# CASCADE — Cart System

## 2026-05-19

---

## What Is the Cart?

The Cart is your **identity mirror** — a record of who you are through what you actually consume, do, and surround yourself with. Not what you say you like. Not your bio. Not your photos. The real data of your life.

The Cart has three categories: **Food**, **Activities**, and **Habitat**. Each category contains items you add over time. Items are NOT shared by default — they are revealed through resonance with others.

The Cart is NOT foregrounded as a matching tool. It is simply who you are. Matching emerges from resonance between carts.

---

## The Three Categories

### Food

What you eat, where you eat it, how you eat it.

**Item types:**
| Type | Examples |
|------|---------|
| Restaurants | Specific named places (Ramen Bar X, The Grain Chain) |
| Food types | Sushi, tacos, pho, ramen, farmers market produce |
| Cooking habits | Meal kits, raw ingredients, batch cooking, bake-from-scratch |
| Dietary patterns | Omnivore, plant-based, keto, organic-only, no restrictions |
| Social dining | Cook for friends, reservations for two, grab and go, picnic |
| Drink habits | Natural wine, craft beer, specialty coffee, tea ritual |

**What Food reveals:**
- Social rhythm (solo eater vs. host)
- Adventurousness (adventurous vs. safe eater)
- Values (organic, local, sustainable)
- Health orientation
- Domestic investment (cooking level)
- Budget priorities

---

### Activities

How you spend your time and energy when you're not obligated to.

**Item types:**
| Type | Examples |
|------|---------|
| Sports/fitness | Rock climbing, yoga, marathon training, walks, gym |
| Creative hobbies | Painting, music, writing, pottery, photography |
| Entertainment | Jazz club, comedy shows, trivia night, concerts, cinema |
| Social activities | Dinner parties, game nights, book clubs, volunteering |
| Intellectual pursuits | Podcasts, documentaries, lectures, language learning |
| Outdoor/adventure | Hiking, camping, kayaking, backpacking, cycling |
| Relaxation | Bath bombs, Sunday naps, beach reads, video games |
| Spontaneity level | "Yes person" vs. "I need to plan ahead" |

**What Activities reveals:**
- Energy level (6am climber vs. midnight reader)
- Social style (host vs. participant vs. solo)
- Creator vs. consumer orientation
- Physical vs. cerebral balance
- Planning vs. spontaneous
- Values (what you prioritize over work)

---

### Habitat

What your space says about you — and what you surround yourself with when nobody's watching.

**Item types:**
| Type | Examples |
|------|---------|
| Plants | Number/types of plants, urban jungle vs. minimal |
| Pets | Type of pet, pet parent identity |
| Living situation | Apartment, house, van, co-living, parents |
| Aesthetic | Minimalist, maximalist, vintage, brutalist, hygge |
| Cleanliness | Spotless, lived-in, controlled chaos |
| Natural light | Blinds open/closed, plants near windows |
| Kitchen gear | Serious cook vs. microwave life vs. order-in |
| Books/shelf | What you display vs. what you actually read |
| Handmade items | DIY, crafts, repaired things vs. all-new |
| Environmental choices | Composting, solar, secondhand furniture |

**What Habitat reveals:**
- Nurturing instinct (plants, pets, care level)
- Standards vs. tolerance for mess
- Aesthetic sensibility
- Investment in domestic life
- Environmental values
- Who they are when nobody's visiting

---

## Adding Items

### How It Works

1. **Search** — Type a restaurant, activity, or habitat item
2. **Verify** — System confirms the item exists (places API, database match)
3. **Categorize** — You place it in Food, Activities, or Habitat
4. **Optional detail** — Add a note: "their spicy ramen is transcendent"
5. **Broadcast** — Item enters your cart and begins broadcasting resonance

### Item Schema

```json
{
  "id": "uuid",
  "user_id": "uuid",
  "category": "food | activities | habitat",
  "name": "string",
  "type": "string (e.g. 'ramen-restaurant')",
  "added_at": "timestamp",
  "notes": "string (optional)",
  "resonance_count": "number",
  "featured": "boolean"
}
```

### Rules

- Any item can only appear once in your cart
- Items can be removed (they go to "cart history")
- Items can be featured (you choose 3 to highlight — visible on profile)
- Items broadcast resonance immediately upon addition

---

## The First Cart — Onboarding

When a user joins Cascade, they add their first items before claiming R1:

```
Step 1: "Tell us about you — no wrong answers"
        → Add 3 Food items you love
        → Add 3 Activity items you do regularly
        → Add 3 Habitat items that define your space

Step 2: "Plant your 6"
        → Claim your Inner Circle

Step 3: "Your constellation begins"
        → Cascade generates R3-R6 from resonance
        → User sees their first Current
```

First 9 items (3 per category) are bonus-weighted — they define the initial resonance field.

---

## Pattern Recognition

The system reads your cart and identifies 5 pattern types:

### Pattern 1: Direct Overlap

**Trigger:** Your exact item appears in another user's cart.

**Signal:** "❤️ Hearts resonance detected — You both have Ramen Bar X"

**What it means:** You share a specific, real thing. Not "we both like Japanese food" — we both like THIS place.

**Earning Hearts:** When someone else's cart contains an item that matches yours exactly.

---

### Pattern 2: Category Congruence

**Trigger:** Your cart category type matches another user's category type (different specific items, same TYPE).

**Signal:** "⭐ Stars resonance — You both have outdoor adventure activities"

**Examples:**
- You: rock climbing gym. Them: hiking club. → Activity category match
- You: farmers market. Them: CSA box. → Food category match
- You: plants everywhere. Them: urban garden. → Habitat category match

**What it means:** You're the same KIND of person. Not the same specific taste, but the same orientation.

**Earning Stars:** When your cart category matches someone else's cart category type.

---

### Pattern 3: Complementary Rhythm

**Trigger:** Your cart fills a gap in someone else's cart, and theirs fills yours.

**Signal:** "🌙 Moons resonance — Your carts complete each other"

**Examples:**
- You: active gear. Them: post-hike restaurant. → Perfect adventure arc
- You: cooking. Them: wine pairing. → Dinner party completion
- You: city apartment. Them: cabin retreat. → Escape plan exists

**What it means:** Together you have a complete life. Not overlapping — complementary.

**Earning Moons:** When your cart meaningfully fills a gap in someone else's cart AND theirs fills one in yours.

---

### Pattern 4: Values Alignment

**Trigger:** Your cart patterns over time align with another user's patterns.

**Signal:** "⏳ Hourglass resonance — You both see the world the same way"

**Examples:**
- Both regularly add sustainable/organic items → environmental values
- Both add creative learning activities → growth orientation
- Both add homebody items → similar comfort/social balance

**What it means:** Not just what you like — how you think about what you like. Worldview match.

**Earning Hourglasses:** Pass a values-alignment quiz (20 questions, generated from your cart patterns). Confirms shared worldview.

---

### Pattern 5: Frequency + Growth

**Trigger:** Consistent presence over time. Not a single event — sustained showing up.

**Signal:** "🎈 Balloons resonance — You're still here, still building"

**Examples:**
- Both adding to carts weekly for 2 months
- Both checking in daily
- Both attending group events
- Sustained cart activity without drop-off

**What it means:** You're not a tourist. You're not optimizing. You're tending. This is someone who shows up.

**Earning Balloons:** Consistent cart activity, check-ins, group event attendance over time. Balloons = presence, not payment.

---

## Cart Visibility

| Viewer | What They See |
|--------|--------------|
| Your R1 | Full cart — every item, every category |
| Your R2 | Category types — "Outdoor Activities", "Social Dining" |
| Your R3 | Longing patterns — "Monthly food trends", "Seasonal activities" |
| Your R4 | Full cart + creative output |
| Your R5 | Daily sustained patterns |
| Your R6 | Ambient warmth only (hot/warm/cool indicator) |
| Non-connected users | Your profile (3 featured items) |

---

## Cart History

Removed items go to Cart History. They still carry resonance signal — a match can still see "you used to have this in your cart."

This prevents gaming (you can't just add/remove to manipulate signals) and tells the truth about change over time.

---

## Featured Items

You can feature 3 items from your cart on your profile. These are visible to anyone who views your profile — connected or not.

Feature the things that are most distinctly YOU. Not the most popular things — the most specific.