How study groups can share notes without oversharing, with Nirvaana

The real worry

A study group is a good idea that can get messy fast. Someone has the lecture notes. Someone promised to make a practice quiz. Someone else said they would book the library room and then forgot. The group chat fills up with photos of whiteboards, and by Wednesday nobody can find anything.

There is a quieter worry too. You want to share what helps, but your notes also hold your own to-do list, your half-formed questions, and maybe a grade you would rather keep to yourself. You should not have to choose between helping the group and keeping your own things your own.

What a shared world is

In Nirvaana, a world is one part of your life with the people in it: a class, a club, a team. A study group fits well.

You always have your own world, and it is yours alone. You can also have a shared world for the group, and that one is shared only with its people. The important rule is simple: nothing from your own world goes into a shared world until you press Approve.

So each person decides what they share and what they keep.

A day with Nirvaana

Here is an example, not a real user story. Say you're Maya, in Chem 2A. You and three friends meet Thursdays to work through problem sets before the midterm.

Monday evening: set it up

You make a world called "Chem 2A study group" and send it to your three friends. Everyone joins. You now have a place that belongs to the group, separate from your own world.

Tuesday, 3:00 pm: share one useful thing

After lecture you wrote a clear summary of the acid-base section. You think the group would like it. Nirvaana shows you what it would add to the shared world and who it would go to. You press Approve. That one summary is in. Your private notes, and the reminder to email your TA, stay with you.

If you decide something should stay yours, press Keep it private. Keeping one private tells nobody.

Wednesday night: promises both ways

At the group meeting Jordan said, "I'll make a practice quiz by Thursday." Dev said, "I'll book the library room." You tell Nirvaana in your own words: "Jordan promised a practice quiz by Thursday, and Dev is booking the room."

Nirvaana remembers the promises people made to you, and it keeps your own in view until done. You also said you would bring the problem set answers, so that one sits on your list. Today shows what you owe and what you're owed, so you can see at a glance who is waiting on whom.

Thursday morning: Catch me up

You type "Catch me up." It tells you what is due, the late things first. You see the room booking is still open, so you send Dev a message yourself. Nirvaana does not send it for you without your yes.

Thursday evening: after the meeting

You tell Nirvaana what happened: the quiz was shared, the room was booked, and the group agreed to meet Sunday. Each promise that is finished gets marked done, and the new ones get added.

Why the approval step helps the group

Study groups run on trust. People share more when they know they will not accidentally share too much.

• Each person approves their own contributions. Nobody can push your notes into the group for you.
• The group sees only what has been approved into its world.
• If someone leaves the group, they leave a shared space, not their own private one.

It also keeps the group tidy. Instead of every thought landing in a chat, the shared world holds what people chose to put there.

What it won't do

• It only reads Canvas. It does not post to it or change anything there.
• It is built to stop before it sends, posts, pays, signs or deletes, and hand the step to you.
• That check is automatic and not perfect, so read over anything important before you press go.
• It is one agent for one person. Each member uses their own Nirvaana, and the shared world is where those meet.
• It will not do your problem sets for the group, and it does not decide who in the group is right. It helps you keep track of who said what.

What stays private

• Your own world is yours alone.
• Nothing from it goes into a shared world until you press Approve.
• A shared world is shared only with its people.
• We do not train on your world. We sell nothing and share nothing for advertising.
• You can download your world, or delete your account, from Settings.

If you connect Canvas, each class you take comes in on its own, with its files, facts and every due date. Those files are kept on your computer. They stay in your own world unless you choose to approve something into the group.

Where to start

1. Download Nirvaana for Mac, sign in, and connect the AI you already pay for: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. No plan? Google's free Gemini works with a Google account, and the app sets it up during the first run. Windows and iPhone versions are coming soon.
2. Make a world for your group and send it to the others. Ask each person to try Approve on one thing.
3. After the first meeting, tell Nirvaana who promised what, in your own words.

If your group is working toward a shared assignment, read Nirvaana for group projects. If you are new to all this, how to stop forgetting assignments is a good companion.

Nirvaana is for people 18 and older, and it is available in the US for now.