The short version
- Sphoton turns your codebase into a certified knowledge map of your software.
- Your engineers certify each part of the map. Your team and your coding agents read the same map.
- Your code is read on your machine and never uploaded. Your record is encrypted before it leaves your device.
- You bring your own model keys. Sphoton never bills you for tokens.
- The beta starts with a short call. Early firms get up to 50% off their first three months.
1. What Sphoton is
Every software team knows things its code does not say: which modules a change really reaches, the conditions that hold between them, and why they are there. That knowledge usually lives in a few people, in documents that drift out of date, and in agent sessions that forget it overnight.
Sphoton gives that knowledge a place to live. It builds a map of what your system does, module by module, bound to its code. Your engineers certify it, it stays current as the code changes, and everyone who works on the system reads from it, people and agents alike.
2. What it changes for your team
| Who | Without Sphoton | With Sphoton |
|---|---|---|
| A new hire | Finds four of the five places a change touches. The fifth surfaces in QA. | Sees every module a change reaches, including the ones the code does not point to. |
| Your senior engineer | Answers the same questions all day. When away, the team guesses. | Certifies once. The team reads the answer from the map. |
| Your coding agents | Start every session empty and need the system explained again. | Start every session with what the system knows today. |
3. How it works
3.1 The map
Each module in the map records five things: its purpose, its data, its behaviour, its boundaries and its impact, meaning what else it reaches.
3.2 Certification
A senior engineer reads a module's entry and certifies it at a revision of the code. The certificate carries their name and the date. QA confirms and verifies the module's test cases separately.
3.3 Staying current
When a merge touches a certified part, that part is marked needs review until someone certifies it again. You always know what is current and what is behind.
3.4 People and agents
Your team reads the map in the Sphoton app. Commander, Sphoton's agent, reads the same map over MCP and runs on your own infrastructure, so your coding agents work from certified knowledge instead of guesses.
4. Key terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Map | Sphoton's record of what your system does, module by module. |
| Module | One part of your system, with its purpose, data, behaviour, boundaries and impact. |
| Certified | Signed by an engineer at a specific revision of the code. |
| Needs review | A certified part whose code has changed since it was signed. |
| Seat | A person's role in the workspace, which sets what they can do and what it costs. |
| Commander | Sphoton's agent. Reads the map over MCP and runs on your infrastructure. |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol, the standard way coding agents read outside context. |
| Workspace | Your team's space in Sphoton, with its members, keys and environments. |
5. Seats and roles
| Seat | What the seat does |
|---|---|
| Admin | Seats, keys, environments. |
| Senior engineer | Certifies modules, signs off. |
| Engineer | Builds against the certified map. |
| QA | Confirms and verifies test cases. |
| Rule author | Writes the business rules. |
| Business reader | Reads the map, no code. |
| Commander (agent) | Reads the map over MCP, runs on your infrastructure. |
6. Plans and pricing
Two plans. You bring your own model keys; Sphoton never bills you for tokens.
6.1 Team · two members or more
| Seat | Per person, per month |
|---|---|
| Admin | $35 |
| Senior engineer | $30 |
| Engineer | $25 |
| QA | $20 |
| Rule author | $15 |
| Business reader | $10 |
| Commander (one agent seat) | $100 per month |
Example: a team of eight with 1 Admin, 1 Senior engineer, 4 Engineers, 1 QA and 1 Business reader pays $195 for seats, plus $100 for Commander: $295 per month.
6.2 Lone wolf · one developer, whole product
$200 per month, flat. Every role and the Commander agent are included. Bought separately, they would cost $235.
7. Security and privacy
| Guarantee | How |
|---|---|
| Your password never leaves your device. | Keys are derived from it on your machine (Argon2id). We store nothing that yields them. |
| Everything is encrypted before it is sent. | AES-256-GCM, on your device. Our servers hold ciphertext only. |
| Your code is read where it lives. | The desktop app reads your repository locally. It is not uploaded to us. |
| Your model keys, your model bill. | Calls to your AI provider go out under your own key. |
| The agent runs on your infrastructure. | Commander is deployed by you, inside your network. |
| Teammates get access by key, not by our permission. | The workspace key is wrapped to each member's own public key (RSA-4096). |
What we can see: your email, who is in your workspace and their roles, counts and timestamps, your billing.
What that costs you: lose your password and your recovery key together and nobody, including us, can open your record. Keep the recovery key somewhere safe.
The full detail is in the privacy policy.
8. Getting started in the beta
- Book a call. The full walkthrough is in the onboarding guide. On the Join the beta page, give your name, work email, company and team size, then pick a date and time.
- Meet us. On the call we walk through your system and set up your workspace with you.
- Install the desktop app and open your repository. The app reads it on your machine. It runs on Windows and macOS, and works with any Git repository on your machine, whether it is hosted on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps or your own server.
- Map and certify your first modules. Start with the part of the system people ask about most.
- Invite your team and give each person their seat.
- Connect Commander on your infrastructure, with your own model keys, so your coding agents read the map. Commander uses Claude models, through Anthropic directly or through Amazon Bedrock.
8.1 Beta pricing
The first five firms to join get a discount on their first three months, by order of joining:
| Order of joining | Discount, first 3 months |
|---|---|
| 1st firm | 50% |
| 2nd firm | 40% |
| 3rd firm | 30% |
| 4th firm | 20% |
| 5th firm | 10% |
Firms after the fifth pay the standard price.
9. Questions
Do you upload or store our code?
No. The desktop app reads your repository on your machine. What Sphoton stores is your record, encrypted on your device before it is sent.
Which AI models does it use?
Yours. Every call goes out under your own model key, and you pay your provider directly. Sphoton never bills for tokens.
Does this replace our senior engineers?
No. It makes what they know reachable by everyone, so they are asked less and certify once.
What happens when the code changes?
A merge that touches a certified part marks it needs review until it is certified again, so the map never silently drifts.
Can one developer use Sphoton?
Yes. The Lone wolf plan covers one developer with every role and Commander included, for $200 a month.
What if we lose our password?
Your recovery key opens your record. If both are lost, nobody can open it, including us. Keep the recovery key safe.
10. Contact and support
Write to the founder directly at [email protected]. Found a security problem? Use the same address.