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+# Resource Budget for 10K Users
+
+## Current Baseline (March 2026)
+
+### Node .228 (Primary Dev Server)
+- **Hardware**: Intel i3-8100T (4 cores @ 3.10GHz), 16GB RAM, 1.8TB NVMe
+- **Containers**: 32 running
+- **RAM Usage**: ~14GB (8GB swap configured)
+- **CPU Load**: 3.5-5.5 (variable, depends on Bitcoin block processing)
+- **Disk Usage**: ~82% of 1.8TB
+
+### Per-Container Resource Consumption (Measured)
+
+| App | RAM (typical) | CPU (typical) | Disk |
+|-----|---------------|---------------|------|
+| Bitcoin Knots | 750MB | 0.5-2.0 cores (IBD) | 600GB+ (full chain) |
+| LND | 250MB | 0.1 cores | 5GB |
+| Electrs/Mempool-Electrs | 500MB | 0.5 cores (indexing) | 50GB+ |
+| Mempool API | 200MB | 0.1 cores | 1GB |
+| Mempool Web | 50MB | 0.01 cores | negligible |
+| BTCPay Server | 300MB | 0.1 cores | 2GB |
+| NBXplorer | 200MB | 0.1 cores | 1GB |
+| PostgreSQL (BTCPay) | 100MB | 0.1 cores | 2GB |
+| MariaDB (Mempool) | 150MB | 0.1 cores | 1GB |
+| Fedimint | 370MB | 0.1 cores | 1GB |
+| Fedimint Gateway | 100MB | 0.05 cores | negligible |
+| OnlyOffice | 760MB | 0.2 cores | 2GB |
+| Immich Server | 500MB | 0.5-1.0 cores (ML) | varies |
+| Immich Postgres | 100MB | 0.1 cores | varies |
+| Immich Redis | 30MB | 0.01 cores | negligible |
+| Nextcloud | 300MB | 0.2 cores | varies |
+| Jellyfin | 200MB | 0.2-2.0 cores (transcode) | varies |
+| Home Assistant | 230MB | 0.1 cores | 1GB |
+| Grafana | 100MB | 0.05 cores | 500MB |
+| Uptime Kuma | 80MB | 0.02 cores | 200MB |
+| Vaultwarden | 50MB | 0.01 cores | 100MB |
+| PhotoPrism | 300MB | 0.3 cores (ML) | varies |
+| SearXNG | 100MB | 0.05 cores | negligible |
+| DWN | 80MB | 0.02 cores | varies |
+| FileBrowser | 30MB | 0.01 cores | negligible |
+| Portainer | 50MB | 0.02 cores | 200MB |
+| Tailscale | 30MB | 0.01 cores | negligible |
+| AdGuard Home | 50MB | 0.02 cores | 200MB |
+| Nostr Relay | 50MB | 0.02 cores | varies |
+| Nginx Proxy Manager | 50MB | 0.01 cores | negligible |
+| Ollama | 500MB-4GB | 1-4 cores (inference) | 10GB+ (models) |
+
+## App Tiers
+
+### Core Tier (Required for Basic Bitcoin Node)
+- Bitcoin Knots (750MB)
+- LND (250MB)
+- Electrs (500MB)
+- Mempool Stack (400MB total)
+- BTCPay Stack (600MB total)
+- DWN (80MB)
+- FileBrowser (30MB)
+- **Total: ~2.6GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 700GB disk**
+
+### Recommended Tier (Enhanced Functionality)
+- Fedimint + Gateway (470MB)
+- Vaultwarden (50MB)
+- Uptime Kuma (80MB)
+- Grafana (100MB)
+- SearXNG (100MB)
+- Tailscale (30MB)
+- Portainer (50MB)
+- **Total: +880MB RAM, +0.5 cores**
+
+### Optional Tier (User Choice)
+- Home Assistant (230MB)
+- Jellyfin (200MB)
+- Nextcloud (300MB)
+- OnlyOffice (760MB)
+- Immich Stack (630MB)
+- PhotoPrism (300MB)
+- AdGuard Home (50MB)
+- Ollama (500MB-4GB)
+- Nginx Proxy Manager (50MB)
+- **Total: +2-5GB RAM, +2-5 cores**
+
+## Hardware Tier Recommendations
+
+### Tier 1: Minimal (Core Only)
+- **CPU**: 2 cores (Intel Celeron/N100, ARM Cortex-A76)
+- **RAM**: 4GB
+- **Disk**: 1TB SSD (pruned Bitcoin node) or 2TB (full node)
+- **Apps**: Core tier only
+- **Cost**: ~$100-150 (Raspberry Pi 5, used mini-PC)
+
+### Tier 2: Standard (Core + Recommended)
+- **CPU**: 4 cores (Intel i3/N200, Apple M1)
+- **RAM**: 8GB
+- **Disk**: 2TB NVMe
+- **Apps**: Core + Recommended tiers
+- **Cost**: ~$200-400 (Intel NUC, ThinkCentre Tiny)
+
+### Tier 3: Power User (All Tiers)
+- **CPU**: 4-8 cores (Intel i5/i7, AMD Ryzen)
+- **RAM**: 16GB+
+- **Disk**: 2-4TB NVMe
+- **Apps**: Core + Recommended + Optional
+- **Cost**: ~$400-800 (used workstation, custom build)
+
+### Tier 4: Heavy (All + AI/ML)
+- **CPU**: 8+ cores
+- **RAM**: 32GB+
+- **Disk**: 4TB+ NVMe
+- **GPU**: Optional (for Ollama, Immich ML)
+- **Apps**: Everything including Ollama with large models
+- **Cost**: ~$800+ (workstation with GPU)
+
+## 10K User Projection
+
+### Distribution Assumption
+- 60% Tier 1 (minimal Bitcoin node): 6,000 users
+- 25% Tier 2 (standard): 2,500 users
+- 12% Tier 3 (power user): 1,200 users
+- 3% Tier 4 (heavy): 300 users
+
+### Network Impact
+- Federation sync: ~1KB per peer per 5-minute sync
+- DWN message replication: ~10KB per message sync
+- Tor hidden service overhead: negligible per user
+- Nostr relay federation: ~5KB per node announcement
+
+### Scale Bottleneck Analysis
+1. **Disk**: Bitcoin blockchain grows ~100GB/year — need at minimum 1TB
+2. **Memory**: Core tier uses 2.6GB, leaves headroom on 4GB systems
+3. **CPU**: Bitcoin block processing and Electrs indexing are CPU-bound
+4. **Network**: Tor circuit establishment is the main latency bottleneck
+
+## Recommendations
+1. Default fresh install to **Core tier only** (2.6GB RAM)
+2. Show tier badges in Marketplace
+3. Warn when system RAM < required for selected apps
+4. Auto-detect hardware and suggest appropriate tier
diff --git a/loop/plan.md b/loop/plan.md
index 2d41c8ff..3dae05b9 100644
--- a/loop/plan.md
+++ b/loop/plan.md
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ Every test must pass **10 consecutive times** from BOTH .228→.198 AND .198→.
 
 ### Sprint 14: Resource Budget for 10K Users
 
-- [ ] **SCALE-01** — Create resource budget document. Based on current .228 metrics (33 containers, 6.5GB RAM, 1.2TB disk, load 5.44), calculate per-node resource requirements. Estimate: RAM per container (avg), disk per container, CPU per container. Project for 10K users across different hardware tiers. Document in `docs/scale-budget.md`. **Acceptance**: Document with clear resource requirements per hardware tier.
+- [x] **SCALE-01** — Created `docs/scale-budget.md`. Per-container RAM/CPU/disk measurements from .228. Three app tiers: Core (2.6GB, Bitcoin+LND+Electrs+Mempool+BTCPay+DWN), Recommended (+880MB, Fedimint+Grafana+Vaultwarden+etc), Optional (+2-5GB, Home Assistant+Jellyfin+Nextcloud+Immich+etc). Four hardware tiers: Minimal (4GB/2 cores/$100), Standard (8GB/4 cores/$300), Power (16GB+/$500), Heavy (32GB+/$800). 10K user projection with distribution estimates.
 
 - [ ] **SCALE-02** — Identify resource bottlenecks. Profile the top CPU and memory consumers. Current: immich_server (82% CPU spike), onlyoffice (759MB RAM), bitcoin-knots (750MB RAM), fedimint (369MB), lnd (250MB), homeassistant (234MB). Determine which apps should be optional vs core for a minimal install. **Acceptance**: Tiered app list: Core (must-have), Recommended, Optional. Core tier uses < 4GB RAM.