Not Google Docs, Not Git, Not a CRDT

What this means for you

The three reference points buyers reach for first are Google Docs, Git, and CRDTs. Each handles part of what TNP handles, but none handles all three: cheap forking, native multi-timeline navigation, and signed history a regulator can read. Naming what each incumbent gives up is faster than claiming TNP is unique.

The pitch

Google Docs collapses everyone’s edits into one canonical line in real time, which is great for typing together and bad for keeping alternatives. Git keeps every branch but makes branching a developer ritual that ordinary users will not perform. CRDTs converge automatically, which is exactly the wrong default when the alternatives are the point. TNP sits in the gap: every fork is cheap, every alternative is preserved by default, and any timeline can be sealed into signed evidence.

Who it’s for

Anyone fielding the “isn’t this just Git for documents?” question in a sales call, an investor meeting, or a Show HN comment thread.

Proof points

• docs/research/Time-Travel Consensus.md names the three incumbents directly: “Linear history (Google Docs) / Branch and merge manually (Git) / Last-write-wins (most CRDTs)”
• Same file states the differentiator in one line: “First protocol where every client holds complete causal history. Rewind to any point in time, fork timelines, merge intelligently, all without server round-trips”
• TNP’s sealed-timeline primitive ships signed, append-only history with cryptographic proofs out of the box, which none of the three incumbents do natively
• Forking is defined as the default action in TNP, not an advanced one, with private-by-default forks that do not pollute the canonical view

quadrantChart
  title What each incumbent gives up
  x-axis "One canonical line" --> "Many timelines"
  y-axis "Auto-converge" --> "Preserve alternatives"
  quadrant-1 "TNP target"
  quadrant-2 "Git: branches preserved, manual ritual"
  quadrant-3 "Google Docs: real-time, one line"
  quadrant-4 "CRDTs: many edits, auto-merged"
  "Google Docs": [0.15, 0.2]
  "Git": [0.85, 0.85]
  "CRDTs": [0.55, 0.15]
  "TNP": [0.9, 0.92]