About Sundial
One introduction a day, at seven.
Sundial is a reader of Pools. Any Pool it may read opens here, the way a browser opens any page, and brings you one person a day, at seven in the evening. The dials are shortcuts: a date, a conversation partner, someone new in town, a mentor, a housemate, a seat at game night, a climbing partner. Any other Pool opens under its own name. Read the whole person. Say yes, or not this one.
Two rules
Sundial claims two rules, and only two.
- Every card shows the Pool’s name, charter and tags.
- No one is shown as open to dating unless their own tags say so.
What the spec, and each Pool, asks of every reader
These are not Sundial’s rules. They are what any reader of Kindling follows, and Sundial follows them like the others.
- Visibility (§3.2). An invite-only Pool is read by nobody but its curators. An unlisted Pool is read only for a member, or for someone who gives the address.
- Introductions and messages (§7). A yes goes the way the Pool’s charter or governance says, through a curator or steward where it says so, and nobody writes to anyone their own rules do not allow.
- A site’s own word about its own Pool. Foul Weather Friends asks apps not to read its Check-In Circle, so Sundial does not, the way a browser honors a page that asks not to be read.
How it works
- Your page is your profile.A date-me doc, a personal site, a notes page. Sundial reads what you wrote there, and what each Pool’s file says, every time. It keeps no copy of your photos.
- Open any Pool.Every Pool Sundial may read opens here: from “Open a Pool”, from a product, or by its address. A dial is a shortcut to the Pools whose tags fit it; any other Pool opens as a dial under its own name.
- At seven, one person on each.Every evening at 7 pm, one person on each dial you turned on. Read them. Say yes, or not this one. There is no second card to reach for.
- The Pool decides what a yes does.Both ways when both of you use Sundial and asked for it. Otherwise one way: to the Pool’s curator where it says so, as a letter where that is its way, or kept in Sundial, with writing only where the rules allow.
The dials are shortcuts
A dial is what an evening’s introduction is for, and a ready-made way into the Pools whose tags fit it. Each one says, on its yes button, what the yes means. It is not a gate: any Pool opens, on the dial it fits or under its own name.
- A dateYes, a dateDating. Both ways from Sundial’s own Pool, Sundial: Cascadia, because everyone in it asked Sundial for exactly that. Other dating Pools one way, by each person’s own rules. Only people whose own tags say dating.
- A conversation partnerYes, let’s talkPractice a language out loud. The Board’s staff vouch for each person at the desk before they are listed; after that, introductions are direct. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write.
- Someone new in townYes, say helloPeople who moved to Port Ellery in the last year. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write.
- A mentorYes, as my mentorFirst-generation graduates who talk with students. In Midspan Mentors a coordinator proposes every introduction and asks the student first, so a yes is a request to the coordinator. Cape Tarrow proposes nobody, so there each mentor’s own rules decide.
- A housemateYes, as a housematePeople fifty-five and over who would like to share a home. Hearthhold sets no Pool rule: a person who takes first messages can be written to, and a person who takes introductions only is asked by the steward.
- A seat at game nightYes, play togetherRain Check’s Thursday tables, then everyone in Rain Check. A person is shown under their own table when they said yes to one.
- A climbing partnerYes, climb togetherDrip Line’s climbers. Belay Partners lists climbers who passed a staff belay check and would like to be asked to climb. The unlisted Thursday night opens only for someone who gives Sundial its address, as Drip Line asks.
- Any other Pool, under its own nameYes, say hello · or the Pool’s own verbSeed and Cutting Swap opens as a dial called Seed and Cutting Swap, one introduction a day from it, one way, and the card says which Pool it is in. Where a Pool’s charter gives its own verb, the yes uses it: Correo Lento’s says “Write a letter”, and Late Supper’s matchmakers “Ask for a first conversation”. Load a product and its Pools that fit no dial open together, under the product’s name.
Both ways, or one way
Sundial’s idea is two people seeing each other at the same moment. That is only possible when both of them use Sundial and asked for it. For someone who is only in another site’s Pool, Sundial does what that Pool allows, and says which it is on every card, before you answer.
Both ways, at the same moment
When both of you use Sundial and asked for it. On the date dial, that means both joined Sundial’s own Pool, Sundial: Cascadia. On another dial, it means you are both in the same Pool, New in Town for example, and both asked Sundial to show you to each other there.
You see each other at seven. A yes is shown only if both say yes, and then you can write, by each person’s rules.
One way, through its curator
When the Pool says introductions go through its curator. Its charter, its rules or its own site say so: Midspan Mentors, whose coordinators propose every introduction, Late Supper’s tables, Seen Work’s trades, Hearthhold’s stewards, and Meals When It’s Hard. How a Pool lets people join, vouched or not, does not decide this.
Your yes becomes a request to that curator, with your page. Sundial sends nothing to the person. The curator asks, and introduces you by email if they say yes.
One way, by their own rules
Everywhere else. The person never sees the card and will not learn you looked. Your yes stays in Sundial, because Kindling v0.1 has no message that carries a yes.
You can write only where the Pool’s rules and the person’s own rules allow it, checked each time. Where a Pool has its own way, Sundial uses it: Correo Lento’s yes is a letter, held by the co-op until both people say yes to writing.
How the one is chosen
On the date dial, both ways
- Both people fit each other’s stated settings.
- Never someone you have been introduced to before.
- Most shared answers.
- Ties go to whoever joined more recently.
On the date dial, one way
- Only on an evening with nobody both ways.
- Only people whose own tags say dating, who fit your stated settings both ways.
- Most shared answers, then the nearest.
- Ties go to whoever said yes to their Pool more recently.
On every other dial, and under a Pool’s own name
- Only people in the Pools it opens, each under that Pool.
- Never someone Sundial has shown you before, on any dial.
- Nearest first, then the most words in common.
- Ties go to whoever said yes to the Pool more recently.
Settings, on the date dial, means who each of you is looking for, what you are hoping for, your relationship style, and an age range. Most of it is read from your own page. The age range is Sundial’s own setting, ten years either side of your age unless you change it. A page that does not say who someone is looking for is never guessed at: the evening pick passes over it.
Shared answers are the 18 everyday questions both of you answered the same way: children, faith, money, texting, tidiness, mornings.
Because both people see each other at the same moment, the date dial pairs its whole Pool at once each evening, starting with the pairs who share the most answers. Now and then your closest person is someone else’s closest too, and you meet another evening.
Outside dating, Sundial shows what a Pool’s file holds. Most people there have no age, gender or answers anywhere, and Sundial invents none: a town, the words people chose for themselves, and when they said yes.
Nobody pays to be chosen, and nobody can buy a second introduction. Some evenings nobody new fits. Then there is no introduction on that dial. Nothing is lost, and nothing is counted.
Who Sundial introduces both ways
The date dial introduces both ways only people in its own Pool, Sundial: Cascadia. Right now that is 20 people across Cascadia, each of whom said yes to Ottilie’s invitation.
Every other dating Pool opens too, one way: Date-Me Docs: Cascadia, The Singles Shelf, Many Moons: Harbor Counties, Face Up: Cascadia, Heartwood: Nearby and Card Catalog: Cascadia, and the unlisted ones for whoever has the address. On an evening with nobody both ways, the date dial shows you one person from them, by each person’s own rules. They see nothing about you.
Why not both ways from them? Being readable in a public list is one thing. Being shown to someone, at a set hour, with your answers side by side, is something a person should choose. So both ways only where people asked Sundial for exactly that.
Only people whose own tags say dating. Tamsin and Anouk are in Many Moons’ Harbor Counties for friendship, and Nadia is listed among Late Supper’s matchmakers; their own tags do not say dating, so the date dial never shows them.
The same people, other doors
Every card links back to the Pool on its own site and to the Pool’s JSON file. The same Belay Partners card you meet on Sundial’s climbing dial is on Drip Line’s own site, in its file, and in the other apps that read it, each by their own rules.
Leave Sundial and you stay in all of them. Join one of them and Sundial still asks before it shows you to anyone.
Who runs it
Founded Sundial after noticing that her best friendships all started at the same hour every week. Keeps the Pool, answers the email and sets the clock.From Ottilie Varga’s page
Ottilie curates Sundial’s own Pool: every invitation goes out in her name, with her verification beside it. Reports go to her, and she answers each one herself; a report about someone in another Pool can go to that Pool’s curator too. Write to Sundial at hello@sundial.example.
Sundial is small on purpose. One Pool of its own, one hour, one founder who reads the reports.
Money
Sundial asks nothing up front. Every dial is free, every Pool opens free, every introduction is free, and writing to someone is free.
Thanks come after it works. If an introduction becomes something that matters to you, a date, a mentor, a housemate, a climbing partner, you may pay Sundial what it was worth to you. Before that, nothing. There is no price list, because we will not guess what your evening was worth.
That is where Sundial’s money comes from: people who met someone and chose to say thank you. Each Pool’s host says where its own money comes from, on its own site; Sundial takes nothing from them.
Dating apps charge people for hope. The product is the wait, and the revenue depends on the wait continuing.Kindling’s framework essay, on the business Sundial is not in
Kindling defines no chargeable surface at the connection layer (§1.3). Its framework plans voluntary thanks after a meaningful connection, never gated and never required, for v0.2. Sundial works that way now.
What Sundial will never do
- A second card for sale.There is one introduction a day on each dial, for everyone. You cannot buy another, and nobody can pay to be yours.
- A streak, a countdown or a ring filling up.A missed evening is just an evening. Nothing is counted and nothing is lost. The next one is at 7 pm.
- Telling anyone your answer.Both ways, a yes is shown only when it is mutual. One way, the person never sees the card, and a not this one goes nowhere, ever.
- A paywall on who is interested.There is nothing to unlock. Both ways, the only way to learn someone said yes is to say yes too.
- Boosts, priority or visibility for payers.The way your one person is chosen is printed on this page, and money is not in it. There is no algorithm to tune.
- An endless feed.There is no list of people to scroll. One person on each dial, at one hour, and a whole evening to read them.
- Holding your people hostage.Every conversation goes by email too, so leaving Sundial never takes anyone from you.
Which Pools Sundial reads
Every Pool Sundial can find, one row each: the library’s, the other apps’ and the Kindling project’s own, from every well-known file (§8.3). 67 of them open, 25 on a dial and 42 under their own name; 3 never do, and say why.
| Pool | Kept by | Visibility | Dial | What Sundial does with it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card Catalog: Cascadia | Card Catalog | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Face Up: Cascadia | Face Up | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Heartwood: Nearby | Heartwood | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Many Moons: Harbor Counties | Many Moons | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. Friends first, dating when both people want it: Tamsin and Anouk, whose own tags say friendship, never appear on the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| The Singles Shelf | Second Tide Books | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Sundial: Cascadia | Sundial | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. Its own Pool: the date dial introduces from it both ways at the same moment, because everyone in it asked Sundial for exactly that. |
| Date-Me Docs: Cascadia | Wren’s List | public | A date | Reads. On the date dial. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Conversation Partners, Any Language | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Conversation | Reads. On the conversation dial. Vouching-required is how people join: the desk meets everyone first. Introductions are direct. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| New in Town | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | New in town | Reads. On the new-in-town dial. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Cape Tarrow First-Gen Alumni | Cape Tarrow Alumni | public | A mentor | Reads. On the mentor dial. Cape Tarrow proposes nobody. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Midspan Mentors | Midspan | public | A mentor | Reads, through its curator. On the mentor dial. In Midspan Mentors a coordinator proposes every introduction; nobody writes to anyone until a coordinator has asked both people. A yes is a request to a coordinator. |
| Later-Life Housemates | Hearthhold | public | A housemate | Reads. On the housemate dial. Hearthhold sets no Pool rule. A person whose own page takes introductions only is asked by the steward. That is the person’s own rule for first contact (§7), which Sundial follows, not a term of the Pool. |
| Olympia Thursdays | Rain Check | public | Game night | Reads. On the game-night dial. A person appears under their own Thursday table when they said yes to one. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Port Ellery Thursdays | Rain Check | public | Game night | Reads. On the game-night dial. A person appears under their own Thursday table when they said yes to one. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Portland Thursdays | Rain Check | public | Game night | Reads. On the game-night dial. A person appears under their own Thursday table when they said yes to one. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Rain Check: Everyone | Rain Check | public | Game night | Reads. On the game-night dial. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Tacoma Thursdays | Rain Check | public | Game night | Reads. On the game-night dial. A person appears under their own Thursday table when they said yes to one. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Belay Partners | Drip Line | public | Climbing | Reads. On the climbing dial. A staff belay check is how people join. Introductions are direct. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| New to Climbing | Drip Line | public | Climbing | Reads. On the climbing dial. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Tuesday Regulars | Drip Line | public | Climbing | Reads. On the climbing dial. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Ada Quillon’s Listeners | Ada Quillon | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| House Show in Tacoma, Saturday 17 October | Ada Quillon | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Portland, Friday 23 October | Ada Quillon | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Release Night: Kitchen Light at the Ferry Room, Friday 16 October | Ada Quillon | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Carpool to the Coast | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask about a seat”. |
| Chess After Close | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. It is resting, and opens anyway; nobody in it is hidden. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Fix-It Friday Volunteers | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Seed and Cutting Swap | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Tuesday Morning Walkers | The Board at Port Ellery Free Library | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Circular Correspondents | The Circular | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Español ↔ English | Correo Lento | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Slow letters, by email, one a week at most. Correo Lento holds every first letter until both people have said yes to writing. A yes is “Write a letter”, not a chat. |
| Français ↔ English | Correo Lento | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Slow letters, by email, one a week at most. Correo Lento holds every first letter until both people have said yes to writing. A yes is “Write a letter”, not a chat. |
| Português ↔ English | Correo Lento | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Slow letters, by email, one a week at most. Correo Lento holds every first letter until both people have said yes to writing. A yes is “Write a letter”, not a chat. |
| Tagalog ↔ English | Correo Lento | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Slow letters, by email, one a week at most. Correo Lento holds every first letter until both people have said yes to writing. A yes is “Write a letter”, not a chat. |
| The Saturday Run | Drip Line | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Door and Sound Crew | Ferry Room Players | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Friday Subs | Ferry Room Players | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask to sub”. |
| Horns and Strings for Records | Ferry Room Players | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Songwriters’ Demo Swap | Ferry Room Players | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Trade demos”. |
| Start a Band: Port Ellery | Ferry Room Players | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Lend and Borrow | Foul Weather Friends | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask to borrow”. |
| Meals When It’s Hard | Foul Weather Friends | public | Its own name | Reads, through its curator. Opens under its own name. A friend writes to Hester, with the household’s yes, and Hester asks the cooks. A yes is a request to Hester. Its yes: “Ask through Hester”. |
| Rides to Appointments | Foul Weather Friends | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask for a ride”. |
| Platonic Life Partners | Hearthhold | public | Its own name | Reads, through its curator. Opens under its own name. Hearthhold’s stewards introduce. A yes is a request to Mireille. |
| Heartwood: Friends nearby | Heartwood | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Heartwood’s friends Pool: nobody in it is shown as open to dating from it. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Client Builders | Kindling | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Founding Curators | Kindling | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Spec Readers | Kindling | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Toward a Working Group | Kindling | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Writers and Researchers | Kindling | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Late Supper Matchmakers | Late Supper | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. Its tags say dating, but it lists Late Supper’s matchmaker, whose own tags do not, so it is not on the date dial. Anyone may write to a matchmaker to ask for a first conversation. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask for a first conversation”. |
| Solo Poly Supper Club | Many Moons | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Big Game Day | Rain Check | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Scattered Light Stewards | Scattered Light | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Write to a steward”. |
| Seen Work Curators | Seen Work | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask about a job”. |
| Crew and Volunteers | Slack Water | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Rides Home | Slack Water | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask about a seat”. |
| Session Players | Slack Water | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. Its yes: “Ask into a session”. |
| Slack Water 2025 | Slack Water | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. It is resting, and opens anyway; nobody in it is hidden. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Slack Water 2026 | Slack Water | public | Its own name | Reads. Opens under its own name. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Second Chapters | Late Supper | unlisted | A date | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. On the date dial. Only a matchmaker proposes, one introduction at a time. A yes is a request to Nadia. |
| The Tuesday Table | Late Supper | unlisted | A date | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. On the date dial. Only a matchmaker proposes, one introduction at a time. A yes is a request to Nadia. |
| The Orchard Street Household | Many Moons | unlisted | A date, context | Reads, only with the address, for context only. On the date dial, as context. Its charter lists the household “so the people we date can see how we are connected.” Nobody is introduced from it; on a date card of one of its members, it shows the household, for a viewer who has its address. |
| Queer Harbor: Dating | Queer Harbor | unlisted | A date | Reads, only with the address. On the date dial. Its address travels from the bar and from friends, and Sundial reads it only for the viewer who gives it. One way, by each person’s own rules, and only people whose own tags say dating. |
| Thursday Night: Women and Nonbinary Climbers | Drip Line | unlisted | Climbing | Reads, only with the address. On the climbing dial. Drip Line gives the address to no app; a member who wants it in an app adds it herself, and Sundial reads it for her alone. A yes stays in Sundial, and each person’s own rules decide who may write. |
| Intentional Co-Parents | Hearthhold | unlisted | Its own name | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. Opens under its own name. Hearthhold’s stewards introduce, slowly on purpose. A yes is a request to Mireille. |
| Seen Work: Harbor Trades | Seen Work | unlisted | Its own name | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. Opens under its own name. Contractors ask a curator, who asks members one at a time and introduces only those who say yes. A yes is a request to Delphine. |
| The Check-In Circle | Foul Weather Friends | unlisted | Never opens | Never. Foul Weather Friends asks apps not to read it, and its address travels only by hand. Sundial honors the site’s word about its own Pool, with the address or without. |
| Midspan Students | Midspan | invite-only | Never opens | Never. Invite-only, served only to Midspan’s two coordinators (§3.2). Students read the mentors; nobody reads the students. |
| The Heron | Scattered Light | invite-only | Never opens | Never. Invite-only, and its address travels only from a steward to a newcomer (§3.2). |
How to leave
One action, whichever way you use it. In the app, open You. If you are in Sundial’s own Pool, choose Leave Sundial’s Pool: Sundial sends a withdrawal on your behalf and removes you within a minute (§5.3). If you only read other Pools, choose Leave Sundial: every dial turns off and Sundial forgets your dials and your yeses. You can also turn off one dial at a time.
No survey, no “are you sure”, no offer to stay.
What stays with you
- Your page. It was always yours, on your own site. Sundial never held it.
- Your Pools. New in Town, Belay Partners, Heartwood: Nearby, whatever you joined: untouched. Sundial only read them.
- Your people. Everyone you wrote to, or a curator introduced you to, keeps your email address, and you keep theirs.
- Your conversations. They went by email all along (§6.1), so they carry on without Sundial.