Readable
Every archive includes a browser-readable guide and uses familiar files wherever possible.
Proposed open standard, version 0.1
A family archive
that can outlive us.
Ever Archive is the preservation layer beneath Golden Record: a proposed open format for keeping the voices, photographs, transcripts, relationships, and context of a life together in a form any family can carry, open, and understand.
Nothing important
should be trapped.
An archive is only meaningful if your family can still access it decades from now. Ever Archive keeps original files intact, makes the structure visible, and puts the context around each memory alongside the memory itself.
Portable
Copy it to a thumb drive, a hard drive, or a new computer without leaving anything behind.
Verifiable
Checksums let a future owner verify that their archive arrived intact and unchanged.
Open
The format is documented so no single app is required to understand a family's history.
One simple package.
Everything in context.
An .ever file is a ZIP-based package with a small, plain-language manifest. The archive stores the original source material in place of a proprietary conversion and adds only the structure needed to navigate it.
The first version contains no executable code, no DRM, and no required cloud service.
margaret-smith.ever ├── ever.json # manifest ├── README.html # opens in a browser ├── recordings/ # original + access audio ├── transcripts/ # text + captions ├── media/ # photos, scans, video ├── stories/ # chapters + notes └── checksums-sha256.txt # integrity hashes
Container
ZIP package with the extension .ever. A family can rename it to .zip in an emergency and inspect the contents.
Manifest
ever.json identifies the version, people, places, assets, relationships, rights, and story structure.
Media
Original assets remain in their native formats, with common access copies where helpful. Nothing is locked away.
Integrity
checksums-sha256.txt records a hash for every asset so the package can be checked after copying or storage.
The archive is
human-first.
Tools can read the manifest. People do not need to. A README.html inside every archive gives any family member a simple starting point.
{
"ever_version": "0.1",
"title": "Margaret Smith: Stories",
"created": "2026-09-07T12:00:00Z",
"subjects": [{
"id": "person-margaret",
"name": "Margaret Smith"
}],
"assets": [{
"id": "recording-001",
"path": "recordings/kitchen-stories.wav",
"type": "audio/wav",
"sha256": "…"
}]
}Open by design.
Careful by default.
Golden Record will publish the specification, reference validator, and test archives in public. The format will be versioned conservatively: readers should always fail clearly rather than silently discard a family's context.
- Public, versioned specification
- Reference validator and test files
- Clear migration guidance for every breaking change
- Privacy and rights fields built into the manifest
The name and extension are proposed pending trademark and ecosystem review. The format itself is designed to be usable by anyone.
Keep a life
within reach.
Ever Archive is starting as a promise: the things your family saves should remain your family's to open, understand, and pass on.