Why I built Cairn
One day I won't be here. That's not morbid β it's just true. And when that day comes, I want my family to have more than fading memories. I want them to hear my voice, read my thoughts, see the world the way I saw it. I want them to remember my expressions, the way I talked, the things that made me me.
That's why I built Cairn.
A place to leave yourself behind
Cairn is a digital legacy platform. It gives you a private space to create letters, record voice messages, save photos and videos, and organize them into capsules β collections meant for specific people in your life.
It's not a social network. It's not a cloud drive. It's a quiet, intentional space for the things you want to say but might never get the chance to.
Capsules: your legacy, organized
A capsule is a collection of content meant for someone specific β or a group of people. You might create one capsule of letters for your partner, another of stories and photos for your children, and another of practical documents for your executor.
Each capsule can contain letters, photos, videos, voice recordings, and documents. You control who receives each one and when.
Getting it to the people who matter
Today, Cairn generates a self-contained backup archive β a single file you can put on a USB stick and store somewhere safe. Inside, every letter exists in three formats (plain text, formatted, and PDF). Every photo, video, and recording is preserved as the original file. The archive includes a built-in viewer that works on any computer with a browser β no internet, no software installs, nothing to expire.
It's organized by capsule, so each person gets exactly what you intended for them.
Where we're headed
Cairn includes a check-in system β a quiet, periodic βare you still here?β If you stop responding, Cairn can begin the process of notifying the people you've chosen. Automated digital delivery is planned but not yet built. For now, the USB backup is the reliable, durable path β and honestly, there's something fitting about a physical object carrying something so personal.
Start building your cairn
It only takes a moment to begin.