The Longhand Archive is an independent project that archives UK public sector data and derives intelligence from it. This site documents how it gets built.

The project is built in the open by one person using AI-assisted tools. The architecture, decisions, and working method are documented as they happen. The reasoning is as much the point as the artefact.

The main site will host the data and the intelligence. This site is about the building: how the system is designed, what decisions were made, what was learned, and what changed along the way.

Start here:

• Approach — how the project operates and what it values
• Architecture — the system at a glance
• Decisions — the full trail of architectural decisions across all repositories

Posts

• The decision trail — 23 April 2026