Ohverlay
Calm overlay intelligence
Non-negotiable guardrails

Helpful, not spammy

The repo’s original Futol and Ohverlay materials consistently point to the same boundary: overlays should reduce friction, not become another attention-extraction layer. This page turns that posture into public product rules.

01

Local-first by default

Processing stays on the user’s machine whenever possible. Remote services should exist because a user or team explicitly needs them, not because the product silently depends on data exhaust.

  • No silent background export of work activity.
  • Logs should be transparent and locally inspectable.
  • Cloud features should be additive, not hidden dependencies.
02

Calm-by-default interaction

Ohverlay should never win by becoming louder than the work itself. Notifications, reminders, and overlays should escalate deliberately and remain user-dismissible.

  • No addictive loops or interruption farming.
  • Visual urgency only when the context genuinely warrants it.
  • Design should preserve click-through and workflow continuity.
03

Permission before visibility

Supervisor or coordinator features must be explicit, documented, and bounded. Visibility without consent is not a feature; it is a trust failure.

  • Role-based capabilities must be visible to users.
  • Monitoring surfaces should declare what is tracked and why.
  • Escalated visibility requires organizational approval.
04

AI with clear scope

The future Blue AI layer should assist with retrieval, synthesis, and workflow suggestions, but it must remain grounded in stated data sources and company policy boundaries.

  • No pretending an AI knows more than it actually knows.
  • Grounded answers should name the project or policy source.
  • Automation should remain interruptible and reviewable.
Public commitments

What users should always be able to answer

  • What is this overlay doing right now?
  • Who sent it, who can see it, and how long will it stay?
  • Where is the log stored and who has access to it?
  • Is this AI-generated, rule-based, or human-sent?
  • How do I dismiss, mute, or opt out?
Source material

These principles came from the repo

The ethics stance here is grounded in the original project docs that emphasize privacy-first architecture, calm technology, transparent AI, sustainability, and explicit governance.

Futol Manifesto Governance Primer