Free knowledge, structured from the ground up.
A nonprofit, open-source education platform where every concept maps to its prerequisites.
What is it · Overview · Quick start · Layout · Stack · Roadmap · Contributing · Sponsor
Most "free" knowledge online is organized for retrieval, not for learning. You can look up what a Fourier transform is on Wikipedia in 30 seconds. Actually learning it without a class? That's a week of figuring out what to read first.
Bluelearn is a graph of concepts where every page declares its prerequisites. Hit a term you don't know? The prerequisite is one click away. Community-written, optionally expert-verified, AGPL-3.0, free forever.
This repository is the product monorepo: web client, API, and database. The marketing site is closed-source.
💬 Join the Discord → · 🌐 bluelearn.org → · 📺 YouTube →
A 23-minute walkthrough of what Bluelearn is, why it's nonprofit, and how the prerequisite graph changes how you read a concept page.
You'll need Node.js 20+, pnpm 10+, the Supabase CLI, and Docker (for the local Supabase stack).
# 1. Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/bluelearn-org/bluelearn.git
cd bluelearn
pnpm install
# 2. Start local Supabase (Postgres + Auth on docker)
pnpm supabase:start
# If your shell/OS does not resolve the local Supabase binary,
# use one of these instead:
# pnpm exec supabase start
# pnpx supabase start
# 3. Copy env files and fill in the values Supabase printed
cp api/.dev.vars.example api/.dev.vars
cp app/.env.example app/.env
# 4. Run app + api side-by-side
pnpm dev:api # Workers dev → http://localhost:8787
pnpm dev:app # Vite dev → http://localhost:3000The app reads VITE_API_BASE from app/.env (default http://localhost:8787),
and the API uses APP_URL from api/.dev.vars for CORS (default http://localhost:3000).
💡 Tip:
pnpm devruns bothappandapiin parallel through pnpm workspaces.
bluelearn/
├── app/ React 19 · TanStack Start · TanStack Router
│ shadcn/ui · Tailwind 4 · Vite
├── api/ Hono on Cloudflare Workers
│ Routes: guides · objectives · review · search · media
├── supabase/ Postgres · Auth · Storage: migrations + RLS policies
├── docs/
│ ├── architecture.md System overview + diagram
│ ├── monorepo.md Why one repo instead of three
│ ├── overall-system.md Editorial pipeline + verifier design
│ ├── database-schema.md ERD walkthrough
│ └── open-questions.md Active design debates
└── .github/
├── workflows/ci.yml app + api in parallel
├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ bug · feature · guide proposal
├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
├── CODEOWNERS
└── FUNDING.yml
Why a monorepo? See docs/monorepo.md. Short
version: atomic cross-stack changes, one CI, one onboarding flow,
type-safety end-to-end via Hono's hc<AppType>.
| Layer | Tech | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | React 19 · TanStack Start · TanStack Router · shadcn/ui | Type-safe routing, loader-based data fetching, accessible primitives |
| API | Hono on Cloudflare Workers · @hono/zod-validator |
Edge-fast, tiny, type-safe end-to-end with the frontend |
| Database | Supabase (Postgres 15 · GoTrue Auth · Storage) | Managed Postgres + RLS, JWT auth, file storage in one |
| Tooling | pnpm workspaces · TypeScript · ESLint · Prettier · Vitest | One install, one CI, one style |
| CI/CD | GitHub Actions (parallel jobs per package) | Fast feedback, easy to extend |
| Wire types | Hono AppType exported from api/src/index.ts |
hc<AppType> gives the frontend full request/response types |
Decentralized editorial verification: signing the canonical concept history into a verifiable log. Tools under exploration: SUI · Move · Walrus. Skills welcome from contributors interested, though these are not on the Phase 1 critical path.
| Phase | Status | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🟢 Active | The Core: prerequisite graph, verifier and moderator systems, open contribution workflow |
| 2 | ⚪ Next | Universal Access: i18n, expert verification tooling, API formalization |
| 3 | ⚪ Future | Decentralization: protocol extraction, self-hosting, independent mirrors |
Full roadmap: bluelearn.org/roadmap
Small project, tight loop. New contributors land their first PR within a day on a good week. CONTRIBUTING.md is the full guide.
The shortest path:
- Find a
good first issueor open one. - Comment that you'd like to take it.
- Set up locally and open a draft PR early.
- Ping
#contributingon Discord anytime.
Frontend: TypeScript proficiency, React, TanStack ecosystem (Start, Router), UI/UX sense. Backend: TypeScript on Workers (Hono), Supabase / Postgres, RLS familiarity. Generalist bonus skills: accessibility, i18n, performance budgets. Phase 3 R&D bonus: web3 smart contracts (SUI, Move), Walrus storage.
Thanks to everyone who has helped shape Bluelearn.
Bluelearn is incorporated as a California nonprofit, with an EIN and an org bank account open. Federal 501(c)(3) recognition is the one step still pending. Every dollar funds infrastructure (Supabase, Cloudflare, Discord), editorial review, and making content available offline in low-bandwidth regions.
- One-time / recurring donation → bluelearn.org/donate
- GitHub Sponsors → coming once 501(c)(3) recognition comes through
- Help in other ways → star the repo, share the project, open an issue, send a PR
| Stars | |
| Forks | |
| Open issues | |
| Open PRs | |
| Discord members |
- Code: AGPL-3.0-or-later. Any service that exposes this code over a network must publish its source.
- Content: CC BY-SA 4.0. Concept pages and editorial material remix freely with attribution and share-alike.
By contributing you agree your work is licensed under the applicable license above. See CONTRIBUTING.md for sign-off details.
Built openly · bluelearn.org · Discord · GitHub