Local Optimization with Overflow Protocol
Circular economy infrastructure for cities - federated, open, and sovereignty-preserving. Open research protocol for lab-only exploration.
localLOOP is a research and protocol project building the open infrastructure for federated municipal material exchange. The core idea: cities should be able to track, offer, match, and transfer surplus materials and products across boundaries - without surrendering data sovereignty or locking into a single platform.
We're designing this as an open protocol (LOOP), not a product. The schemas, spec, and governance are public. The lab backend is intended to support lab-only exploration of these flows. Cities, researchers, and builders are welcome to engage.
Early-stage, low-TRL. Lab demo only. No public pilots or production deployments yet.
LOOP - Local Optimization with Overflow Protocol - defines how autonomous city nodes discover each other, register materials, post offers, compute matches, and settle transfers. Key concepts:
| Concept | What it is |
|---|---|
| MaterialDNA | Data model for identifying a material batch - category, quantity, and availability |
| ProductDNA | Data model for a digital product passport for finished goods |
| LoopCoin (LC) | Local digital currency with built-in expiry to incentivise circulation |
| LoopSignal | Community preference weight for material categories |
| Offer -> Match -> Transfer | The minimal interop flow across federated nodes |
| Federation handshake | How two LOOP nodes discover and register each other |
For exact protocol versions and release status, see the canonical specification and release metadata.
vNext direction: Core-DP implementer preview is a proposed working label for future protocol exploration, not a version commitment.
| Repo | What's inside |
|---|---|
| loop-protocol | Normative specification, JSON schemas, JSON-LD contexts, examples, and governance RFCs |
| localloop.urbnia.com | Official website - protocol spec, platform docs, schema library, guides, governance, interest registry |
| localloop-backend | Lab REST API - interest registry, demo flows, SSE streams, federation handshake, city data |
| Goal | Go here |
|---|---|
| Register your city's interest | localloop.urbnia.com/interest |
| Read the protocol spec | localloop.urbnia.com/protocol/spec |
| Regulatory context and research notes | localloop.urbnia.com/docs/regulatory-alignment |
| Implementation guide (city decision-maker summary) | localloop.urbnia.com/docs/implementation |
| Browse schemas & examples | localloop.urbnia.com/library |
| Understand MaterialDNA | localloop.urbnia.com/platform/materialdna |
| Understand ProductDNA | localloop.urbnia.com/platform/productdna |
| Explore governance & RFCs | localloop.urbnia.com/governance |
| Run the lab API | loop-api.urbnia.com/docs |
Read the specification and examples. Raise ideas via issues or draft an RFC in the protocol repo. Express interest if you represent a city, research group, or operator - register here.
Mycel UG (haftungsbeschränkt) @alpha912 / dev@mycel-ai.de / mycel-ai.de
@misc{localloop_org_2025,
author = {Mycel UG (haftungsbeschränkt)},
title = {localLOOP - Local Optimization with Overflow Protocol},
year = {2025},
publisher = {GitHub},
url = {https://github.com/local-loop-io},
note = {Lab demo only. No public pilots or deployments.}
}