The BeTTY-to-Web Gateway.
httbd is the bridge between BeTTY's federated topic graph and the hypertext world.
It transforms BettyDocs into living web experiences—like dynamic dashboards, responsive apps, and interactive publications—all built upon the same local-first,
human-readable foundation that defines BeTTY.
Where bettyd manages data and btty commands it, httbd renders it, bringing the semantic gopher to the modern browser.
httbd is gateway server, bridging the BeTTY protocol with the World Wide Web, provding the human interface layer of the BeTTY ecosystem.
It allows any BeTTY node to serve static, local-first web applications and cross-platform interfaces using modern web standards, while preserving BeTTY's core principles of federation, privacy, and control.
httbd makes the BeTTY protocol readable, writable, and explorable via your browser, your device, or across your network.
The web was never meant to be the only interface for information.
httbd restores that balance, providing a clean, JSON-based gateway
for presenting BeTTY's federated content through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
It is not a CMS, nor a traditional web server; it is a translator.
It reads BettyDocs, applies marXDown templates,
and publishes to the web, bridging human understanding and machine interoperability.
Where bettyd handles data storage and federation, and btty provides a control plane for developers and automation, httbd is designed for humans.
It translates BeTTY API (LUMA) calls into standard HTTP responses, serving static pages built from decrypted JSON-LD data.
Every page rendered by httbd is a live view of a BettyDoc, presented in readable, interactive form through familiar web technologies.
This allows web-based BeTTY apps to behave like local-first, semantic websites without sacrificing data sovereignty or introducing centralized dependencies.
httbd exposes a high-level interface to btty,
allowing developers to build modern applications directly from semantic documents.
betty:// documents as standard https:// pages.marXDown to render Markdown with semantic structure.bettyd nodes for live or cached federated data.Like btty, httbd includes public/private key encryption based on BeTTY's federated PKI.
This ensures that all communication between your browser, your node, and your peers is encrypted at the protocol level, without requiring external authentication or third-party trust systems.
Each user's keypair controls what content they can read, write, or append, just as it does in the BeTTY network.
Security and identity are built into the foundation, not bolted on.
httbd only serves static pages, based on decrypted JSON-LD responses from bettyd.
Designed to be as resilient and portable as possible, these pages are fast, cacheable, and composable.
However, client-side scripting (JavaScript, WebAssembly, or local extensions) allows httbd-based apps to feel dynamic, responsive, and modern.
Your application logic runs locally, using real data from your node, not a remote API server.
This architecture keeps computation close to the user, ensures data privacy, and makes offline use a first-class feature.
httbd makes the federated, encrypted world of BeTTY visible.
It allows anyone to publish and interact with semantic data without needing to abandon the web's familiar surface.
For journalists, researchers, and developers, this means creating interoperable, verifiable documents that stay under the author's control, even when rendered online.
httbd represents a new philosophy of the web: one where users own their data, applications are composable, and the boundaries between local and online dissolve. It reimagines the browser as a node in the BeTTY federation, each one a resilient access point to a secure, meaningful, and human-centered Semantic Internet.
httbd is the platform for building cross-device applications like
memeograph,
the research and communication layer atop the BeTTY stack.
By combining marXDown templates, btty queries,
and bettyd data, httbd serves as
the bridge between local-first networks and the global web.
httbd is fully cross-platform. It provides a flexible foundation for building local-first applications that can run: