01 · LOCAL
CM Core
Reservations, rates, occupancy, rules and the operational calendar remain the local source of truth.
CM Ecosystem · work in progress
From a local CM to an open ecosystem.
CM Free, Plus and PRO remain independent systems. With the optional Connector, they can voluntarily connect to a shared layer for OTA connectivity, Community, sharing and future AI queries.
Relay barebone · in development
Community · RFC / concept
CM core · local-first
The idea in one sentence
A local Channel Manager should remain independent — centralize only the infrastructure that genuinely benefits from being shared.
CM Ecosystem · architectural principle
Four layers
Not a new monolith. A system of docking points.
CM Ecosystem does not replace the local CM. It adds clearly separated, optional services around it. The user consciously chooses which of them to enable.
02 · OPT-IN
CM Connector
An optional bridge from Free, Plus or PRO. No hidden telemetry and no mandatory “phone home”.
03 · SHARED
CM Relay
A central transport layer for OTA adapters, registry, entitlements, health and future shared services.
04 · NETWORK
CM Community
A voluntary network of accommodation providers for discovery, referrals, sharing and AI-assisted search.
Common operational picture
The entire CM on one map.
Zoomed out, you see the major territories of the system. Open the SVG and zoom into the details: public/admin flow, CM Core, modules, Relay, external systems, and both primary and fallback paths.
Connectivity
Booking.com and Airbnb without being locked into a single provider.
Relay is provider-agnostic. Today the upstream provider could be Channex, Beds24 or WuBook; tomorrow it could be a direct Booking or Airbnb adapter. The local CM always speaks the same CM Connector protocol.
OTA credentials and partner secrets remain centralized.
A self-hosted CM only needs outbound HTTPS.
Changing the provider does not require changing the local CM data model.
Community
If I am full, someone else may not be.
CM Community is conceived as a voluntary network of independent accommodation providers. A member may share only selected public data: location, capacity, availability projection, public price or a direct booking link.
The result is not another OTA. It can be as simple as a referral: when you cannot host a guest yourself, you can show them an available property from another Community member.
AI Discovery
AI should understand the question. It must not invent the answer.
“I need an apartment for four near Bled, with parking and an EV charger.” AI can translate that sentence into a structured query, but availability, price and booking conditions come from real CM data.
Natural language → structured filters.
Community Search → real data.
CM remains the source of truth.
Safety path
API should improve CM. It should never hold it hostage.
A local ICS/iCal fallback remains available in every edition. If the API provider, Relay or a paid central service temporarily fails, the local CM does not stop working.
ICS does not provide functional parity with a full API, but it remains a safety path for basic calendar continuity and reservation blocking.
Free remains Free
Joining the ecosystem is the user's decision.
CM Free remains independent, publicly available and usable without a central account. Connector is an option, not a requirement. Only after clear opt-in consent does an installation become part of CM Service or Community.
NO LOCK-IN
The local core remains yours
A Relay outage or non-payment of a central service does not disable the calendar, reservations or local ICS.
NO HIDDEN DATA
No hidden telemetry
The Free distribution does not register an installation centrally until the user explicitly activates Connector.
SCOPED CONSENT
Separate consent scopes
Connectivity, Community, referrals and AI discovery can remain separate capabilities and separate user decisions.
OPEN CORE
A public entry point
CM Free remains the promotional and reference core from which a broader ecosystem can grow.
Project status · August 2026
What exists, and what is still being built?
CM Free / Plus and local workflows
A working Channel Manager concept, public/admin flow, local source of truth and ICS foundation.
CM Relay barebone
Installation identity, Connector, capabilities, consent, provider-neutral events and connectivity health.
Community + AI Discovery
A publicly described architectural direction, intentionally open to future partners, other PMS systems and new docking points.
The next step
Perhaps we are only building a bridge to Booking.com. Or perhaps the first docking point to a much larger station.
CM Ecosystem is a project in progress. The core principle remains simple: local independence, explicit consent, replaceable adapters and an open possibility that one day something we do not yet know may connect to it.