Six Degrees
GitHub
About
Everyone is a few introductions away.
Six Degrees turns the network you already have into a map of the people you can reach, and who can get you there. It runs on your own computer, and it's open source.
The vision
The most useful thing in a professional network isn't the list of people you know. It's the people they know, and which of your connections is the way to each of them. That picture exists in every network, but no one can see it: a list of connections shows one layer, one person at a time.
Six Degrees draws it. Who can introduce you to someone, ranked. Who only one of your connections can reach. How much of your network hangs on a single person. And the shortest path to someone you haven't met. The aim is a tool anyone can use to understand their network, without handing that network to anyone.
The problem
Your network is invisible
You can't see who your connections know, so the warmest introduction is usually one you never think to ask for.
Lists don't show structure
A spreadsheet or a contacts list has no idea that two of your connections open the same doors, or that one of them is your only way into a whole circle.
Your network is personal
It's other people's names and jobs. Sending it to another online service to analyse is a real cost, and many people won't.
Why now
The data is yours to take
LinkedIn gives anyone their own connections as a file, from its Get a copy of your data page. Six Degrees reads that file with no risk to your account.
A laptop is enough
Laying out and scoring LinkedIn's maximum of 30,000 connections runs on your own computer, with no server. It's in the release notes for 0.2.1.
Network science, made plain
Ideas from social-network research, like brokerage and effective reach, turned into plain answers: who only they can reach.
What makes it different
- Local-firstNo account, no server, no telemetry. The network never leaves the computer it's on. Why.
- Open source, MITEvery line is on GitHub. Anyone can read, check, change or build on it.
- Honest by designA fair comparison, the scanner's risk in plain words, and your numbers never ranked against anyone else's.
- It answers "who do I ask?"Not a chart to admire: a ranked list of introductions, and a game for asking for them.
Where it stands
Started in June 2026 with a first build, open source since August, and in public releases since 24 September: three generations in about three months. Only numbers you can check yourself, each linked to where it comes from.
- 24 releases shipped since , all in the release notes
- 743 automated tests run for every change, in the repository
- ★ stars on GitHub live from GitHub
- v0.4.8 current version released
- 2 ways to install a Mac app, and npm for Linux
- MIT licence read it
No user counts are published: the app has no telemetry, so there's nothing to count them with.
Open source, on purpose
Six Degrees is released under the MIT licence: use it, change it and share it, for anything, as long as the copyright notice goes with it. A tool that reads your network should be one you can inspect. The code, the scoring model, the tests and the roadmap are all public, and contributions are welcome.
Made by Blake Burford
Built and maintained by Blake Burford. For partnerships, investment or press, get in touch through his website. For bugs and ideas, GitHub is best.