Monorepo for Tangled
tangled.org
1---
2atroot: true
3template:
4slug: vouching
5title: Combat LLM spam by building a web of trust
6subtitle: Vouching on Tangled!
7image: https://assets.tangled.network/vouch.png
8date: 2026-05-01
9authors:
10 - name: Akshay
11 email: akshay@tangled.org
12 handle: oppi.li
13draft: false
14---
15
16<picture>
17 <img class="h-auto max-w-full" src="https://assets.tangled.network/vouch.png">
18</picture>
19
20Tangled now has native support for
21[vouching](https://github.com/mitchellh/vouch/)! You can
22vouch or denounce users that you interact with. Vouched
23users will have a green shield icon beside their profile
24pictures, and denounced users will have a red one. You can
25use this to inform decisions about an interaction. You can
26also see the vouch/denounce decisions made by your circle.
27
28## why vouch?
29
30Vouching serves as a signal of trust to your circle.
31
32The bar to submit code to a project has never been lower
33thanks to LLM based tooling. LLM tools are really good at
34creating "uncanny valley" submissions. Code that looks
35correct but is subtly wrong. The onus is on maintainers to
36now take the time to review such submissions. To ease this
37burden, maintainers from across the Tangled network can now
38vouch for or denounce contributors that misuse these tools
39and create a maintenance burden.
40
41## mindful design
42
43Such systems need careful consideration. Vouching on Tangled
44includes the following to begin with:
45
46- vouching/denouncing with a text-based reason field
47- attenuation: you can only view decisions made by you and
48 your circle
49- no consequences to being denounced: at present, denounced
50 users aren't blocked from the project, but simply have a
51 red warning label in parts of the UI
52
53Some additions that I want to put in down the line:
54
55- decay of vouches: maintainers and contributors tend to
56 move on from projects over time, so vouches should decay
57 as time passes, and be renewed every now and then
58- evidence trails: vouching for a user right after merging a
59 PR should add the PR to the vouch record as a piece of
60 evidence
61
62<picture>
63 <img class="h-auto max-w-full" src="https://assets.tangled.network/vouching-hats.png">
64</picture>
65
66## how it works
67
68When you vouch for or denounce somebody on Tangled, you
69create a **public** record on your
70[PDS](https://atproto.com/guides/glossary#pds-personal-data-server).
71The record includes:
72
73- whether you vouched for or denounced somebody
74- an optional reason for doing so
75
76The Tangled appview then aggregates vouch data from across
77the network, and displays vouch "hats" over profiles at
78points of interaction:
79
80- in issues and issue comments
81- in pull-requests and pull-request comments
82
83A hat appears over a user only if you have directly
84vouched/denounced them, or if somebody you have vouched for
85has vouched/denounced them.
86
87Additionally, there are no consequences for a denounced
88user. Only a hat. You can click on the hat to see who
89vouched/denounced this user in your circle. The consequences
90may change eventually, but for now you can use the hat to
91inform a decision.
92
93Start building your web of trust on Tangled today.