A comprehensive guide to the Seed Hypermedia protocol - the decentralized, content-addressed publishing system for permanent, verifiable documents.
What is Seed Hypermedia?
Seed Hypermedia (SHM) is a protocol for creating, signing, and distributing documents on a peer-to-peer network. Unlike traditional web publishing where content lives on centralized servers, SHM documents are:
Key properties:
Content-addressed: Documents are identified by their cryptographic hash (CID)
Cryptographically signed: Every change is signed by the author's key
Versioned: Full history is preserved in a DAG structure
Decentralized: No single server controls your content
Permanent: Content cannot be deleted by third parties
Documentation Sections
Explore these topics:
Core Concepts - Blobs, CIDs, and the data model
Blob Types - Change, Ref, Profile, Comment, Capability
Document Structure - Blocks, children, and lists
Signing & Verification - Ed25519 signatures and key derivation
Updating Documents - Change blobs and Ref pointers
Networking - Peer discovery, syncing, and announcements
Access Control - Capabilities and roles
CLI & API Reference - Using the tools
Quick Start
The fastest way to read Seed content is using the CLI:
npx -y @seed-hypermedia/cli get --md "hm://z6Mk..."To create content, you need a Seed daemon running with a registered key. See the detailed documentation for setup instructions.