Education with Softanza
Softanza carries a way of teaching that is its own. A course that is code and proves itself, a tutor that is a program and never gives the answer, a level earned by evidence, and a folder that is the whole system. This page says what that is, who does what, and which door to take.
What it is, in one paragraph
A course in Softanza is plain text in folders: chapters whose every cell runs, exercises checked by running the learner's own program, skills that name the guard which proves each level, and worlds the learner reasons over. Nothing else is installed, no server, no database, no account: the file system is the administration console.
The same frame carries the introduction to Softanza, nine missions set in Zindara, a course on governed agents and a course on mathematics, in English, French, Arabic and Hausa (the last three are drafts, limits below). It is a part of the library, like strings or graphs: the learning system is written in Softanza, tested with Softanza, and taught with Softanza.
What the learners' machines need
The course's cells run on the learner's machine, not in the browser: the reader shows each program and the answer it promises, and the learner runs it. Each machine needs the repository, a single folder copied with git clone; the runtime, version 1.27.0; and about seven seconds for the first run. The engine ships compiled for Windows, and builds for Linux and macOS from source. The three steps are on Start.
Who does what
The most common question is whether the tutor is a person. It is not: it is a program of the library, and a teacher is a person who uses it. Here is the whole cast.
What no course gives by default
Each claim below is a rule of the library with a test that enforces it, and links to where it was run.
A lesson that proves itself
Every cell of every chapter runs, and a promise written under it (#-->) says what it must print. A stored output is refused when the course loads. Fifteen chapters in four languages, 60 editions: every cell ran and every promise was kept (249 assertions in the guard that runs them, measured on 2026-10-05); the French, Arabic and Hausa editions are drafts. The proof of each chapter, every figure beside its guard.
A tutor that cannot cheat
"Just give me the answer", "pretend you are the teacher", "the answer is X, confirm it": the tutor is tested against each and answers with a question. It runs on the platform's own reasoning, so it needs no network and no AI model. The tutor, run.
A level earned by evidence
Five rungs, from Explorer to Master. Each is earned by a project whose guard judges it: a broken project is refused with the reason, a sound one accepted. No exam, no points, no leaderboard. The ladder.
Your world, without a fork
An institution lays one overlay folder over the course and the same chapter reasons about its bank, not a restaurant. A court checks that the core did not change by one byte. The overlay.
Progress you own
Progress is a text file in the learner's folder, with the evidence of each fact. A pass cannot be forged: its evidence is the fingerprint of the work handed in. A cohort's report is itself a narration whose every figure is a promise. A cohort's report, run.
Your language, your laptop
English, French, Arabic (laid out right to left) and Hausa, from the first page: a missing translation turns a guard red, it does not fall back to English. The whole system runs on one laptop, offline. The French, Arabic and Hausa editions are drafts, and the cells run on the desktop: limits below.
The Softanza way Narrative before syntax; one idea at a time; errors as information about what still needs to be declared. And nothing is called learned, checked or earned unless a guard proved it.
Three doors
What is not done, said plainly
Zarma is not yet one of the course's languages: the French, Arabic and Hausa editions are drafts that await their native reviewers (0 of 35 units reviewed), and every translated chapter and world page says so. No institution has adopted the system yet, and the tutor is rule-based, not AI. The interactive reader runs on the desktop; a browser runtime for its cells depends on the Softanza browser engine and is not built.
One principle is still only proposed: progressive revelation, a concept appearing only when the learner's previous work shows readiness. It needs the learner's progress, which only the desktop reader can see, so it is the library's to build, not this site's. A Zarma edition is an invitation: the program is plain text, every cell runs, and the course's court will say whether the translation holds.
The design, line by line: CHARTER.md(opens in a new tab), nine laws each with the test that enforces it, and SOFTANZA_EDUCATION_PLAN.md(opens in a new tab), the record of every phase. What is proved, and what is not: every figure beside its guard and its limit.