diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 14ce119..8424d65 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -493,6 +493,38 @@ version = "1.0.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5b63caa9aa9397e2d9480a9b13673856c78d8ac123288526c37d7839f2a86990"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "constellation"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "anyhow",
+ "askama",
+ "axum",
+ "axum-extra",
+ "axum-metrics",
+ "bincode",
+ "clap",
+ "ctrlc",
+ "flume",
+ "fs4",
+ "headers-accept",
+ "links",
+ "mediatype",
+ "metrics",
+ "metrics-exporter-prometheus",
+ "metrics-process",
+ "rocksdb",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_with",
+ "tempfile",
+ "tinyjson",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-util",
+ "tower-http",
+ "tungstenite",
+ "zstd",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "core-foundation"
 version = "0.9.4"
@@ -1132,38 +1164,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "vcpkg",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "link_aggregator"
-version = "0.1.0"
-dependencies = [
- "anyhow",
- "askama",
- "axum",
- "axum-extra",
- "axum-metrics",
- "bincode",
- "clap",
- "ctrlc",
- "flume",
- "fs4",
- "headers-accept",
- "links",
- "mediatype",
- "metrics",
- "metrics-exporter-prometheus",
- "metrics-process",
- "rocksdb",
- "serde",
- "serde_with",
- "tempfile",
- "tinyjson",
- "tokio",
- "tokio-util",
- "tower-http",
- "tungstenite",
- "zstd",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "links"
 version = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c855f15..7d47771 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 resolver = "2"
 members = [
     "links",
-    "link_aggregator",
+    "constellation",
 ]
diff --git a/link_aggregator/Cargo.toml b/constellation/Cargo.toml
similarity index 97%
rename from link_aggregator/Cargo.toml
rename to constellation/Cargo.toml
index 7a7d2e8..ef78a02 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/constellation/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [package]
-name = "link_aggregator"
+name = "constellation"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
 
diff --git a/link_aggregator/readme.md b/constellation/readme.md
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/readme.md
rename to constellation/readme.md
index 8f5bd71..7947ec5 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/readme.md
+++ b/constellation/readme.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# link_aggregator
+# constellation 🌌
 
 ## endpoints
 
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/consumer/jetstream.rs b/constellation/src/consumer/jetstream.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/consumer/jetstream.rs
rename to constellation/src/consumer/jetstream.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/consumer/jsonl_file.rs b/constellation/src/consumer/jsonl_file.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/consumer/jsonl_file.rs
rename to constellation/src/consumer/jsonl_file.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/consumer/mod.rs b/constellation/src/consumer/mod.rs
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/src/consumer/mod.rs
rename to constellation/src/consumer/mod.rs
index 47cf3b5..fc6586b 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/src/consumer/mod.rs
+++ b/constellation/src/consumer/mod.rs
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ mod jsonl_file;
 
 use crate::storage::LinkStorage;
 use anyhow::Result;
+use constellation::{ActionableEvent, RecordId};
 use jetstream::consume_jetstream;
 use jsonl_file::consume_jsonl_file;
-use link_aggregator::{ActionableEvent, RecordId};
 use links::collect_links;
 use metrics::{counter, describe_counter, describe_histogram, histogram, Unit};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/lib.rs b/constellation/src/lib.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/lib.rs
rename to constellation/src/lib.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/main.rs b/constellation/src/main.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/main.rs
rename to constellation/src/main.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/server/acceptable.rs b/constellation/src/server/acceptable.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/server/acceptable.rs
rename to constellation/src/server/acceptable.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/server/filters.rs b/constellation/src/server/filters.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/src/server/filters.rs
rename to constellation/src/server/filters.rs
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/server/mod.rs b/constellation/src/server/mod.rs
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/src/server/mod.rs
rename to constellation/src/server/mod.rs
index 469694f..4efb2f1 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/src/server/mod.rs
+++ b/constellation/src/server/mod.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use tokio::task::block_in_place;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
 
 use crate::storage::LinkReader;
-use link_aggregator::RecordId;
+use constellation::RecordId;
 
 mod acceptable;
 mod filters;
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/storage/mem_store.rs b/constellation/src/storage/mem_store.rs
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/src/storage/mem_store.rs
rename to constellation/src/storage/mem_store.rs
index e256e7a..9fa0665 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/src/storage/mem_store.rs
+++ b/constellation/src/storage/mem_store.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use super::{LinkReader, LinkStorage, PagedAppendingCollection, StorageStats};
 use anyhow::Result;
-use link_aggregator::{ActionableEvent, Did, RecordId};
+use constellation::{ActionableEvent, Did, RecordId};
 use links::CollectedLink;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/storage/mod.rs b/constellation/src/storage/mod.rs
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/src/storage/mod.rs
rename to constellation/src/storage/mod.rs
index 9ea0020..05e41b3 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/src/storage/mod.rs
+++ b/constellation/src/storage/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use anyhow::Result;
-use link_aggregator::{ActionableEvent, RecordId};
+use constellation::{ActionableEvent, RecordId};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 pub mod mem_store;
diff --git a/link_aggregator/src/storage/rocks_store.rs b/constellation/src/storage/rocks_store.rs
similarity index 99%
rename from link_aggregator/src/storage/rocks_store.rs
rename to constellation/src/storage/rocks_store.rs
index c6a1b8d..6932c29 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/src/storage/rocks_store.rs
+++ b/constellation/src/storage/rocks_store.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use super::{ActionableEvent, LinkReader, LinkStorage, PagedAppendingCollection, StorageStats};
 use anyhow::{bail, Result};
 use bincode::Options as BincodeOptions;
-use link_aggregator::{Did, RecordId};
+use constellation::{Did, RecordId};
 use links::CollectedLink;
 use rocksdb::{
     AsColumnFamilyRef, ColumnFamilyDescriptor, DBWithThreadMode, IteratorMode, MergeOperands,
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/base.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/base.html.j2
similarity index 89%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/base.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/base.html.j2
index 17968df..32f4b25 100644
--- a/link_aggregator/templates/base.html.j2
+++ b/constellation/templates/base.html.j2
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
     </style>
   </head>
   <body class="{% block body_classes %}{% endblock %}">
-    <h1><a href="/">This</a> is an <a href="https://github.com/at-ucosm/links/tree/main/link_aggregator">atproto link aggregator</a> server from <a href="https://github.com/at-ucosm">µcosm</a>!</h1>
+    <h1><a href="/">This</a> is an <a href="https://github.com/at-ucosm/links/tree/main/constellation">atproto link aggregator</a> server from <a href="https://github.com/at-ucosm">µcosm</a>!</h1>
     {% block content %}{% endblock %}
 
     <footer>
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/hello.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/hello.html.j2
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/hello.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/hello.html.j2
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/links-all-count.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/links-all-count.html.j2
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/links-all-count.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/links-all-count.html.j2
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/links-count.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/links-count.html.j2
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/links-count.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/links-count.html.j2
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/links.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/links.html.j2
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/links.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/links.html.j2
diff --git a/link_aggregator/templates/try-it-macros.html.j2 b/constellation/templates/try-it-macros.html.j2
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/templates/try-it-macros.html.j2
rename to constellation/templates/try-it-macros.html.j2
diff --git a/link_aggregator/zstd/dictionary b/constellation/zstd/dictionary
similarity index 100%
rename from link_aggregator/zstd/dictionary
rename to constellation/zstd/dictionary
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 80bd50d..4e0adc8 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -1,16 +1,53 @@
-µcosm links
-===========
+microcosm: links
+================
 
-optimistically extract links from arbitrary atproto records, optionally resolving canonical representations and possibly validating StrongRefs.
+this repo contains libraries and apps for working with cross-record references in at-protocol.
 
 
-status
-------
+App: [Constellation](./tree/main/microcosm/)
+--------------------------------------------
+
+A global atproto backlink index ✨
+
+- Self hostable: handles the full write throughput of the global atproto firehose on a raspberry pi 4b + single SSD
+- Storage efficient: less than 2GB/day disk consumption indexing all references in all lexicons and all non-atproto URLs
+- Simple JSON API
+
+All social interactions in atproto tend to be represented by links (or references) between PDS records. This index can answer questions like "how many likes does a bsky post have", "who follows an account", "what are all the comments on a [frontpage](https://frontpage.fyi/) post", and more.
+
+- **status**: works! api is unstable and likely to change, and no known instances have a full network backfill yet.
+- source: [./microcosm/](./tree/main/microcosm/)
+- public instance: [links.bsky.bad-example.com](https://links.bsky.bad-example.com/)
+
+_note: the public instance currently runs on a little raspberry pi in my house, feel free to use it! it comes with only with best-effort uptime, no commitment to not breaking the api for now, and possible rate-limiting. if you want to be nice you can put your project name and bsky username (or email) in your user-agent header for api requests._
+
+
+App: Spacedust
+--------------
+
+A notification subscription service 💫
+
+using the same "link source" concept as [constellation](./tree/main/microcosm), offer webhook notifications for new references created to records
+
+- **status**: in design
+
+
+Library: [links](./tree/main/links/)
+------------------------------------
+
+A rust crate (not published on crates.io yet) for optimistically parsing links out of arbitrary atproto PDS records, and potentially canonicalizing them
+
+- **status**: unstable, might remain an internal lib for constellation (and spacedust, soon)
+
 
-not at all ready (yet)
 
 ---
 
+
+old notes follow, ignore
+------------------------
+
+
 as far as i can tell, atproto lexicons today don't follow much of a convention for referencing across documents: sometimes it's a StrongRef, sometimes it's a DID, sometimes it's a bare at-uri. lexicon authors choose any old link-sounding key name for the key in their document.
 
 it's pretty messy so embrace the mess: atproto wants to be part of the web, so this library will also extract URLs and other URIs if you want it to. all the links.