What's up on the smolweb? July 2026 roundup

2026-07-30 06:15

Summer is here, the big web is choking on AI slop, and the smolweb keeps quietly growing. Here is a roundup of what happened on the small web, the smolnet, and around the Gemini protocol in July 2026.

Geminispace approaching 3,500 active capsules

On July 26, Techrights reported that the Lupa crawler (the main Geminispace survey) now lists 4,761 total capsules, with 3,487 recently connected. That is up from 3,400 in April 2026. At this rate, the 3,500 active milestone should be crossed within a month.

The Geminispace keeps growing at a slow but steady pace, with new capsules announced regularly via Cosmos (the Gemini discovery feed).

Source: 3,500 Active Gemini Capsules Soon (Techrights, July 26, 2026)

Constellation Browser brings Gemini to the Panic Playdate

This is perhaps the most delightful news of the month. Constellation Browser, a web browser for the Panic Playdate (the tiny yellow handheld with a crank), added Gemini protocol support in version 1.5, released around July 25.

Then, just days later, version 1.6 went further: it added Geminispace search, letting Playdate owners search across Gemini capsules directly from the device.

Constellation Browser joins Hopper (another Gemini/Gopher browser for Playdate by tkers) in proving that the smolnet can run on the smallest, weirdest hardware out there. The browser also uses its own "Particle format", a lightweight JSON-based system for animated image rendering and text styling on the Playdate screen.

And on July 29, smol.pub (the tiny blogging platform accessible from Web, Gemini, and Gopher) announced that its directory is now available directly in Constellation Browser.

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Old Computer Challenge 2026: "Make Something"

The Old Computer Challenge (OCC) ran in early July 2026, with the theme "Make Something". This is a week-long event where smol computing enthusiasts, permacomputing folks, and Gemini users spend a week using old or ancient hardware as their main machine, then report back.

Participants documented their experiences in gopher phlogs and gemini glogs throughout the week. One participant on SDF wrote daily reports (Day 1 through Day 7), exploring what it means to "make something" on old hardware. The OCC community overlaps heavily with the smolnet and permacomputing movements, and this year's challenge generated a wave of phlog and glog posts across the smolnet.

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SMTP versus Gemini: a protocol extensibility debate

On July 27, jsreed5.org published a thoughtful gemlog post comparing SMTP's extensibility to Gemini's rigidity. The argument: SMTP has survived since 1982 because its header format was never fixed, allowing extensions like MIME, DKIM, SPF, and DMARC to be added without breaking the core spec. Gemini, by contrast, deliberately froze its feature set.

The post sparked discussion in the Geminispace about whether Gemini's "ease of implementation over everything" philosophy will serve it well long-term, or whether it needs some extensibility mechanism.

Source: SMTP versus Gemini (jsreed5.org, July 27, 2026)

Proposal for better TOFU in Gemini

Also on July 28, a geminaut at gemini.sh0.xyz published a proposal for improving Trust-On-First-Use (TOFU), the certificate verification model used by Gemini. The problem: many capsule operators use Let's Encrypt certificates that rotate every 90 days, which triggers false security warnings in Gemini clients that track certificate fingerprints.

The proposal suggests a "trust after first use" mechanism: a way to re-establish trust when a certificate changes, rather than simply warning the user. This is a real pain point for the Gemini ecosystem and the discussion is ongoing.

Source: Proposal for better TOFU (gemini.sh0.xyz, July 28, 2026)

"Strategies Against Algorithms" on the smolnet

On July 28, a gemlog post on lowkey.party described a musician who decided to distribute his music exclusively via USB sticks sent by mail, with no online presence at all. His reasoning: algorithmic platforms would give him roughly the same number of listeners anyway, so why feed the machine?

This kind of anti-algorithm, pro-physical-distribution thinking is very much in the spirit of the smolnet, and the post resonated in the community.

Source: Strategies Against Algorithms (lowkey.party, July 28, 2026)

Gopher lives: formatting tips and site migrations

The gopher community remains active. On July 26, a gopher operator at unixlore.net published a practical post about formatting gopher posts using the par tool (more capable than fmt), with tips for using it from within vi/nvi.

The same author also announced moving their gopher site to tilde.team, citing a desire to reduce their self-hosting footprint. The tildeverse continues to serve as a welcoming home for gopher and gemini content.

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Techrights: the tireless Geminispace curator

Throughout July 2026, Roy Schestowitz at Techrights continued publishing daily "Gemini Links" roundups, curating the best new content from across the Geminispace and Gopherspace. These posts link to gemlogs, phlogs, personal reflections, and technical discussions, serving as a discovery feed for the whole smolnet community.

Some notable July editions:

If you want a daily pulse of the smolnet, this is the feed to follow.

Kagi Small Web keeps growing

Kagi's Small Web initiative, which curates content from nearly 6,000 independent websites (and over 30,000 feeds), continued to expand through 2026. The mobile apps for iOS and Android launched earlier this year, along with browser extensions and content categories. The entire curated list is open-source on GitHub.

While no major July-specific update was announced, the platform remains one of the most significant efforts to surface small web content in mainstream search results.

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IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club, July 29

The IndieWeb movement held its regular Homebrew Website Club online meetup on July 29, 2026. These Zoom sessions are for anyone designing, building, or just thinking about personal websites. They cover HTML, CSS, owning your content, and taking control of your online identity from big platforms.

Source: Homebrew Website Club - Eastern, July 29, 2026 (IndieWeb events)

Bonus: Gemini protocol still alive and well in 2026

A Medium article by Sebastian Buzdugan made the rounds this year, explaining why the Gemini protocol is still alive in 2026 and what it gets right. The key insight: Gemini has stabilized into a clean, understandable stack that you can implement in a weekend. No JavaScript, no CSS, no cookies, no tracking. It is not trying to replace the web, just to coexist as a lightweight alternative.

Kevin Boone also published a detailed analysis, "The Gemini Protocol in 2026", acknowledging growth but noting persistent criticisms: mandatory TLS excludes minimal computing enthusiasts, Gemtext is too limited, and proposals for improvement have been rejected by the core community.

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Takeaway

July 2026 was a quietly busy month on the smolweb. The Geminispace keeps growing toward 3,500 active capsules. A Gemini browser landed on a handheld game console. The Old Computer Challenge brought the permacomputing and smolnet communities together. Protocol design debates (SMTP vs Gemini extensibility, TOFU improvements) show the community is still thinking critically about its own foundations. And the gopher scene, far from dead, continues to produce practical content and welcome new operators.

The smolweb is not going to displace the big web. But it does not need to. It just needs to be a place where people can read, write, and think without 14 tracking pixels per page.

See you next month. Keep it smol.