sica-fondt/docs/plans/E1-gnucobol-invariant.md
Claude 20e99f434c
docs/plans: remaining component specs — Identity, Cognition, Border, Storage, Periphery, Cross-cutting
Wave 1 remainder + Wave 2 design-first specs, completing one build plan per sub-organ:
- B1 tarot emulator, B2 SOUL/Big-3, B3 Celtic Cross
- C2 4+4 metacog, C3 inference cycle, C4 Brain
- D1 Ada border, D2 the medium, D3 mini-rag
- E1 3 GnuCOBOL invariant stores, E2 VARIANT stores, E3 RAG family
- F1 MoRAG, F2 SAE monitor, F3 subagents
- G1 stress-loop contract, G2 governance, G3 defense model

Each: contract + stubs for independent build; unfitted constants marked C1.

https://claude.ai/code/session_015hmgREHNsxYCuim33yUF2c
2026-06-13 20:08:19 +00:00

2.0 KiB

E1 — The 3 GnuCOBOL invariant stores (DESIGN-FIRST)

1. Component

The foundational non-shifting memory layer: three GnuCOBOL stores — sparse, fixed-format, write-only-at-downtime, built to outlive the model. The bedrock the rest of memory sits on.

2. Status / certainty

DESIGN-FIRST · store-format C5 (GnuCOBOL chosen), but the 3 roles + contents are C1 (skeletal — arch §10 said "contents more complex than modeled"). What the three stores ARE needs confirmation.

3. Language & location

GnuCOBOL · new location e.g. src/invariant/ (three programs/copybooks).

4. Does / does-not

  • Does: hold the invariant core(s) in fixed-format records; admit writes only at downtime; serve reads.
  • Does-not: hold shifting state (that's VARIANT E2 / RAG E3) or compute (it's storage).

5. Interface contract (proposed)

  • Three fixed-format record sets (copybooks), one per store. read(store, key) -> record ; write(store, record) gated to downtime only (per arch §10).
  • Sits behind Ada (D1); writes carry provenance.

6. Dependencies & stubs

None upstream. Consumers (Eth-Int memory-derivative A7, priors A5, VARIANT E2) read it — stub: an in-memory fixed-format map until the COBOL programs exist.

7. Invariants / laws

  • L1 (C5): write-only-at-downtime — no mid-run mutation of the invariant core.
  • L2 (C5): sparse, fixed-format, model-outliving (survives a Brain swap).
  • L3 (C4): all writes carry provenance (D1).

8. Build steps

  1. Confirm the 3 stores' roles (the blocking question — see Open). 2. Define the three copybooks.
  2. Implement read + downtime-gated write. 4. Wire consumers (A5/A7/E2) via stubs first.

9. Tests

Downtime-write gate (rejects mid-run write); fixed-format round-trip per store; read-after-downtime-write.

10. Open items

  • What are the 3 GnuCOBOL stores? (roles/division of the invariant core) — needs Anja's call (C1).
  • Exact record schemas (C1). Downtime definition / trigger (C1).