Roadmap and Contribution
The future of Hinter Net is defined by a commitment to a stable, secure, and minimal core that empowers its community. Our roadmap is guided by a simple principle: the most valuable work happens on the network, not on the code.
Core Principles of Development
1. Minimal and Stable Core
Our primary goal is to keep the codebase of our officially supported tools, hinter-core and hinter-cline, as minimal as possible. We achieve this by offloading features wherever possible to well-maintained, open-source projects that can run completely offline. This minimalism is a critical security feature: a smaller, stable codebase is easier for users to audit, understand, and ultimately trust with their most sensitive information.
2. Modularity
While hinter-cline is designed to be a complete and adequately user-friendly client, it is just one possible interface. The hinter-core application is what defines the underlying protocol through its implementation. We explicitly encourage and support the community to develop alternative clients on top of this core.
This freedom is powerful, but it comes with a responsibility. When you use a client not officially supported by the core team, you are trusting that client with your data. Always carefully review the source code and security practices of any tool before using it.
3. Extended by the Community
Future functionality, such as mobile clients or agentic web scrapers, is expected to come from the community. The core team will focus on maintaining a bare minimum set of tools, while users are empowered to build the specific tools they need to enhance their networking efforts.
The Most Important Contribution: Using the Network
This leads to the most critical point in our philosophy: The best way to contribute to Hinter Net is to use it.
The project's ultimate goal is to help you forge an expansive and influential intelligence network. This is the real work. We urge you not to fall into the trap of endlessly wanting to write code for the system. Instead, focus on using the system effectively. Build your network, exchange reports, and create value.
Only when you encounter a genuine obstacle in your networking efforts should you consider building a new tool. Contribution through code should be driven by real-world necessity, not by a desire to add features for their own sake. The true measure of Hinter Net's success will be the influence and effectiveness of the networks built upon it.