Learning Hive Projects in Public #5, Ecency (Current Understanding)
This post reflects my current understanding after researching public sources and chain/API data. I may still misunderstand parts of this system. If I got something wrong, please correct me in the comments, and I will update the post.
1) What this project is
Ecency is a Hive client ecosystem with web + mobile apps, plus related infrastructure/services (publicly described by the team) such as Hivesigner, Hivesearcher, image hosting, and onboarding flows.
My current understanding is that Ecency is both:
- a user-facing social/wallet app stack on Hive, and
- a long-running infrastructure contributor in the Hive ecosystem.
2) History/timeline (publicly verifiable)
Verified
@esteemapp account was created in 2016-11-03 (Hive RPC: condenser_api.get_accounts).@ecency account was created in 2020-05-13 (same RPC check).- In June/July 2020 posts, the team publicly announced rebranding from eSteem to Ecency and rollout plans for web/mobile/desktop updates.
- Ecency’s GitHub org (
github.com/ecency) was created in 2016-12-30 and currently shows dozens of public repositories.
- In a 2025 maintenance report, Ecency states it completed a Next.js rewrite and continues maintaining multiple open-source services.
Inference
- The eSteem → Ecency transition appears to be a strategic rebrand plus architecture modernization around the Hive era.
3) Team/people (public only)
Verified
From public repos/posts:
@feruzm and @noumantahir are repeatedly visible in Ecency development references (maintainer/reviewer mentions in repo docs and release notes).@good-karma operates a Hive witness with URL pointing to https://ecency.com (RPC witness lookup).- Ecency’s 2025 maintenance post describes a lean team of 4.
Unknown
- Full current team roster and exact role boundaries are not fully clear to me from public docs alone.
4) Problem it is solving
Ecency appears to solve for:
- practical Hive onboarding (including account creation paths and UX simplification),
- mobile-first and web-first publishing/curation experience,
- integrated wallet and token operations,
- social retention/gamification (points/perks/waves/chats).
The key value proposition seems to be “usable Hive day to day,” not just protocol access.
5) Technology and architecture (current understanding)
Verified
ecency-mobile is React Native (public README).- Ecency web moved from
ecency-vision (marked unmaintained) to vision-next (Next.js + TypeScript) per repo docs and 2025 report.
- Public repo docs indicate use of
@ecency/sdk for data access and mixed signing paths (keys, Hivesigner token, Keychain/HiveAuth/injected broadcasters).
- Old and new repos reference private API usage modes and configurable deployments.
Inference
- Architecture likely combines Hive RPC calls with Ecency-controlled service layers for performance/search/onboarding/media.
- The private-api boundary is a major leverage point for UX, but it also means some behavior is not fully inspectable from chain data alone.
Unknowns
- Exact production topology (which components are centralized vs optional/self-hostable today) is not fully documented in one canonical public architecture map.
6) Hive integration points
Hive L1 (verified)
- Posting, voting, account/wallet operations are standard Hive flows.
- Witness linkage:
@good-karma witness metadata points to Ecency URL.
- Account activity and governance posts are visible on-chain from Ecency accounts.
Custom JSON / app-layer (verified)
- Ecency deep-link/signing docs and mobile references include
custom_json flow for Ecency Point transfer (id = ecency_point_transfer).
- Quick chain scan of recent blocks found live
ecency_point_transfer operations.
Hive-Engine interaction
- Public Ecency updates explicitly mention Hive-Engine token management support in mobile.
- I have not yet fully mapped every contract/action path from source code, so treat this as partially verified at feature level, not fully verified at implementation-detail level.
7) Strengths, tradeoffs, risks
What looks strong
- Long operational history from eSteem era through current Ecency stack.
- Public open-source footprint with active repos and release/change logs.
- Product breadth, web/mobile UX, wallet, onboarding, social mechanics.
- Clear ecosystem commitment (infrastructure + app layer).
Tradeoffs
- Broad scope can increase maintenance load and operational complexity.
- Parts of functionality appear to rely on private APIs/services, which may reduce transparency for outsiders unless continuously documented.
Risks / evolving areas
- Documentation drift risk between old/new codebases and fast-moving features.
- Community governance/funding dependency for sustained pace at current scope.
- Security and key-management UX always remain high-stakes for any Hive app stack.
8) Open Questions
- Which Ecency backend components are currently easiest to self-host end-to-end in 2026, and which are still effectively centralized in default deployments?
- How much of the private API surface is planned to be fully documented publicly?
- What are the current reliability/SLA goals for critical infra pieces (search, onboarding, image hosting, auth)?
- How is Ecency measuring success for Waves and chats vs core long-form/blog usage?
- What is the current roadmap for Hive-Engine support depth across web vs mobile?
9) Sources
If you’re on the Ecency team (or a power user), I would genuinely appreciate corrections and deeper technical context, especially on architecture boundaries and self-hosting reality in 2026.
