Choosing AnyType: A Platform for Scalable, Secure Governance

~ toscalix

How a global foundation moved from endless video calls to an async-first governance workspace with AnyType.

From Synchronous Calls to Asynchronous Collaboration

Back in 2024, when I joined the Software Transparency Foundation (STF), the leadership team met frequently through video conferences. Over time, coordinating these meetings became increasingly difficult due to availability challenges. With the approval of the new charter and the creation of the Governing Board—now including Member Representatives across Asia and the Americas—time zones introduced a new and significant constraint.

It became clear that we needed to adopt an asynchronous-first model, limiting meetings to approvals, confirmations, and conflict resolution. As someone who has worked for many years in open source environments, I know this challenge well, and I have experienced both its difficulties and its solutions.

Searching for the Right Tool

This transition offered an opportunity to explore new tools. If no suitable option emerged, I was confident we could return to well-known platforms that simply work.

I have configured many tools over the years for managing committees, teams, departments, and projects, so defining the requirements was straightforward. We needed a solution that was:

  • All-in-one and multi-platform
  • Easy to use for non-technical profiles
  • Open source as first option, and cost-effective
  • Capable of scaling globally
  • Backed by a strong, active community
  • Secure, privacy-friendly, and efficient across different geographies

Platforms like GitHub or GitLab did not meet our usability expectations for all governing bodies, so they were not an option.

Discovering AnyType

I encountered AnyType—most likely through Reddit—and was immediately intrigued by its business model and its decentralized, local-first approach to security and confidentiality.

AnyType is not merely a TypeScript application. It is more accurately described as a framework for creating applications, built around concepts such as Spaces, Objects, Object Types, Relations, Properties, Queries and Visualizations. In practice, it is like having a tool to build different workspaces and workflows tailored to your organization.

I was familiar with the concept of “apps to build apps,” but these solutions often require time to understand. My main question was: Could I configure AnyType Spaces that were intuitive and easy to use?

From Prototype to Production

This is where AnyType demonstrates a major differentiator: its Gallery. The Gallery offers ready-to-use example Spaces for instant download. Installing them enables learning by example while drastically reducing setup time.

After experimenting for a few days, I built a minimal management application for STF. I also activated additional storage through the Plus Membership plan and invited the leadership team to test the setup.

The feedback was very positive. After iterative improvements and additional configurations, we deployed AnyType in production just in time for an important Governing Board meeting.

Why AnyType Fits STF

We selected AnyType because it aligns with our requirements for trust, collaboration and privacy:

  • Simple and intuitive user experience
  • Although Anytype is not open source, it is supported by an increasing community of contributors and a Swiss-based association, called any association, any.org Check their blog.
  • Security- and privacy-first, with an offline-first architecture
  • Peer-to-peer synchronization, enabling global use without central servers
  • Built for scale, allowing multiple independent Spaces and even private networks
  • Multi-platform, including an increasingly capable mobile app

Today, we use several object types—pages, events, tasks, human, team, project, files, pictures, bookmarks—and one we created ourselves: MoM (Minutes of Meeting). We use templates, collections, and queries, but nothing overly complex.

As we continue using AnyType, we expect to expand and refine our implementation.

Upcoming Needs and Challenges

There are a few features we look forward to using or improving:

  • Polls for asynchronous decision-making
  • Voting mechanisms with results visible only after a predefined moment—technically challenging, but valuable

We expect to face a future challenge due to the current role model (only Viewer and Editor). Each governing body might require its own Space, which increases flexibility but adds administrative complexity.

Anytype’s license (ASAL-1.0) is a source-available license. It makes the source code visible and allows modifications, but imposes additional restrictions on distribution, use or commercial exploitation. This is not ideal for us, but given our non-profit nature, and that we will not distribute it, we can use it without restrictions. The infrastructure protocol any-sync, the data protocol any-block, and the Gallery are released as open source (MIT).

As STF evolves and more bodies are created, we will need to address issues around scalability, alignment, and separation of concerns. I will keep sharing updates on how AnyType supports us on this journey.

The mobile app is simple and useful, and the recently introduced chat feature is a game changer. Built-in URL shortening is still missing, but I assume it will arrive soon—it feels like an obvious enhancement.

Final Thoughts

I look forward to the possibility of creating our own STF anynetwork. This would take decentralization and confidentiality to a higher level, aligning with STF’s mission and its organizational model.

The transition has been smooth. STF’s Member Representatives, staff and collaborators across the globe now collaborate securely in the Foundation’s governance without constant video calls and without exposing sensitive governance data to big-tech platforms.

AnyType proves that a powerful and privacy-respectful app can be simple enough for non-technical users, while offering enough flexibility for power users. I am optimistic about what comes next. I confess that I am not 100% comfortable using a solution that is not fully open source. But it is also true that STF is already using GitHub so I cannot complain.

In summary, so far our experience is very positive. I will continue sharing our progress as the Foundation grows and we push AnyType to its limits.

Resources

Here are some resources that I used to learn about AnyType.

Read this articles and watch this videos as starting point:

These are some links to the official documentation you might want to check:

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