It may be useful to familiarize yourself with the system and basic concepts first.
Karmasphere is designed to deliver fast responses to reputation queries based on many different data sources. It can be queried over the network and via the web site. On the web site, you can input a query and get a response in many places. Note that since Karmasphere is very flexible and different feedsets contain different combinations of feeds, the results you get may be different.
Any DNSBL-enabled product can automatically make Karmasphere queries. See your product's documentation for details on how to implement DNSBL-checking features. This includes but is not limited to most email MTAs and security products.
As well as getting access to the broad set of data feeds available at Karmasphere, you can also publish and use your own. You can keep your feed private or share it with others.
Publishing your own feed is as simple as uploading it through the web site. If you want to automate subsequent updates, you can use the command line tool Karma-Publish.
A feedset is a particular combination of feeds with a set of rules that indicate how each feed should be treated. Karmasphere queries feedsets via the web site or a network query. Each feedset has a unique name. You can create your own feedset either from scratch by using the "Create Feedset" function or by selecting an existing feedset and "cloning" it, which will copy over all the feeds and rules of that feedset into a new one that you can edit at will.
Some of the reasons you might want to create your own feedset include:Once you've created your feedset you can use it privately or share it with others.
You can keep the feed or feedset you create marked "private" for your own use only. Or, since Karmasphere makes it possible to work collaboratively, you can share your feeds and/or feedsets with others. You can mark a feed or feedset as "public" which means it's available for everyone else's use at Karmasphere. You can also use the nifty "Unlisted" feature that allows you to tell your friends about the feed (or feedset) but not have it show up in public areas of the Karmasphere web site. As long as you tell them how to access it via its DNS or BQuery address and they are registered Karmasphere users, they can use it.
Karmasphere is extensible. Many applications benefit from reputation checks. Data providers need mechanisms to programmatically add and share data. Developers already have some interesting ideas on how to use Karmasphere in various creative ways which we'll reference here as they become publicly available.