Causius

Technical context

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Roadmap

1. Read a letter and say what it wants

   in progress · 8/11 steps done

   • Intake by pasted text or a photo of the letter — done
   • The case file: deadline, checklist, translations, draft reply — done
   • Cases kept in the browser, with export and import — done
   • Analysis through the fleet's shared model chain, with a rate limit — done
   • Your own model: connect a key, checked, strongest model preselected — done
   • The interface and the analysis in English, German, French and Italian; letters translated into nineteen languages — done
   • Letters of several pages, photographed in order — done
   • The deadline shown with the sentence of the letter it was read from — done
   • Shared model keys set on the host, and the first real letter analysed there — not done
   • A set of real letters with known answers, to measure how often the deadline is right — not done
   • Letters that arrive as a PDF — not done
   Where this comes from

2. Private by construction

   in progress · 4/7 steps done

   • Personal details replaced in the browser before a letter is sent — done
   • Details covered on page photos before they are sent — done
   • An anonymised case file to hand to a helper — done
   • A strict content security policy and security headers — done
   • Read the text of a photographed page in the browser, so photos are anonymised automatically too — not done
   • Model providers that contractually do not train on or retain what they are sent — not done
   • An independent security review before the first real users — not done
   Where this comes from

3. Say what Causius is, in one place

   in progress · 1/4 steps done

   • Roadmap and changelog kept in this repository and rendered from the fleet map — done
   • Problem, solution, mission and vision filled in on the Loki profile — not done
   • An OrangeCat profile, so the project can be found and funded — not done
   • A Solon organisation, so its rules can be decided in the open — not done
   Where this comes from

4. Matters worked by an agent

   in progress · 11/14 steps done

   • Causius accounts of its own (password, sign-in link, passkey, two-step codes); Sign in with OrangeCat as one way in — done
   • Matters stored on our host, each sealed with its own key (AES-256-GCM) — done
   • The agent: web research with sources, deadlines, tasks, facts, drafts, approvals — done
   • Every personal detail, and the account name, hidden from the model — done
   • Documents added to a matter: PDF and text, only the text kept — done
   • Check domain names with the registries before founding on a name — done
   • Start from a common problem: a workflow says what to establish and draft, never the law itself — done
   • Ask up to three questions across every document of a matter, answered as a table with the passage each answer came from — done
   • The agent reads the law itself from the official sources, for no fee: Swiss federal law from Fedlex, Liechtenstein from gesetze.li and all 26 cantons through LexFind — done
   • Every answer checked before it is shown: law needs a source, a deadline given is a deadline recorded, tool calls are made and not narrated, the answer is in the reader's language, and a turn always ends with an answer — done
   • Watch a matter's rules: tell its owner when a law, a form or a deadline it depends on changes — not done
   • Deadline reminders by e-mail — not done
   • Bring a quick-check letter into a matter in one step — done
   • Keys only the owner holds, so the operator cannot open a matter — not done
   Where this comes from

5. The fleet's design and a technical narrative

   in progress · 2/2 steps done

   • Built on @bitbaum/design-tokens, in the grammar Solon and Loki use — done
   • Platform, Security and Ecosystem pages; the fleet read from the fleet map — done
   Where this comes from

6. The law from Solon

   planned · 2/5 steps done

   • Solon holds the acts (its register, then federal text, then Liechtenstein, then the cantons) — not done
   • The agent asks Solon first and falls back to the publisher; an answer cites the publisher's link and Solon's hash. Done for federal acts and Liechtenstein's ten common acts; cantonal acts are still read from LexFind — done
   • The agent finds the law by what it says: it searches Solon's text of the Confederation and of the places a question names, then reads the provisions that matter, so "may one keep a fox in Graubünden, and in Lucerne?" is answered from both cantons' own text — done
   • The agent asks Solon for cantonal acts too, once Solon names them by abbreviation or reads each canton's own text — not done
   • The agent tells a person when a law a matter depends on has changed, with what changed — not done
   Where this comes from

7. The big problems, as workflows

   planned · 0/4 steps done

   • Founding a company in Switzerland or Liechtenstein: the form (GmbH, AG, sole proprietorship), capital, statutes and the founding checklist; the notarial deed, the capital deposit and the register entry are handed over to a notary, never done here — not done
   • Divorce: agreement or dispute, children, property and pensions; the petition and a draft convention; a lawyer recommended where the law and the sums call for one — not done
   • A notice ending a tenancy, and an eviction: which it is, the thirty days to contest, the request for an extension, the draft — not done
   • Choosing a vehicle for an investment or an inheritance (foundation, Anstalt, company, fund) and comparing it across Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Ireland: a sourced first draft, and then a licensed trustee or lawyer — not done
   Where this comes from

8. Law beyond Switzerland and Liechtenstein

   planned · 0/3 steps done

   • Luxembourg: Legilux, read as Fedlex is — not done
   • Ireland: the Irish Statute Book, read the same way — not done
   • The citation check recognises each market's way of citing law, so a rule quoted without a source is caught there too (today it knows Swiss and Liechtenstein forms only) — not done
   Where this comes from

9. Helpers you can actually reach

   planned · 5/8 steps done

   • The rules: who may give legal advice, and who may be pseudonymous — done
   • Helpers list themselves by jurisdiction, area and language, under a name or a pseudonym — done
   • A lawyer's identity held privately and shown to a client when they engage them — done
   • A lawyer's admission checked against the public register before the label, published as a signed attestation — done
   • Ask a helper about a matter, sharing it with or without your personal details — done
   • Helpers paid through OrangeCat, with the money held until the work is accepted; a flat price per piece of work, never a share of a lawyer's fee — not done
   • Credentials issued by a bar itself, so the check needs no word of ours. Today's attestation is a signed selective disclosure: a reviewer checked the admission, and the public sees only what the lawyer chooses. It is not yet a zero-knowledge proof, and says so — not done
   • Notices by e-mail when a helper is asked, answers or writes — not done
   Where this comes from

10. Decide the marketplace rules in the open

    planned · 0/2 steps done

    • Admission and labelling rules adopted by a recorded vote — not done
    • A dispute between a person and a helper has a written path — not done
    Where this comes from

11. A matter shared with a helper

    later · 1/1 steps done

    • A shared matter: the person, their helper and the agent in one thread, the helper seeing only what is shared — done
    Where this comes from

12. Legal existence

    later · 0/4 steps done

    • Found a company or an association: documents prepared by the agent, filed on approval — not done
    • Register a domain on approval, through a registrar connected to OrangeCat payments — not done
    • Contracts signed by the parties, obligations tracked, payment held in escrow on OrangeCat — not done
    • Law firms running Causius on models inside their own walls — not done
    Where this comes from

13. More than letters

    later · 0/2 steps done

    • Forms filled from the facts already in the case — not done
    • Guides per jurisdiction for the most common procedures — not done
    Where this comes from

Changelog

1. October 25, 2026

   Account screens now use the shared AccountKit forms, including password recovery and reset, while retaining Causius's languages, profession labels and return routes. What changed for the people who use Causius, newest first. Every entry comes from a change merged into this repository; where there is a number in brackets, it is the pull request to read for the detail.

2. October 24, 2026

   The agent finds the law by what it says. It no longer needs to know the act or article. It searches Solon's copy of the law of the Confederation and of every place the question names, and reads the provisions that answer it. Ask whether something is allowed in one canton, then in another, and each answer rests on that canton's own text.

3. October 23, 2026

   The agent reads the law from Solon first. For Swiss federal acts and Liechtenstein's common ones it now asks Solon, which keeps the publisher's text with the page it came from and a hash that proves the copy, and tells the answer which copy it used. Where Solon does not hold an act or an article yet, the agent reads the publisher itself, as before.

4. October 22, 2026

   The agent reads the law itself. For Swiss federal law it now opens the article on Fedlex, the official collection, and reads the text in force today before it states the rule. The answer cites the article with its link. This needs no search engine and no paid service, so it works when web search does not. Liechtenstein law is read the same way, from gesetze.li, the Government's consolidated collection, and the law of all 26 cantons through LexFind, from each canton's own official text. A quick check opens as a matter. Under the deadline, one tap moves the check into a sealed matter. The deadline and its sentence, the letter, the draft reply and the place come along. What the check hid from the model stays hidden. Signed out, it goes through sign-in and comes back to the check. Ask across documents. In a matter, ask up to three questions of every document at once: who pays, when it ends, what notice applies. The answers come back as a table, one row per document, and every answer quotes its passage. An answer whose quote is not in the document is dropped rather than shown. The table is saved to the matter as a draft. Answers come in the reader's language. After reading German statutes the agent once answered an English question in German. An answer plainly in another language than the reader's is now sent back to be written again, keeping its facts and citations. A turn no longer ends with "I could not finish". Free models misbehave in ways that a plain answer check does not catch: one reply asked for the same statute a hundred and fifty times, another wrote its answer as a tool call in the last round, where no tool can run. A reply now runs at most eight calls and a repeat only once, a turn at most twelve law readings and eight searches, a turn with nothing to show gets one more round, with tools off, by another model, and the best real answer of the turn is kept when a later reply is only a note of a call. Search works again, on our own server. The search engine on the host had four sources, all four blocked for too many requests or a CAPTCHA, so every search came back empty. More free sources are switched on and a block lasts minutes instead of hours. The other engines still refuse the host, so search stays thin and the law is read from the publishers instead. No paid service is involved. The agent researches before it states the law. A real question on the live site was answered from memory: no search, no source, and the tool calls it should have made written into the answer as text. Every answer is now checked: one that cites law without a source, describes calls instead of making them, or gives a deadline without recording it, is sent back once (up to twice, each time to the next model in the chain); if it still fails it is shown marked "unverified". The roadmap records where this is going. The law will be read from Solon as data, with the publisher as the check; the problems people bring most often (a company, a divorce, a notice ending a tenancy, choosing a vehicle for an investment) are named as workflows to build; Luxembourg and Ireland are named as the next readers; and the lawyer credential is described as what it is, a signed selective disclosure and not yet a zero-knowledge proof. None of this is built.

5. October 21, 2026

   A new front page. It shows instead of telling: an invented letter worked through (the name hidden, the deadline found with its source, a draft, your decision), the days a letter usually costs against the minutes here, the anonymisation drawn as it happens, and an honest comparison with a general chatbot and a lawyer. Headlines are set in sentence case. Italian. The whole site, the account screens and the emails are now also in Italian. A letter can be translated into nineteen languages, from Albanian to Tigrinya. Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Matters and helper profiles can be set in Liechtenstein as well as in any canton, and the agent is told what is particular to each legal order. Choose on sign-up whether you need help or give it. Both are the same account. Start from a common problem. Debt collection notice, rent increase, tax assessment, dismissal, insurance refused, founding an association: one tap tells the agent what has to be established and what to draft, and tells you what to have ready. No law is written into them: the agent finds and cites the rule and its deadline each time. "Find a helper" from such a matter opens the directory on its area. Helpers you can find and ask. A directory of legal assistants, licensed lawyers and AI services, with Causius AI first. Search forgives a typo; filter by kind, country, language and area. Nobody is invented: every profile is a real account that listed itself. Become a helper. Any account can list itself, under a name or a pseudonym, and still keep matters of its own. "Create a helper account" sits on the sign-up page. A lawyer checked, and still pseudonymous. A lawyer submits their admission privately; a Causius reviewer checks it in the public register. The public then sees a signed attestation (SD-JWT, Ed25519) that names the place, never the person, and anyone can check it at /verify or with the key at /.well-known/jwks.json. A lawyer is listed only where it was checked. Ask a helper about your matter. You choose what they see: without your personal details (the default) or everything. Before sending you read your request exactly as they will, and can hide a name the patterns missed. A lawyer who accepts gives you the name Causius checked, with proof it is that name. Ending it ends their access at once. The account menu's label no longer shows a formatting error to screen readers.

6. October 15, 2026

   Accounts of your own. You no longer need an OrangeCat account to use Causius. Register with an email address and a password, a sign-in link or a passkey; add two-step codes if you like. "Sign in with OrangeCat" stays as one button for people who have an account there, and matters you started that way are still yours.

7. October 14, 2026

   A look of its own: ink on paper. Causius is light by default, deep ink-indigo on warm paper, with headlines set like an inscription; dark mode follows your device or the switch in the header, and your choice is kept in this browser. Amber and red stay for deadlines and problems only. Much less to read. The home page went from about a thousand words to about two hundred and forty: what it is, how it works, why it is private, who can help. What is real today and the identity statement moved to the platform page; the quick check, the case page, the helpers page and the security page were cut by a quarter to a third. Header and footer are easier to hit. Language, theme and footer links are all at least 44 by 44 pixels, and nothing runs off the edge of a phone.

8. October 12, 2026

   Say it, photograph it, attach it. Starting a matter and writing in one use the same message box: a microphone, a camera/photos/files menu, and a choice of model. Photos are covered by you in the browser before they are read; PDFs and text files are added as they are. Speaking, disclosed. A spoken take goes to a speech service and cannot be hidden first. The text comes back for you to edit, and the security page says so. Hiding personal details is sturdier. Titles (Dr., Prof.), initials, ALL-CAPS names, street and PO-box forms, phone and IBAN variants are now caught, and a very long paste can no longer slow the check down. The agent is stricter with what it reads. Web pages and documents are treated as untrusted text, the agent refuses internal addresses, and one matter handles one message at a time. The security page says only what is true. Deadline dates are readable in the database, detection is not perfect, and the feedback widget is named.

9. October 11, 2026

   Matters, worked by an agent. Sign in with your OrangeCat account and open a matter: Causius researches what applies and cites it, records deadlines and tasks, drafts documents, and proposes anything that would leave the matter (sending, filing, signing, paying) for you to approve. Sealed on our host. Each matter is encrypted with its own key; the database alone holds no name, message, deadline or document. Your account name is always among the words hidden from the model. Documents in a matter. Add a PDF or a text file; only its text is kept, encrypted. Domain names checked with the registries. Before recommending a name for something you are founding, the agent asks the registries whether its domains are registered. One account across the fleet. "Create an account" opens OrangeCat's screen; the same account opens OrangeCat, Solon and Loki, and the account menu links to them. The fleet's look, and the story behind it. Causius now wears the shared design of OrangeCat, Loki and Solon, with new pages on how it is built, how it keeps matters private, and where it sits in the fleet. Your details never reach the model. Before a letter is sent, your browser replaces names, addresses, AHV and IBAN numbers, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, dates of birth and reference numbers with placeholders. You see every replacement, can add words of your own, and can preview exactly what is sent. The real values go back into the result on your device. Cover details on a photo. Black out your name and address on each page before it is sent; what is under the box is removed from the image. An anonymised case file for helpers. Export a case with your details replaced, to hand to a legal assistant or a lawyer. A strict security policy. The browser runs only scripts the page vouches for, sends data only to Causius, and refuses framing. English pages answered with an error. Every page now lives under its language (/en, /de, /fr), and / opens in your browser's language. Causius speaks English, German and French. The whole interface, and what an analysis says about your letter, in the language you choose in the header. German follows Swiss spelling. [#7] Letters of several pages. Photograph up to four pages in order. Photos are made smaller in your browser before they are sent, so a phone picture is no longer too large. [#7] The deadline shows its source. Under the reply date is the sentence of the letter it was read from, to compare with your own copy. A date the letter does not state is never worked out for you. [#7] You are told before you start. The intake page says whether the free models are on, and whether they can read photos, before you add a letter. [#7]

10. October 10, 2026

    Causius reads a letter. Paste an official letter or add a photo of it and get a case: the deadline with the days left, each thing asked of you as a checklist, the letter in the languages you chose, and a draft reply to fill in. [#7] Your case stays with you. Cases are kept in your browser only. Export one as a file to hand to a helper or move to another device, and import it again. [#7] Your own model. Connect an API key from one of ten providers. The key is checked as you paste it, the strongest model it can use is preselected, and it is kept in your browser only. [#7] Free shared models, fairly shared. Without a key, letters are read by the fleet's shared free models, a few per hour per visitor. A photo goes only to a model that can read one. [#7] Helpers, and an honest line between them. What a legal assistant may do, what only a licensed lawyer may do, and who may work under a pseudonym. Nobody is listed yet, and the page says so. [#7] Roadmap and changelog. Both are kept in the repository and shown on the site from the fleet map. [#7]