Programs and Chapters

A Program is a community model with a blueprint, and a Chapter is one local group running that model where you live. Find a Chapter near you and join it, or start one yourself. Starting a Chapter gives you a private draft built from the blueprint, which you shape and publish when you're ready.

What is a Program?

A Program is a Channel that carries a blueprint. The blueprint is a saved setup for a group: what it does together, how often it meets, what the format is, and what everyone agrees to. Anyone can start a local version of it.

Programs are run either by Frequency or by a business Space on the platform. Either way, the Program lives at a Channel you can open, tune into, and read the feed of, same as any other Channel.

What is a Chapter?

A Chapter is one Circle running a Program's model in its own city. That is the only thing the word means. In every other way it's an ordinary Circle:

• It has a Host, and that Host is whoever started it.
• It has the same member cap as any Circle.
• It has its own gatherings, its own feed, its own members, and its own settings.
• It sits in the Circles directory like everything else, so people find it by searching or browsing, not only through the Program.

"Chapter" is Program framing. The thing itself is a Circle.

How do I find a Chapter near me?

1. Open the Program's Channel from the Channels page.
2. Go to the Chapters tab.
3. Tap Near me.

Your browser asks permission for your location once, and the list re-sorts closest first. We don't store it. Chapters that haven't set a place stay at the end of the list. If you skip the permission, the list stays in its default order and you can still read every Chapter's city on its card.

Found one you like? Open it and join, exactly like any other Circle.

How do I start a Chapter?

Open the Program's Channel and tap Start a Chapter. Here is what happens next:

1. You get a private draft built from the Program's blueprint. Nobody else can see it. You're the Host.
2. You land in the Circle builder with the blueprint's setup already filled in: the name, what the group does, the meeting rhythm, the format, the agreements.
3. You change whatever you want. Set your night, your place, your own words.
4. When it's ready, you publish. That's the moment it goes live, joins the Program's Channel, and shows up in the directory for people near you.

There's no approval step and no waiting. The draft is yours from the first tap, and nothing is public until you publish it.

Any signed-in member can start a Chapter. A Chapter is a Circle you host, so it counts toward the Circles you can host: a free Member hosts one, and Crew hosts more. If you're new to hosting, read how to start a Circle first. Everything in it applies to a Chapter, because a Chapter is a Circle.

What does the blueprint decide?

The blueprint decides what your Chapter starts with:

• The name and the one line describing it
• What the group does together
• The meeting rhythm and the gathering format
• The suggested size
• The agreements the group holds

The blueprint does not decide:

• When or where you meet
• Who joins, or who you host with
• What you post, or what you say to your members
• Anything at all after you publish

You can edit every one of those fields before you publish, and you can keep editing them afterward from the Circle's settings.

What happens if a Program is paused?

The Space or the crew running a Program can pause it. When a Program is paused:

• Its Channel page is hidden.
• No new Chapters can start.
• Existing Chapters keep everything. Your Circle, your members, your gatherings, your feed. Nothing is taken away and nothing is hidden.

Resuming is one click on their side, and the Channel comes straight back.

Questions people ask

Is my Chapter mine?

Yes. You're the Host of a Circle you created. Your members are your members, your gatherings are yours, and the settings are yours to change. The Program owner does not host your Chapter and cannot post in it or run it for you.

Do I have to run it exactly their way?

No. The blueprint is a starting point, not a rulebook. It exists so you don't have to invent a format from nothing on a Tuesday night. Change what doesn't fit your room, your city, or your people.

If your version drifts far enough that it isn't really the Program's model anymore, the honest move is to take it out of the Channel (below) and run it as your own Circle. The Frequency crew can also move a Circle in or out of a Channel.

What if the Program updates its blueprint later?

Nothing happens to your Chapter. Your Chapter copied the blueprint the moment you started it, so a later update only affects Chapters started after that. Once yours exists, it's yours.

Can I leave the Program and keep the Circle?

Yes. Open the Circle's settings and change its Channel, or clear it. The Circle keeps its Host, its members, and its gatherings either way. Note that a paused Program won't take a Circle back in until it resumes.

Can I start a Chapter if there's already one in my city?

Nothing stops you. Check the Chapters tab first, though. Joining the one that exists is usually better for both of you than splitting six interested people across two half-full rooms. Circles are meant to stay small, and a full one seeds a new one nearby anyway.

How is this different from remixing a Starter Circle?

The mechanics are the same: a blueprint becomes a private draft you own and publish. The difference is where it lands. A Starter Circle makes a standalone Circle. A Chapter joins a Program's Channel, so it shows up alongside every other Chapter and people looking for that model can find yours.

Who can see my draft before I publish it?

Only you. A draft is hidden from the directory, from search, and from the Program's Chapters list until you publish.

Next: Channels, or, if you run a business Space and want a Program of your own, run a Program.