BXP (Breathe Exposure Protocol) is my attempt to fix that.
It defines: — A universal .bxp file format any device or software can read and write — BXP_HRI: a composite Health Risk Index incorporating all agents with WHO-derived weighting — A complete REST API specification for federated node networks — A privacy framework protecting individual exposure records by design
Like HTTP, PDF, or MP3 — BXP is a format layer. No hardware required. No licensing fees. No central owner. Apache 2.0. Forever free.
The reference implementation is live right now:
Live public node: https://bxp-node.onrender.com
GitHub + full source: https://github.com/bxpprotocol/bxp-spec
Spec DOI (Zenodo): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18906812
Implementation DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18907003
You can clone it and run your own BXP node in under 3 minutes:
git clone https://github.com/bxpprotocol/bxp-spec
cd bxp-spec/reference-server
pip install fastapi uvicorn pydantic
python server.py
The spec covers 31 atmospheric agents — PM2.5, NO2, ozone, benzene, mold, heavy metals — with WHO thresholds, quality flags, geohash-based spatial indexing, and a federated network architecture where each node operator owns their own data completely.
I am looking for developers, researchers, and institutions who want to implement BXP, contribute to the spec, or run a community node. Particularly interested in connecting with anyone working on air quality infrastructure in developing countries where the data gap is most severe.Happy to answer any questions.