Kernel Protocol · object specification

Snapshot

Holds one immutable reading of the business at one point in time. It records what was true, never what it means.

Judgment protocol · lifecycle

kernel/v1.2

↺ Constitution constrains every future recommendation. The pipeline is a closed loop, not a line.

§1 Versioning

Immutable

Every downstream conclusion is anchored to the exact numbers it was derived from. A snapshot that can change retroactively invalidates all reasoning built on it.

§2 Allowed operations

IngestParse a source file into normalized metric readings.
LabelAttach a period label. Labels are metadata, not data.
OrderPosition within the chronology. Order is derived, not asserted.
ReferenceBe cited as evidence by any downstream object.
WithdrawRemove from the active timeline; the record itself is not erased.

§3 Forbidden operations

Edit valuesA corrected reading is a new snapshot, not an amended one.
BackfillMissing metrics stay missing. Absence is signal.
Silent re-parseRe-parsing under new rules produces a new snapshot id.

§4 Relationship types

Snapshot precedes → Snapshot
Establishes the chronology reasoning walks.
Snapshot grounds → Investigation
Supplies every number an investigation may cite.
Snapshot evidences → Pattern
A pattern may cite the readings it was observed in.

§5 Lifecycle events

Ingested
Parsed; unparsed rows retained verbatim.
Validated
Metrics matched to known keys, direction resolved.
Active
Part of the current timeline.
Withdrawn
Excluded from reasoning; still addressable by id.
Archived
Retained for audit only.

§6 State machine

initial: Ingested · terminal: Archived

From	To	Trigger
Ingested	→ Validated	metrics matched to known keys
Validated	→ Active	admitted to the timeline
Active	→ Withdrawn	excluded by an engineer
Withdrawn	→ Active	re-admitted; id unchanged
Withdrawn	→ Archived	retention window closed
Active	→ Archived	superseded timeline archived

Forbidden transitions

Active ⇸ IngestedRe-parsing produces a new snapshot id, never a rewind.
Archived ⇸ ActiveArchived readings cannot re-enter reasoning.

§7 Lineage

Ancestry — what must exist before this object

Root of the protocol. Nothing precedes it.

Descendants — what this object can produce

Snapshot grounds →Investigation
Snapshot evidences →Outcome

transitive: Investigation → Outcome → Recommendation → Pattern → Reflection → Candidate Principle → Constitution

§8 Invariants

A snapshot's metric values never change after ingestion.
Order is assigned by the timeline, never stored as truth inside the snapshot.

Global constraints binding this object

GI-07∀ s ∈ Snapshot : ∀ t > ingestedAt(s) : values(s, t) = values(s, ingestedAt(s))
Snapshot values are byte-stable after ingestion.