Karrot

Karrot is an open-source web platform designed to help grassroots initiatives and local groups coordinate face-to-face activities, manage membership and share resources. It focuses on transparent, democratic and participatory group management while providing maps, activity scheduling and contextual chat.

Key Features

• Independent groups: each group has its own settings, logo, membership rules and governance mechanisms.
• Activity scheduling with slots: create time-and-place activities (meetings, pickups, events) with sign-up slots and attendance tracking.
• Offers and local sharing: create offers for items or services and discuss interest in per-offer chats.
• Contextual messaging and notifications: group-wide messages, private messages and activity/place-specific chats; configurable notifications.
• Trust-based role system and membership review: peer-assigned trust levels, application workflow, voting and membership review tools.
• Maps and lists: map-based discovery of groups, places and participants alongside chronological lists of upcoming activities.
• Audit trail and transparency: history logs of actions for accountability and moderation.
• Extensible plugin system: frontend and backend plugin APIs for custom features and integrations; frontend uses a Vite-based build and i18n support.
• Deployment options: published Docker images, Docker Compose guides and a recommended coop cloud/ansible deployment workflow.

Use Cases

• Food-rescue and community food-sharing groups scheduling regular store pickups and coordinating volunteers.
• Local mutual-aid or neighborhood groups organizing events, tasks and resource-sharing with clear membership processes.
• Small community organizations that need lightweight, transparent tools for activity sign-ups, offers and discussion.

Karrot provides a focused toolset for local, volunteer-driven coordination with an emphasis on transparency and community governance. Its plugin architecture and published deployment guides make it adaptable for different group needs while remaining technology-agnostic and community-driven.