02 — Abstract Ontology and Root Artifact¶

Status¶

Normative baseline
Version: 0.9.0
Layer: Part 0 / Foundation

1. Purpose¶

This chapter defines the canonical root object, the universal structural envelope, and the relationship between universal ontology and carrier specialization.

2. Foundational Decision¶

Every valid Rhoe artifact lowers to one canonical Artifact root.
Artifact replaces older universal roots such as Document and presentation-shaped roots such as NarrativeDocument.
Presentations survive as stageFrame, the first deeply elaborated carrier specialization.

3. Canonical Root¶

3.1 Required fields¶

Field	Type	Meaning
`id`	string	Stable artifact identifier
`title`	string	Human-facing title
`carrierArchetype`	carrier ID	Canonical carrier registry value
`genre`	genre ID	Root genre binding
`matter`	`MatterEnvelope`	Universal matter envelope
`compositionGrammarRef`	ref string	Root composition grammar binding
`metadata`	object	Additional structured metadata

3.2 Optional scalar fields¶

Field	Meaning
`brandProfileRef`	Semantic brand profile binding
`criticProfileRef`	Critic or validation profile binding
`language`	Default language
`audience`	Intended audience descriptor
`status`	Lifecycle or workflow state

3.3 Canonical collection fields¶

The following fields are canonically present as arrays and MUST exist even when empty:
attachments
references
projections
transformationHistory

This rule resolves optional-versus-empty-array ambiguity for baseline validation.

3.4 Pseudo-schema¶

struct Artifact {
    var id: String
    var title: String
    var carrierArchetype: CarrierArchetype
    var genre: String
    var matter: MatterEnvelope
    var compositionGrammarRef: String
    var metadata: ArtifactMetadata
    var brandProfileRef: String?
    var criticProfileRef: String?
    var language: String?
    var audience: String?
    var status: String?
    var attachments: [AttachmentRef]
    var references: [Reference]
    var projections: [ProjectionRef]
    var transformationHistory: [TransformationRecord]
}

4. Universal Matter Envelope¶

struct MatterEnvelope {
    var frontMatter: [MatterNode]
    var mainMatter: [MatterNode]
    var backMatter: [MatterNode]
}

frontMatter, mainMatter, and backMatter are universal semantic zones.
They MUST always exist in the canonical AST.
Empty matter arrays are valid.
Surface parsers MAY synthesize absent matter zones only in compatibility mode.
Canonical writers MUST emit all three matter zones.

5. Universal Structure Spine¶

struct Section {
    var id: String
    var title: String?
    var children: [MatterNode]
}

struct Subsection {
    var id: String
    var title: String?
    var children: [MatterNode]
}

struct SubSubsection {
    var id: String
    var title: String?
    var children: [MatterNode]
}

These nodes are semantic, not typographic.
Carriers realize them differently.
Carrier-native structures refine the spine. They do not replace it.

6. Carrier Model¶

Every artifact declares exactly one carrierArchetype.
The canonical carrier registry is:
stageFrame
codexSpread
scrollStream
tableauPageCollage
sheetField
ledgerRegister
box
conversationThread
stageFrame is the first deeply elaborated carrier specialization.
Non-stage carriers are normative-minimum in 0.9.0.

7. Genre Model¶

genre is root-level and independent of carrierArchetype.
Only the five stageFrame genres are standardized in this baseline:
storyJourney
pitchShowcase
executiveDecision
reviewReference
explanationAlignment
Extension genres MUST use the namespaced form namespace.localCamelCase in the AST.

8. Composition Grammar¶

compositionGrammarRef is the universal root binding that links the artifact to a carrier-aware composition-grammar pack.
It replaces shellGrammarRef as the preferred carrier-neutral root term.
shellGrammarRef remains superseded or stageFrame-local compatibility language only.
compositionGrammarRef resolution is defined in Part 2 and machine registries.

9. Carrier Specialization Boundary¶

Carrier families MAY define carrier-native nodes and realization rules.
Carrier families MUST NOT change the root shape.
Stage-local shell, zone, continuation, brand, and critic semantics remain local to stageFrame.
Universal matter directives are never reinterpreted as stage zones.

10. Compatibility Bridge¶

Superseded model	`0.9.0` canonical replacement
`Document` root	`Artifact`
`NarrativeDocument` root	`Artifact`
`artifactKind`	`carrierArchetype`
`Deck`	`stageFrame` carrier structures
`SlideNode`	`Frame`
`shellGrammarRef` at root	`compositionGrammarRef`