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Origins

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07Starting over, on purposeWe had a working prototype. We rebuilt from scratch anyway: craft, not extraction, one gate at a time.retrospective · 2026-04-14 · 3 min 06Naming the drumWhy a local workflow engine carries the name of a liberation figure, and why a butterfly signs the work.retrospective · 2026-03-21 · 4 min 05The part Git cannot proveThen the public record goes quiet. An honest origin story keeps the missing months visible instead of inventing a montage.retrospective · February 2026 · 4 min 04What survived the first versionStrip away the early claims and four technical bets remain: file, graph, model choice and a local engine.retrospective · January 2026 · 4 min 03The first page was too sureOn December 30, Nika became public and immediately overclaimed. The first page preserves both the idea and the correction.retrospective · 2025-12-30 · 4 min 02The file came before the languageThe first durable Nika decision fit in two words: a file. Syntax, graphs and providers came later.retrospective · November 2025 · 4 min 01The note that started itNika did not begin with a parser. It began with an objection: useful AI work should not disappear when a chat closes.retrospective · 2025-10-17 · 4 min

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