Domain Language¶
Foundation terminology describes cross-package contracts without claiming scientific interpretation.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| typed identifier | A validated identifier whose type communicates the entity it names, such as a program, claim, assay, or artifact |
| JSON contract | A typed model with explicit validation and a stable JSON-compatible representation |
| document schema | Metadata describing version, producer, lineage, lifecycle state, and revision for a durable document |
| canonical JSON | The unique supported JSON encoding used for comparison and hashing |
| stable value | A value normalized so equivalent logical inputs do not vary by incidental Python representation |
| content hash | A digest of canonical content used to detect change or corruption |
| fingerprint | A stable identity derived from the contract-relevant content of a model or payload |
| schema version | The normalized version of a persisted document shape, independent of the package release version |
| compatibility assessment | A determination made before reading or migrating a document across schema versions |
| schema migration | A declared transformation between known document shapes |
| import migration | Compatibility routing from a historical Python import path to its supported owner |
| failure | A machine-readable account of an operation that could not satisfy its contract |
| refusal | An intentional decision not to proceed because declared preconditions or policy are unmet |
| provenance | The identities and relationships needed to trace a document or result to its inputs and producer |
“Canonical” means deterministic under the declared contract; it does not mean scientifically correct. A stable hash proves content identity, not truth. Likewise, schema compatibility proves that a document can be interpreted structurally, not that its evidence is adequate for a decision.
Scientific concepts belong in core, evidence authority in knowledge, decision policy in intelligence, experimental operations in lab, and execution state in runtime. Foundation gives those packages a shared grammar without absorbing their meanings.