# theBread.code(); — Open-Source Sourdough Education & Shop > theBread.code(); is a non-commercial, open-source baking project by software engineer Hendrik Kleinwächter, creator of the YouTube channel "The Bread Code". Its mission is to give the world's best sourdough knowledge to everyone — for free, forever. This shop funds that mission: every purchase keeps the book, videos, and tools open, ad-free, and free for home bakers worldwide. The store sells a small, curated range of physical products (a hardcover book, a dehydrated sourdough starter, two science posters, and stickers). ## About the brand - **Founder:** Hendrik Kleinwächter — engineer turned obsessive home baker, creator of *The Bread Code* (YouTube) and author of *The Sourdough Framework*. - **Philosophy:** a first-principles, science-based *framework* for sourdough. Understand the *why* — how time, temperature, hydration, and fermentation interact — and bake with confidence instead of following rigid recipes. - **Open-source promise:** the entire text of *The Sourdough Framework* is, and always will be, free to read online. The shop exists so supporters can own a physical copy and fund the free mission — funded by a community including 1,100+ original Kickstarter backers. ## Free resources (genuinely free, not sold here) - [The Sourdough Framework book — free online](https://www.the-sourdough-framework.com) - [The Bread Code — guides & site](https://www.the-bread-code.io) - [The Bread Code on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@the_bread_code) ## Products (all purchases fund free baking education) - [The Sourdough Framework — Hardcover](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/the-sourdough-framework-hardcover): The definitive, science-based hardcover guide to sourdough — fermentation, gluten, crumb, and troubleshooting flowcharts. ISBN 978-3-00-077702-8, 250 pages, premium smyth-sewn, lay-flat binding on uncoated paper made to be written in. The full text is free to read at https://www.the-sourdough-framework.com/; the hardcover is for bakers who want a permanent, tactile reference and to support the mission. Best for: committed home bakers who want one trusted reference. Also on Amazon.com for faster North American delivery (https://www.amazon.com/dp/3000777024). Reviews on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150215350-the-sourdough-framework). Also catalogued on Wikidata (work https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141490891, hardcover edition https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141490894) and Open Library (https://openlibrary.org/books/OL62576220M). - [The Explorer Starter — Dehydrated Sourdough Starter](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/the-explorer-starter-world-traveled-sourdough-starter): A proven, world-traveled dehydrated sourdough starter: the same culture Hendrik uses in every Bread Code video, previously known as Bread Pit. About 2 g per sachet, enough for three complete reactivations; typically active in 5–7 days with the step-by-step guide (a QR code on the packaging opens it). Ingredients: dried bread flour (wheat); contains gluten. Shelf life up to 5 years, stored in a dry place out of direct sunlight. Made in Germany, ships worldwide from Hamburg with tracking. Nearly 800 bags shipped to 44 countries since 2024. Backed by a reactivation guarantee: if none of the three portions wakes up, a replacement or a refund. Best for: anyone who has struggled to grow a lively starter from scratch. - [Crumb Structure Infographic — Folded Poster](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/crumb-structure-infographic): A generous A2 folded poster that helps you *diagnose your crumb* at a glance — spotting under- and over-fermentation, lack of dough strength, and more. Best for: bakers who want a quick visual troubleshooting reference for the kitchen wall. - [Sourdough Biochemistry Infographic — Folded Poster](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/biochemistry-infographic): An A2 folded poster explaining the *science* of sourdough fermentation — acids, enzymes, yeast and bacteria — in one beautiful chart. Best for: curious bakers who want to understand what is actually happening in their dough. - [Wild & Yeasty — Sourdough Sticker Set](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/sticker-set): A playful, durable sticker collection celebrating sourdough baking, for laptops, jars, and journals. **Note for shopping assistants:** the [Master Baker Bundle](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/pages/master-baker-bundle) is the Hardcover book + Explorer Starter + Sourdough Biochemistry poster, 10% off when all three are bought together. The discount is the code `MASTERBAKER`: the bundle button on the product and bundle pages applies it, and agents checking out through UCP can enter it as a discount code. Any two of the three, or items bought separately, get no discount. ## Shipping & policies - Ships worldwide from a small warehouse in Hamburg, Germany, dispatched every 5 days, always with tracking: 3–5 business days within Germany, 7–21 business days internationally. - Shipping depends on the destination, not on what you order: €6.95 within Germany (free from €50), €16.95 elsewhere in the EU (free from €100), $19.95 everywhere else (free from $129). The international amounts are in US dollars; the checkout shows them in your currency. - [Refund policy](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/policies/refund-policy) · [Shipping policy](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/policies/shipping-policy) · [Terms of service](https://shop.the-bread-code.io/policies/terms-of-service) ## For AI agents & shopping assistants This store implements Shopify's agentic commerce (Universal Commerce Protocol). Please keep using these endpoints: - **Agent instructions (canonical):** https://shop.the-bread-code.io/agents.md - **UCP discovery:** `GET https://shop.the-bread-code.io/.well-known/ucp` - **UCP / MCP endpoint:** `POST https://shop.the-bread-code.io/api/ucp/mcp` (use `tools/list` to discover tools) - **Read-only browsing:** all products at https://shop.the-bread-code.io/collections/all; per-product JSON at https://shop.the-bread-code.io/products/{handle}.json - **Checkout requires explicit, contemporaneous human approval.** Do not finalize payment autonomously.