Welcome

Community Gearbox is a simple way to keep track of the things people share — so borrowing, lending, and group ownership feel easier, clearer, and less awkward.

Use it with friends, family, neighbors, housemates, teams, or community groups.

1. Set up your profile

Start by adding the basics:

• Your name
  
• A profile photo
  
• Your city or general location

   

This helps people recognize you and builds trust with the folks you share with.

2. Add a few useful things

Begin with 3–5 items you’d actually lend, borrow out, or want to keep track of.

Good starter items might be:

• Tools
  
• Camping gear
  
• Kitchen equipment
  
• Sports gear
  
• Musical instruments
  
• Board games
  
• Event supplies

You can add:

• A photo
  
• Item name
  
• Description or notes
  
• Condition
  
• Visibility settings
  

Don’t worry about adding everything at once. Start small.

3. Connect with people you already trust

Community Gearbox works best with people you know.

Add:

• Friends
  
• Family
  
• Housemates
  
• Neighbors
  
• Collaborators
  
• Group members
  

The goal isn’t to share with everyone. It’s to make sharing easier with the people you already have relationships with.

4. Join or create a group

Groups help organize sharing around real communities.

Examples:

• Household
  
• Friend pod
  
• Book club
  
• Sports team
  
• School community
  
• Neighborhood mutual aid group
  
• Production crew
  
• Office or studio
  

Groups make it easier to:

• See what’s available
  
• Share access
  
• Keep track of who has what
  
• Coordinate community resources
  

5. Make your first ask

Need something? Post an ask.

Try asking for:

• A folding table
  
• A drill
  
• Camping chairs
  
• A projector
  
• Coolers
  
• A ladder
  
• Serving trays
  

Asks are a lightweight way to let your network know what you need without sending a bunch of individual texts.

6. Log a borrow or lend

When something changes hands, log it in the app.

This helps everyone remember:

• Who has the item
  
• When it was borrowed
  
• Whether it’s been returned
  
• What still needs follow-up
  

Community Gearbox is not really about “tracking stuff.”

It’s about protecting relationships, reducing mental load, and making generosity more sustainable.

7. Use it lightly, not perfectly

You do not need to catalog your whole life.

The best way to use Community Gearbox is:

• Add the things that come up often
  
• Log the exchanges that are easiest to forget
  
• Use groups where sharing already exists
  
• Let the app hold the remembering for you
  

Even a little use can make sharing feel much smoother.

A good first-week goal

By the end of your first week, aim to:

• Complete your profile
  
• Add 3–5 items
  
• Connect with 2–5 people
  
• Join or create 1 group
  
• Post 1 ask or log 1 exchange
  

That’s enough to start feeling how the app works.

The big idea

Community Gearbox helps people care for what’s already here.

Not everything needs to be bought alone, owned alone, or figured out alone.