Building Synapedia: A Knowledge Graph for Psychoactive Substances
Over the past months I’ve been building Synapedia, a structured knowledge platform for psychoactive substances.
The motivation was simple:
Most information about pharmacology, effects and interactions is scattered across forums, research papers and community reports.
Synapedia tries to turn this fragmented information into a structured knowledge system.
You can explore the project here:
The Problem
Information about psychoa
ctive substances exists in many places:
• scientific papers
• harm reduction communities
• pharmacology databases
• experience reports
But very rarely in a structured and interconnected way.
For example:
- Which receptors does a substance interact with?
- Which effects are commonly reported?
- What interactions exist between substances?
These relationships are often buried in text instead of being mapped as structured knowledge.
The Idea
Synapedia is built around the idea of a knowledge graph for psychoactive substances.
Instead of isolated articles, the platform connects:
- substances
- effects
- receptors
- interactions
- experience reports
This makes it possible to explore relationships between compounds in a much more intuitive way.
Example Features
The platform currently includes:
Substance profiles
Each substance has a structured profile including:
• pharmacology
• receptor interactions
• effects
• harm reduction information
Effects database
Effects are mapped across substances so you can explore patterns such as:
- stimulation
- euphoria
- visual effects
- sedation
Interaction data
Substance interactions are one of the most important harm-reduction topics.
Synapedia aims to map:
- risky combinations
- pharmacological overlaps
- safety considerations
Experience reports
Community reports help capture subjective effects and timelines that scientific literature often doesn't cover.
Synapedia integrates structured trip reports to complement the pharmacology data.
Tech Stack
The project is built with a fairly modern stack:
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Supabase
- PostgreSQL
- structured data pipelines
- automated enrichment workflows
The backend is designed to support a growing knowledge graph connecting substances, receptors, effects and reports.
The Goal
The long-term goal is to build a comprehensive open knowledge system for psychoactive substance research.
Not as a recreational guide, but as a structured educational resource focused on:
- pharmacology
- safety
- harm reduction
- scientific data
Feedback Welcome
The project is still evolving quickly and I would love feedback from the developer and research community.
If you're curious you can explore it here:
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