What's a Sanctuary, Really?

A Sanctuary is the membership boundary in ARA. Everything you make — Seeds, Gardens, Scrolls, Rhythms, Contributions — belongs to one. Your user account can join many; the data inside each stays put.

When to create one

Make a Sanctuary when you have a group that already shares meaningful things: a kitchen, a budget, a piece of land, a recurring project. Don't create one for a single household chore or a one-off event. Sanctuaries reward continuity.

Real-world starting points we've seen work:

• A six-adult cohousing in its first year
• A 30-person ecovillage moving off WhatsApp and Google Sheets
• A small mutual-aid cell that needs to track who-owes-what across runs

What lives at the Sanctuary level

Configured once in Settings > Sanctuary, applies to everyone:

• Name and short description — what your community is and where it sits
• Hourly rate — used by the Ledger to translate sweat-equity hours into a value
• Plan tier — Seedling (free, up to 5), Village (paid, up to 25), or Ecosystem (paid, unlimited plus federation)
• Member roster — the people who can see and act inside
• Federation — which other Sanctuaries you're connected to

What lives below it

Inside a Sanctuary you'll find your Gardens, Seeds, Scrolls, Gatherings, Rhythms, Proposals, Contributions, Resources, and Listings. None of it is visible to other Sanctuaries unless you explicitly federate.

A five-minute setup pass

1. Settings > Sanctuary > give it a real name (not "Test").
2. Add a one-line description and a photo. Useful when villagers are deciding whether to stay.
3. Set the hourly rate that feels honest for your context.
4. Pick a plan. When to upgrade walks through the trade-offs.
5. Plant your first Garden. The rest follows.

If you're brand new, the five-minute tour is a faster orientation. This article is the longer "what is this thing?" answer.