12 Design Constitutions

Engineered for determinism, safety, and auditability from line one. Each principle is enforced by code gates.

01

Determinism First

552 frozen contracts, 6 determinism gates. Same input always produces same output.

@dataclass(frozen=True)
02

Zero I/O Kernel

Absolute zero I/O in the kernel layer. 1,612 kernel tests need zero external dependencies.

gate_kernel_purity()
03

Contracts as Boundaries

Immutable contracts locked by SHA256 hash. New features via new contracts, never modify frozen ones.

gate_kernel_freeze_lock()
04

Port-Adapter Pattern

34 Port Protocols define I/O boundaries, 46 required ports injected by the shared layer.

REQUIRED_PORTS (46)
05

Governance Quadrant

Every Capability must satisfy Policy, Audit, Quota, and Normalize governance.

7 mandatory files per package
06

Evidence-Driven

100+ LiveEvent types record every decision. replay.jsonl replays any historical operation.

EvidenceStorePort
07

Append-Only Memory

Memory grows only. Undo via marking, never physical deletion. 8 memory safety gates enforced.

gate_memory_append_only()
08

Progressive Autonomy

Four-stage progression: observe → experiment → promote → expand. Bayesian belief-driven promotion.

Beta(α, β) belief tracking
09

Semantic State Plane

8-domain unified worldview: resource, artifact, external, knowledge, execution, policy, evidence, intent.

5 fact types with confidence
10

Minimal Substrate

Host provides only compute. Ubuntu + Docker + NVIDIA + Tailscale; all intelligence from Octopus layer.

host_filesystem_standard.md
11

Role-Driven

46+ roles define behavior patterns. Switching roles switches behavior, metrics, policies, and UI.

5-file YAML template per role
12

Learning Loop

Discover → classify → extract → risk evaluate → verify → assimilate → monitor → promote/demote.

6-step learning pipeline
OctopusOS
How can we help?