Atlas action perspective formal candidate

Atlas Action Perspective Formal Candidate

Candidate · KFD-7 formal reference · Candidate registry

Status: experimental
Normative: no
Formal candidate version: 1
Authority: drafts/atlas-action-perspective.md
Slot binding: non-binding

Purpose

This page preserves the pre-promotion Atlas formal candidate. KFD-8 now owns the authoritative draft rule and docs/KFD-8-formal.md owns its current non-normative formal reference.

Object model

At a declared Fact cut f, an Atlas version is:

A^v = (
  atlas_id,
  version_root,
  observer,
  scope,
  accepted_sources,
  fact_cut,
  projection,
  omissions,
  unresolved_conflicts,
  freshness,
  declared_loss
)

atlas_id preserves continuity across versions. version_root identifies one immutable declaration. Identity and current state are not the same: a ref may select one version at a later cut without rewriting earlier versions.

accepted_sources records epistemic admissibility for this view. It does not grant action authority. projection determines which admitted facts and relations become visible from the declared observer and scope.

Observation and support

pi_A^v: F_f -> O_A

Supported_A(f, u) =
  RequiredFacts(u) are visible under pi_A^v
  and SourceBoundary(A^v) is satisfied
  and FreshEnough(A^v, u)
  and not MateriallyContradicted(A^v, u)

Support means that the declared view contains an adequate basis for considering an action. It does not mean that the action advances a Pursuit or is authorized by a Warrant.

Equivalence

Two Atlas versions may be payload-equal without being decision-equivalent:

Payload(A1) = Payload(A2)
does not imply
AtlasEquivalent_D(A1, A2)

For a bounded decision domain D:

AtlasEquivalent_D(A1, A2) iff
  for all f, u in D:
    Supported_A1(f, u) = Supported_A2(f, u)
  and their provenance, freshness, omission, conflict, and loss boundaries
      are interchangeable for D

This is behavioral equivalence for one declared domain, not identity equality or universal substitutability.

Transitions

Declare(observer, sources, cut, projection) -> A^1
Refresh(A^v, successor_cut)                  -> A^(v+1)
Transform(A^v, target_observer, loss)        -> A'
Degrade(A^v, reason)                         -> degraded view
Supersede(A^v, A^w)                          -> ref movement with lineage
Compare(A1, A2)                              -> contrast with preserved roots

Every consequential transition preserves the prior root and records its source cut, reason, and declared loss. A Profile may own concrete lifecycle labels; this candidate owns only the semantic distinction among declaration, successor, transformation, degradation, and supersession.

Invariants

A1  Atlas identity is independent of session, path, query process, and UI route.
A2  Same visible payload does not erase source, cut, freshness, or loss.
A3  Atlas does not imply Pursuit or Warrant.
A4  A transformed Atlas preserves source lineage and declares transformation loss.
A5  A stale or materially degraded Atlas cannot silently present current support.
A6  Updating a current ref does not rewrite an earlier Atlas version.
A7  Missing perspective or cut identity remains inspectable when consequential.

Session projection

Inside the KFD-7 low-complexity boundary:

Atlas -> bounded context plus inspectable source, cut, freshness, and omission

Compression is valid only while one context adequately represents one Atlas. It must stop when observer, source authority, cut, freshness, conflict, or declared loss becomes decision-relevant.

Derived action binding

A product may bind an exact Atlas version into a proposed action:

ActionBinding.atlas_root = root(A^v)

The binding is a decision-time receipt or derived view, not a new Primitive claim. It must not replace Atlas identity or synthesize missing direction or authority.

Proof obligations

Preserve stable identity and immutable version roots.
Demonstrate same-payload cases where different cuts or freshness change safe action.
Demonstrate perspective transformation with declared provenance and loss.
Compare reconstruction cost against context, snapshot, report, retrieval, query, and world-model alternatives.
Preserve human and agent access to the same Atlas authority and degradation state.
Show the complexity breakpoint at which a session context must expand into an explicit Atlas.

Invalid states

Available context is presented as complete reality.
Retrieval rank is treated as source authority.
A new query result silently rewrites the view used by an earlier action.
Two views are merged without preserving observer, cut, omissions, or loss.
Atlas facts are treated as intent or permission.
A stale but internally consistent Atlas remains silently actionable.

Non-claims

This historical model does not prove that Atlas is universally necessary, require one serialization or storage engine, define a God’s-eye state, or make every context an Atlas. KFD-8 allocates the number; product schemas and lifecycle vocabulary remain adopter-owned.

Atlas action perspective formal candidate