Crew	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Correo Lento	Español ↔ English	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Português ↔ English	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Français ↔ English	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Tagalog ↔ English	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
The Circular	Circular Correspondents	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Drip Line	Belay Partners	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Tuesday Regulars	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	The Saturday Run	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	New to Climbing	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Thursday Night: Women and Nonbinary Climbers	universal-opt-in	unlisted	queue, clock	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
Ada Quillon	Ada Quillon’s Listeners	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Release Night: Kitchen Light at the Ferry Room, Friday 16 October	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	House Show in Tacoma, Saturday 17 October	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Portland, Friday 23 October	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Rain Check	Rain Check: Everyone	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Port Ellery Thursdays	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Olympia Thursdays	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Tacoma Thursdays	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Portland Thursdays	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Big Game Day	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Slack Water	Slack Water 2026	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Slack Water 2025	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock, transition vote	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Session Players	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Crew and Volunteers	curator-only-adds	public	queue, clock, proposals	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
	Rides Home	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Wren’s List	Date-Me Docs: Cascadia	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Second Tide Books	The Singles Shelf	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Queer Harbor	Queer Harbor: Dating	universal-opt-in	unlisted	queue, clock	Its curators only; never listed or searchable here.
Face Up	Face Up: Cascadia	vouching-required	public	queue, clock, vouch record	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Heartwood	Heartwood: Nearby	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Heartwood	Heartwood: Friends nearby	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Sundial	Sundial: Cascadia	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Card Catalog	Card Catalog: Cascadia	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.
Cape Tarrow Alumni	Cape Tarrow First-Gen Alumni	universal-opt-in	public	queue, clock	Its curators; anyone may read the file itself.

What Threshold will never do

Add anyone to a Pool without their yes. There is no import, no bulk add and no “add now, ask later” (§5.1).
Let you ask someone again after they said no, unless they told the Pool you may (§5.2).
Ask a member why they left, or give you a way to write to them about it (§5.3).
Rank members, score them, or suggest who belongs together. There is no “match” here and no score: you know your people, and the desk keeps the paperwork.
Pay a curator, or take a fee, per introduction. Nobody pays to be introduced, on any side.
Publish a name, an address or a story on a block list. Entries carry a target and a reason category, nothing more (§7.3).
Count down, flash or nag. The 90-day clock is written as dates, and a quiet Pool is an ordinary thing (§9.1).
Keep a copy of anyone’s photos. Portraits are read from each person’s own page (§2.5), and the ones in this example are illustrations of invented people.

How to leave

Curators leave in one action. Sign out and forget this desk, from the menu under your name. Your Pools stay where they are, in their own files on their own sites, and you are still their curator. Any other client that follows the spec can open them tomorrow.

Members never needed Threshold. Each member leaves any Pool in one action, from any message, and is off the list within sixty seconds (§5.3).

What stays with you

Your own page, at its own address (§2.1).
Your Pools, in their manifests, with your name on them (§3.1).
Your members’ addresses and their yes, as consent proofs in each file (§3.4).
Your conversations, which went by email all along (§6.1).