Software

Software as a living system — and a pressure test of the Atlas ontology

Durable objects

Decisions

Should the Software Hub introduce a new ontology or project the existing one?

approved

When

2026-08-22observed

Responsible

Steward + Atlasobserved

Context

Software development introduces nouns (repository, pull request, deployment) that look primitive but may only be implementations of Identity, Event and Relationship.

Chosen

Projection of the existing substrate with discrepancies surfaced as questionsobserved

Rejected — kept as provenance

  • New software ontology with its own primitives
  • Reuse the industry hub manifest unchanged

Evidence

  • — System Architect skill: extend before adding
  • — C17 typed absence already models unknown fields

Constraints in force

No sixth spine layerAtlas is orchestration only

Consequence

Software Hub is read-mostly and declarative until a real source of software truth is connected.observed
reversibleevent · domain.openedobservation · open

Later reassessment

Unknownnot yet declaredRe-evaluate once GitHub API data flows in — does Repository survive as a substrate?

Should Atlas absorb HomeFlow?

released

When

2026-08-19observed

Responsible

Stewarddeclared

Context

Atlas is the orchestration layer; HomeFlow is the product layer.

Chosen

Keep separate with documented contractsdeclared

Rejected — kept as provenance

  • Merge repositories

Evidence

  • — Boundary discipline in workspace doctrine

Constraints in force

Atlas is orchestration onlyNo PII across the boundary

Consequence

Integration happens through atlas-entity/v1, atlas-event/v1 and atlas-knowledge/v1 only.declared
costlyobservation · explained

Later reassessment

Unknownnot yet declared

How should software data that Atlas cannot yet observe be represented?

released

When

2026-08-22observed

Responsible

Atlasobserved

Context

Live GitHub, registry and deployment data is not connected to this surface.

Chosen

Typed absence with explicit unknown reasonsdeclared

Rejected — kept as provenance

  • Plausible placeholder values
  • Empty states

Evidence

  • — Preserve the Path doctrine
  • — C17 absence kinds

Constraints in force

Never fabricate to complete a view

Consequence

Every registry card can show Unknown as an inspectable state and generate a question.declared
reversibleevent · domain.opened

Later reassessment

Unknownnot yet declared