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Compass

A platform for research, experiments, and the work between them.

My work
Co-building the platform, architecture and engineering
Status
Private platform
Built with
Python, TypeScript, Postgres, Kubernetes
Explore access
CompassSystem map
Shared evidence. Independent experiments.

The platform

Compass is our independent trading research platform. It brings data capture, research, evaluation, monitoring, and an operator workspace into one broader project. The repository named compass is the engine component inside that larger system.

Different jobs, clear boundaries

The engine interprets captured evidence. Helmsman gives research ideas, monitors, decisions, and audits a shared workspace. Structure Lab turns visual pattern definitions into versioned, testable configuration. Shared infrastructure connects them without erasing those responsibilities.

How it evolved

The work expanded from one engine toward named variants over a common data layer. It includes stored-output replay, forward observation, and a deliberate distinction between changing calculations and changing a model’s interpretation contract.

The parts we set aside

The project history includes Polymarket experiments, rejected graph-based assumptions, a decision against deep historical model re-scoring, and a scheduler migration. Those decisions are part of the build, with their own articles below.

A private walkthrough

Compass is privately operated. Helmsman has a deployed, protected web interface; the platform continues to evolve. Contact me for a walkthrough and to discuss access.

Several systems. One platform.

The responsibilities behind Compass.

Shared data layer

Captured inputs, explicit timestamps, revisions, and data-quality states.

Research engines

Versioned interpretations and deterministic rules that can be compared over shared evidence.

Helmsman

The operator workspace for research ideas, monitoring, decisions, and audit history.

Structure Lab

A place to turn visual pattern definitions into explicit, testable configurations.

Evaluation and replay

Recorded model outputs, reproducible calculations, and a distinction between historical replay and forward observation.

Operations

Scheduled jobs, health checks, controlled releases, and a durable trail of changes.

See Compass from the inside.

Compass is a privately operated trading research platform. Get in touch for a walkthrough and to discuss access.

Request a Compass walkthrough

The build, in writing.

9 notes on the architecture, experiments, and tradeoffs.

Read the series
  1. 01Building Compass as a platformHow one research engine grew into a shared data layer, an operator workspace, and a place to test competing ideas.3 min
  2. 02A data architecture that remembers what it knewCaptured evidence, observation revisions, and the difference between the time a fact describes and the time you received it.3 min
  3. 03Where the model stops and the code takes overThe boundary at the heart of Compass, and why a convincing explanation is only one part of a reliable system.3 min
  4. 04Score once, experiment many timesSeparating model interpretation from deterministic experiments changed the cost and shape of Compass.3 min
  5. 05Helmsman gives the research a place to liveThe operator workspace behind Compass, and why its API compiles work instead of quietly becoming another scheduler.3 min
  6. 06Turning a chart argument into a testable definitionStructure Lab replaces vague visual agreement with versioned parameters, evidence, and a path into the wider platform.3 min
  7. 07What we kept from the experiments we set asidePolymarket research, unreliable causal graphs, and the value of preserving a rejection with its evidence.3 min
  8. 08Building a real-time news parsing pipelineIdempotent writes, richer updates, retractions, and the difference between a quiet source and a broken collector.3 min
  9. 09Moving the scheduler without running the work twiceWhat the Compass migration to Kubernetes CronJobs taught us about ownership, cutovers, and observability.3 min