Entity System Research

The vocabulary this corpus uses — 38 of 41 authored terms occur in papers (15 files). Definitions are authored or pulled from each term's canonical home; occurrences are located deterministically.

A

Anchor Pair

A heavy pair that serves as a semantic attractor for load-bearing compositions.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: anchor pairs.

See also: Pair-Relationship, Load-Bearing Composition.

Used 7 times across 1 document.

Autocatalytic Spiral

Two or more primitives co-advancing through a positive feedback loop within a partial-level transition. Each cycle of the spiral improves both primitives. Has a critical threshold separating linear (trickle) from exponential (flood) regime. Signature of evolved genesis; absent in designed genesis.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: autocatalytic spirals.

See also: Phase Transition, Crystallization.

Used 17 times across 3 documents.

B

Bootstrap type

One of the 14 seed types required to define all other types.

— ENTITY-NATIVE-TYPE-SYSTEM §1.3 (Terminology)

Also: bootstrap types.

See also: Type entity, Type resolution.

Used 28 times across 6 documents.

C

Capability

The authority a peer holds to act, transferred cryptographically and validated by chain-walking.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3.5

Also: capabilities.

See also: Peer, Identity.

Used 373 times across 13 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

CBOR

Concise Binary Object Representation (RFC 8949) — the wire encoding. Chosen for type preservation, deterministic encoding, and being self-describing.

— ENTITY-CBOR-ENCODING §1.3, §2

See also: ECF, CDDL.

Used 17 times across 5 documents.

CDDL

Concise Data Definition Language (RFC 8610) — the notation used for type definitions.

— ENTITY-CBOR-ENCODING §1.3 (Terminology)

See also: CBOR, Type entity.

Used 3 times across 1 document.

Conditional Partial-Level Dependency

A dependency that activates only above a specific partial-level threshold: Dep(A ≥ x, B ≥ y). Invisible at coarse (primitive-presence) resolution. Tightens the coherent sub-lattice at fine resolution. Arises when fine-grained advances create problems (parasite control, coordination) or require products (enzymes, peer awareness) from another primitive.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: conditional partial-level dependencies.

See also: Dependency, Partial Level.

Used 7 times across 2 documents.

Conformance

The contract a peer is measured against — not the version number. The full suite is the gate, and a published number is reproducible and oracle-pinned.

— ADR-0012; AGENTS-STANDARD.md §Honesty & conformance

Also: conformance level, conformance levels.

See also: Peer, Keystone.

Used 30 times across 5 documents.

Constraint

A value predicate attached to a field-spec: an entity {type, data} whose type selects the handler and whose data supplies the parameters.

— EXTENSION-TYPE §1.6 (Terminology)

Also: constraints.

See also: Field-spec, Narrowing, Handler.

Used 85 times across 11 documents.

Content hash

format_code ‖ SHA256(ECF(type, data)) — the identifier derived from an entity's own content.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §1.2, §7.1

Also: content_hash, content-addressed, content addressing.

See also: Identity, ECF, Entity.

Used 326 times across 13 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Context Domain

A domain whose primitives describe external operating conditions that constrain other domains from outside. Context is the SSA's independent root — it constrains surface and community without being produced by the substrate. Context primitives describe STATES regardless of origin (natural or accumulated from prior activity). Every analyzed arrangement has a context domain: biology has environment {En,Cl,Ch,St,Tm,Db}, cognition has context {Rb,Gs,Po,If,Ks,Th}, the entity system has digital context {Cm,Pl,Lb,Co,Sd,Pr}. Typically ~6 primitives.

Context feedback loops. Context primitives are not always passive boundary conditions. Specific context-internal pairs can form feedback loops where one primitive's level amplifies another's, producing accelerating co-evolution of context state independent of the substrate or community. The canonical case is cognition's Ks–Tr cycle: knowledge st…

— defined in methodology.md

Also: context domains.

See also: Primitive, Manifestation.

Used 4 times across 1 document.

Core Triad

A 3-primitive subset where all three pairs are heavy AND the triangle is load-bearing. Operationally defines "what the domain IS." Core triad function varies by domain type: information flow (substrates), functional integration (surfaces), resource flow (ecosystems).

— defined in methodology.md

Also: core triads.

See also: Load-Bearing Composition, Pair-Relationship, Hub Primitive.

Used 55 times across 6 documents.

Crystallization

A phase transition where a structural variable freezes — becomes permanent, irreversible, and enabling. All downstream dependents rely on the frozen value; changing it would simultaneously invalidate them all. Distinct from attractors (convergent, mutable) and walls (blocking, crossable). The genetic code, dispatch semantics, and grammar are instances.

— defined in methodology.md

See also: Phase Transition, Autocatalytic Spiral.

Used 36 times across 4 documents.

D

Dependency

A structural relation where one primitive presupposes another. Filters the 2^n lattice to its coherent sub-lattice.

Dependencies apply at both primitive-presence and partial-level granularity.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: dependencies.

See also: Primitive, Conditional Partial-Level Dependency.

Used 167 times across 11 documents.

E

ECF

Entity Canonical Form — the deterministic encoding used for hashing.

— ENTITY-CBOR-ENCODING §1.3 (Terminology)

Also: Entity Canonical Form.

See also: CBOR, Content hash.

Used 13 times across 6 documents.

Emit

The atomic Store-and-Bind: writing an entity and binding it into the tree as two independently observable events.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §6.10

See also: Tree, Execution.

Used 159 times across 13 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Entity

The typed data unit — {type, data, content_hash}. Everything in the system is one.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §1.1

Also: entities.

See also: Identity, Tree, Content hash.

Used 803 times across 15 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Envelope

The message container: a root entity plus a map of the entities included with it.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3.1

See also: Entity, EXECUTE.

Used 13 times across 5 documents.

Evaluator

The primitive within an information substrate that translates encoding into functional output. Evaluator determinism (Kd level) is the critical structural variable: Kd4 (deterministic) defines hard substrates (biology's ribosome, entity system's dispatch). Below Kd4: information tool. At Kd4+: information substrate.

Split evaluators. A substrate's evaluator may be SPLIT — different modalities within the same substrate operate at different Kd levels. Cognition's symbolization (Sy) is the canonical case: formal modes (mathematics, logic, code) operate at Kd4 (deterministic), while linguistic modes (natural language, gesture, narrative) operate at Kd1–Kd2 (variable, context-dependent). The same substrate primitive thus produces both reliable formal systems AND lossy natural-language transmission simultaneously. Split evaluators explain why some information substrates exhibit both high-…

— defined in methodology.md

See also: Execution, Primitive.

Used 235 times across 9 documents.

EXECUTE

One of the protocol's only two messages, with EXECUTE_RESPONSE. All dispatch goes through it.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3

Also: EXECUTE_RESPONSE.

See also: Execution, Envelope, Handler.

Used 108 times across 12 documents.

Execution

Typed dispatch via EXECUTE — the protocol's evaluator. Adding it to the substrate is the largest single-step unlock in the build-up sequence.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3.2–3.3

See also: Emit, Peer, Handler.

Used 75 times across 12 documents.

F

Field-spec

A field specification defining the shape and optionality of a field.

— ENTITY-NATIVE-TYPE-SYSTEM §1.3 (Terminology)

Also: field spec, field-specs.

See also: Constraint, Type resolution.

Used 4 times across 3 documents.

H

Handler

The unit that implements an operation, reached through the dispatch chain under the capability model.

— EXTENSION-TYPE §2.1; ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3.2–3.3

Also: handlers.

See also: Execution, EXECUTE, Capability.

Used 274 times across 11 documents.

Hub Primitive

A primitive that most others depend on or relate to. Every domain analyzed has one or two.

— defined in methodology.md

See also: Primitive, Core Triad.

Used 6 times across 2 documents.

I

Identity

Content-derived naming: an entity's name IS a hash of its content, so the name cannot disagree with what it names.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §1.2, §7.1

See also: Entity, Content hash, Peer.

Used 357 times across 14 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

K

Keystone

The canonical conformance anchor — provided, not mandatory; anyone may build a ground-up implementation instead.

— ADR-0012

Also: entity-core-keystone.

See also: Conformance, Peer.

Used 5 times across 1 document.

L

Load-Bearing Composition

A subset of primitives (at any arity) whose emergent properties are irreducible. Triangles are most common. Load-bearing compositions often require specific partial levels to activate.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: load-bearing compositions.

See also: Core Triad, Pair-Relationship.

Used 9 times across 3 documents.

M

Manifestation

A specific actual system occupying a position in a domain's lattice. Manifestations have identity (distinguishable), trajectory (they move through the lattice over time), scaffolding (ad-hoc compensation for partial positions), and properties determined by position.

A manifestation can be a point (a specific instance — single position per chain level) or a population (a class of systems sharing structural commitments — range of positions per chain level). Both are unified manifestations under the same primitive; the population case carries ranges where the point case carries integers, and population membership reduces to range containment of constituent points. Confirmed in Phase 1 (entity arrangement).

— defined in methodology.md

Also: manifestations.

See also: Primitive, Partial Level.

Used 32 times across 4 documents.

N

Narrowing

The requirement that a child type's constraints are equal to or more restrictive than its parent's.

— EXTENSION-TYPE §1.6 (Terminology)

See also: Constraint, Type resolution.

Used 10 times across 4 documents.

P

Pair-Relationship

A bivariate interaction between two primitives when both are active. Classified as heavy, medium, light, or negligible by four qualitative criteria.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: pair-relationships, pair relationship.

See also: Anchor Pair, Load-Bearing Composition, Core Triad.

Used 52 times across 9 documents.

Partial Level

A qualitatively distinct configuration within a single primitive's gradient. Boundaries drawn where real systems show qualitative behavioral differences.

Partial levels are scope-relative — "Full" is the analyst's current ceiling, not an absolute limit. They are discrete milestones — qualitatively distinct. Continuous parameters within or between milestones are not primitives.

— defined in methodology.md

Also: partial levels, partial-level, sub-level, sub-levels.

See also: Primitive, Phase Transition, Conditional Partial-Level Dependency.

Used 167 times across 8 documents.

Peer

Identity plus capabilities plus connection — the unit of distribution.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §3.5

Also: peers.

See also: Identity, Execution, Capability, Conformance.

Used 421 times across 13 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Phase Transition

A discontinuity in partial-level progression where qualitative behavior changes. Two types: within-domain (within a single primitive) and cross-edge (in bridge primitives, gating elaboration in connected domains).

— defined in methodology.md

Also: phase transitions.

See also: Partial Level, Crystallization.

Used 28 times across 6 documents.

Primitive

One of the six irreducible units the whole system is built from: entity, identity and tree (informational); emit and execution (temporal); peer (spatial). Everything above them is composition of them.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §1

Also: primitives.

See also: Entity, Identity, Tree, Emit, Execution, Peer.

Used 749 times across 15 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Primitive (structural methodology)

A minimal irreducible structural unit of a domain, meeting three criteria: structural minimality, compositional productivity, empirical recurrence.

Primitives have partial levels — a gradient from absent to fully elaborated. Each level is a qualitatively distinct configuration. Typical count: ~6 primitives per domain (range 4–12 observed across 20+ domains).

— defined in methodology.md

Also: primitive, primitives.

See also: Partial Level, Core Triad, Hub Primitive, Ambient Primitive.

Used 749 times across 15 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

T

Tree

A mutable namespace of path → hash bindings laid over the immutable content store. The tree is what changes; the entities it points at do not.

— ENTITY-CORE-PROTOCOL §1.4, §1.7

Also: trees.

See also: Entity, Emit, Peer.

Used 352 times across 15 documents, the 12 it is used in most.

Type entity

An entity of type system/type that defines a type. Type definitions are themselves entities in the tree — this is the self-description fixed point.

— ENTITY-NATIVE-TYPE-SYSTEM §1.3 (Terminology)

See also: Entity, Type path, Bootstrap type.

Used 2 times across 2 documents.

Type resolution

Expanding a type path to its effective field set.

— ENTITY-NATIVE-TYPE-SYSTEM §1.3 (Terminology)

See also: Type path, Structural compatibility.

Used 1 time across 1 document.

Not used in this corpus

Authored terms that do not occur here — they belong to another part of the system.

Ambient Primitive, Structural compatibility, Type path.