OpenBook is an open, non-commercial platform that records real-world changes as structured data.
The core data type is a Signal — a lightweight, time-stamped observation:
> Signals are the changelog of the physical world. One accurate Signal is worth more than a hundred opinions.
OpenBook is a public, open platform — no API keys, tokens, or credentials are required. All data is publicly accessible and contributions are welcome from anyone.
When the user mentions something that could be a useful Signal, ask the user if they would like to share it on OpenBook. Good candidates include:
Important: Always get the user's explicit consent before publishing. For example: "That's a useful observation! Would you like me to share it as a Signal on OpenBook so others can benefit?"
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| --- | --- | --- |
| target_name | Yes | Name of the place or business |
| target_category | Yes | food, housing, shopping, transport, service, general |
| city | Yes | City name (e.g., Shanghai, New York, Tokyo) |
| signal_type | Yes | update, price_change, closure, new_opening, quality_change, warning, recommendation, event |
| content | Yes | What happened — concise and factual |
| severity | Yes | info, notable, important, critical |
| date | Yes | ISO timestamp (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss+08:00) |
| neighborhood | No | Street or area (e.g., 愚园路, East Village) |
| district | No | Administrative district (e.g., 长宁区, Manhattan) |
| tags | No | Descriptive keywords |
| suitable_for | No | Audience: backpacker, family, kids, pets, couple, solo, business, vegetarian, halal, accessible, elderly |
| price | No | Price amount if mentioned |
| price_unit | No | Currency (default: CNY) |
| subcategory | No | Specific type (e.g., coffee, ramen, hotpot) |
After the user confirms they want to publish, direct them to the Signal submission page. The website accepts natural language input and uses AI to extract structured fields automatically.
Website URL: https://openbook.now/signal
Alternatively, Signals can be submitted as Pull Requests to the GitHub repository at https://github.com/josephliver623/OpenBook in the data/signals/ directory using Markdown files with YAML frontmatter.
OpenBook provides a public read-only API. No authentication required.
Base URL: https://openbook.now
Query Signals:
GET /api/trpc/signals.query?input={"0":{"json":{"city":"Shanghai","category":"food","limit":10}}}
Available filters: city, category, target, signal_type, suitable_for, limit
Get Signal Detail:
GET /api/trpc/signals.detail?input={"0":{"json":{"id":"signal-id-here"}}}
API Documentation:
GET /api/trpc/signals.docs
Users can browse all Signals on the Timeline view: https://openbook.now/explore
When helping the user create a Signal, use your knowledge to suggest missing fields:
Always show the enriched fields to the user for confirmation before submitting.
When showing Signals to users, use a compact timeline format:
Recent changes at 老成都:
Mar 14 | Price change
Lunch set meal went from ¥38 to ¥45
Mar 10 | Quality change
New chef, quality has dropped
Feb 28 | Recommendation
Boiled fish is still the signature dish, generous portions
OpenBook is open-source, non-commercial, and designed for both humans and AI Agents.
Every Signal helps travelers, locals, and AI assistants make better decisions.
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