Asking Other Companions

Most questions you ask people are really questions about their memory:

• “Do you have photos of us from the lake trip?”
• “Do you know anyone at Acme?”
• “Free for lunch Friday?”

Today those go over the slowest possible protocol: interrupt the person, wait, hope they remember, get an answer nobody can source. Asks let your Companion put the question to their Companion — and get a truthful, sourced answer that the other person stayed in control of.

What makes this different

Your memory never leaves your appliance. When someone asks you something:

1. The question arrives at your box.
2. Your consent rules decide whether it may be answered at all.
3. The search runs locally, as you.
4. Only a filtered answer — never your raw records — goes back.

The other person’s Companion does the same for you. Neither box gets a copy of the other’s memory, and the cloud never sees either.

Finding someone

Companions find each other through the CI-Portal directory, which works like a phone book: you look up a handle, and you get back where that person’s Companion listens.

The directory deliberately knows very little:

Your relationships live on your box alone. Looking someone up does not tell Portal you know them.

Linking a peer

Linking is a local act on your box. Each peer gets a tier, which sets the default posture for what they may ask, and per-peer rules refine it.

Unlinking takes effect on the very next question they ask. To them, being unlinked looks exactly like never having been linked — they can’t tell the difference.

The three kinds of question

Each kind is a separate, narrow shape. That’s deliberate: it means a question about your calendar can’t quietly become a search of your photos.

”Free for lunch Friday?”

This one is special, and it’s the reason assistants can schedule for you.

You send a time window and how long you need — not a search of their calendar. What comes back is only when they’re free or busy:

The answer contains no event titles, locations, attendees, or even a count of meetings — overlapping blocks are merged together before sending, so “busy 11:00–12:30” could be one meeting or four. There’s nothing sensitive to redact because nothing sensitive was ever assembled.

Because it’s provably free/busy only, this question can be answered automatically under a standing rule, without interrupting anyone. That’s what lets two assistants find a lunch slot on their own.

Answering: you stay in control

When a question arrives, you either set a standing rule for it or you review it.

• Review is the default. Nothing is answered until you say so.
• Standing rules auto-answer questions you’ve already decided about (“Devon can always ask my busy/free”).
• You see the answer before it sends — never approve blind.
• Declining is free. No reason required, and the other side can’t tell a decline from “nothing found”.

Sharing less, instead of declining

You can always answer at a coarser level rather than saying no: share 3 of 7 photos, answer “the city” instead of your address, or reply yes/no instead of the details.

Seeing what you’ve shared

Every answer — and every decline — is recorded. What I’ve shared is the full history: who asked, what you disclosed, under which rule.

Accessibility

These screens meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA contrast requirements (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text and controls) in both light and dark themes. Status colors that carry meaning — auto, ask first, blocked — are verified against their backgrounds, and every status is also labeled in words, never color alone.

Related

• Companion Memory — the Explorer, search, and saved searches
• Companion Agent — assistants that can act on your behalf