Reputation Module

Location: apps/api/src/modules/reputation/

Aggregate roots: ReputationEvent (ledger), ReputationSnapshot, ReputationVote, ReputationAppeal

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Core Principle

Reputation in Regulus is per-interest only. There is no global reputation score exposed in the public API. A user's standing is always relative to a specific domain of knowledge.

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Ledger + Snapshot Architecture

reputation_events (append-only ledger)
       ↓ materialised by
reputation_snapshots (fast-read cache per user×interest)

• Never UPDATE a reputation_events row.
• Every record() call writes a new event AND upserts the snapshot in a single Prisma transaction.
• Snapshot is the single source of truth for reads.

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Automatic Reputation Sources

Trigger	Delta	Notes
User selects interest (onboarding)	+5	One-shot per interest
Invite code consumed	+3	To inviter, in inviter's top interest
Post created	+3	To author, in post's interest
Reply posted	+2	To replier, if post has an interest
Post reacted (first unique reactor)	+1	To post author
Post bookmarked (first unique bookmarker)	+1	To post author
Post reposted (first unique reposter)	+1	To post author
Peer vote accepted	delta per vote	See peer voting section

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Reputation Levels

Label	Range	Description
Curious	0–9	Just starting
Reader	10–29	Engaged learner
Practitioner	30–49	Active practitioner
Adept	50–69	Recognised expertise
Master	70–89	Deep domain mastery
Lifework	90+	Defining contribution

export function levelFor(value: number): LevelLabel {
  if (value >= 90) return 'Lifework';
  if (value >= 70) return 'Master';
  if (value >= 50) return 'Adept';
  if (value >= 30) return 'Practitioner';
  if (value >= 10) return 'Reader';
  return 'Curious';
}

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Peer Voting

Any user can cast a +1 / 0 / -1 vote on another user's reputation within a specific interest. One vote per (voter, target, interest) triple.

• value = 0 means the voter explicitly withdrew their vote (row is kept for comment history)
• The same triple re-votes by updating the existing row (not creating a new one)
• A comment (max 280 chars) can accompany the vote

Sybil Dampening

Votes from users with very low total reputation carry less weight. The exact dampening formula is applied in reputation.service.ts when summing peer votes into the ledger delta.

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Reputation Rollup

When reputation is recorded in an L3 interest, it automatically propagates to parent interests:

const ROLLUP_RATIOS = {
  target: 1.0,
  parent: 0.5,    // L2 if target is L3
  grandparent: 0.25, // L1 if target is L3
};

This means a +10 delta in heidegger-being-and-time also produces +5 in existentialism and +2 in philosophy.

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Appeal & Redemption Flow

Users who believe their reputation was unfairly reduced can file an appeal.

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> pending : User files appeal
    pending --> accepted : Admin approves
    pending --> rejected : Admin rejects
    accepted --> [*] : Optional restoreDelta applied
    rejected --> [*]

Appeal Constraints

• One pending appeal per (user, interest) at a time (partial unique index in DB)
• restoreDelta is optional — admin can set a custom restoration amount or resolve without restoring
• adminNote max 500 chars
• Terminal states: accepted and rejected cannot be changed

API

Method	Path	Description
GET	/reputation/appeals	My appeals list
POST	/reputation/appeals	File new appeal
GET	/admin/reputation/appeals	All pending appeals (admin)
PATCH	/admin/reputation/appeals/:id	Resolve appeal (admin)

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API Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
GET	/reputation/:userId	All interest snapshots for user
GET	/reputation/:userId/:interestId	Single interest snapshot + level
POST	/reputation/vote	Cast peer vote
GET	/reputation/votes?targetUserId=&interestId=	View votes
GET	/reputation/appeals	My appeals
POST	/reputation/appeals	New appeal

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Admin

The admin reputation tab shows:

• Per-interest reputation breakdown for any user
• Peer vote history (who voted on whom, with comments)
• Appeal queue with resolve action (accept / reject + optional restore delta + admin note)