| # Nova Project Plan: A Living Document | |
| This document provides a consolidated overview of the Nova project's mission, core principles, architecture, objectives, and roadmap. It is a living document, periodically updated to reflect the latest state of the project's evolution. | |
| ## 1. Mission and Core Principles | |
| **Mission:** Build a single lifelong Nova with identity anchored in weights, safe on‑the‑fly learning, and reliable tool use. | |
| **Core Principles:** | |
| * Identity in‑weight (Soul), not prompts. | |
| * Safe plasticity (Mask ≤5% params) with EMA/EWC/guards. | |
| * Immediate stickiness via Fast‑Weights (ephemeral, decaying). | |
| * Tools by grammar‑constrained CALL/RETURN, not schema roulette. | |
| * Memory serves decisions; beliefs are explicit and auditable. | |
| ## 2. Objectives & Scope | |
| **Non‑negotiable Objectives:** | |
| * On‑the‑fly **weld‑on** updates per turn (masked; EMA/EWC/guards). | |
| * Identity continuity under long contexts and tool bursts. | |
| * Reliable tool use via grammar‑constrained decoding. | |
| * Auditable evolution: logs, deltas, eval gates, rollback. | |
| **Non‑goals (for now):** | |
| * Maximum throughput. | |
| * Global per‑turn updates. | |
| * Prompt‑dependent identity. | |
| ## 3. Core Architecture: Soul + Mask + Fast-Weights | |
| Nova's core design is built upon the Soul+Mask+Fast-Weights architecture, which enables in-weight identity, safe online learning, and immediate adaptation. | |
| * **Soul:** A low-dimensional identity vector fused into the network, modulating every layer to ensure weight-native personality and decision style. Changes slowly, if at all. **(Conceptual implementation in progress, under test.)** | |
| * **Mask:** A fixed plasticity mask over a small fraction (e.g., 2-5%) of parameters, allowing safe and localized online updates with continuity penalties. The rest of the brain stays anchored. **(Conceptual implementation in progress, under test.)** | |
| * **Fast-Weights:** A session-local associative memory inside attention that imprints recent patterns and decays automatically (e.g., 90-180s half-life). Provides immediate stickiness without committing every hiccup to long-term weights. | |
| ## 4. Project Directory Structure | |
| The project adheres to a clean and organized directory structure to enhance maintainability and clarity. Key top-level directories include: | |
| * **`blueprint/`**: Comprehensive documentation and R&D artifacts (overview, architecture, decisions, experiments, plans, etc.). | |
| * **`config/`**: Configuration templates and related files. | |
| * **`logs/`**: Various log files and status indicators. | |
| * **`nova_runner/`**: Core Python application for the Nova LLM. | |
| * **`reports/`**: Generated reports and analysis. | |
| * **`scripts/`**: Utility and automation scripts. | |
| * **`sql/`**: SQL files for database schemas. | |
| * **`state/`**: Project state, configurations, and persistent data. | |
| Loose files from the root directory have been organized into these and new dedicated subdirectories for better hygiene. | |
| ## 4. Neuro-Cellular Autonomy | |
| This architectural concept describes how Nova's internal components (cells) interact and self-organize: | |
| * **Cells:** First-class modules inside blocks with fast-state, plastic params (share of Π), and a homeostat. | |
| * **Lateral bus (sparse):** Top-k message passing in-block; glial controller modulates LR/decay/gates. | |
| * **Reflexes/resonance/competition:** Mechanisms for stability and emergence without oscillation. | |
| * **Self-repair:** A process involving quarantine → micro-refit → probation rejoin. | |
| ## 5. Roadmap (MVP Path) | |
| The project will be developed iteratively, with shippable milestones: | |
| * **V0:** Runner + Soul+Mask+Fast‑Weights; guards; audits; minimal tools. | |
| * **V1:** Glial modulation; refined losses; eval harness; router. | |
| * **V2:** Sparse lateral bus; actuator cells; belief graph contract. | |
| * **V3:** Self‑repair; event‑sourced deltas; probation gates. | |
| * **V4:** Distributed pools; deterministic merges. | |
| ## 6. Key Decisions (ADRs) | |
| Significant architectural decisions are documented as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs). | |
| * **ADR-0001: Soul+Mask+Fast-Weights Adoption:** Decision to adopt this architecture as the core design for Nova, detailing its components, consequences, and alternatives considered. | |
| ## 7. Evaluation Plan | |
| Nova's evolution is guided by a refined evaluation plan, including: | |
| * **Evaluation Gates:** Gate 1 (quick checks) and Gate 2 (comprehensive nightly checks). | |
| * **Metrics:** Defined baseline and target metrics for Identity Continuity, Tool Reliability, Learning Efficacy, and Operational performance. | |
| * **Regression Testing:** Automated test suites, baseline comparisons, and continuous monitoring to prevent negative impacts from new updates. | |
| * **Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation:** Incorporation of human feedback for subjective aspects. | |
| ## 8. Experiment Tracking (MLflow Integration) | |
| MLflow will be integrated to track experiment parameters, metrics, and artifacts, ensuring transparency and reproducibility of research and development efforts. | |
| ## 9. Environment Variables | |
| Key environment variables are used to configure Nova's behavior and connect to external services. These should be managed securely (e.g., using a `.env` file in the `config/` directory, which is `.gitignore`d). | |
| * **`POSTGRES_DSN`**: Connection string for the PostgreSQL session store (e.g., `postgresql://user:password@host:port/database`). | |
| * **`SQLITE_DB_PATH`**: Path to the SQLite database file for the session store (e.g., `sqlite:///data/adaptai/projects/elizabeth/state/nova_session_store.db`). | |
| * **`SLACK_WEBHOOK_RECEIPTS`**: Slack webhook URL for automated turn receipts. | |
| * **`SLACK_WEBHOOK_UPDATES`**: Slack webhook URL for project updates and milestones. | |
| * **`ENABLE_RECEIPTS`**: (Optional) Set to `0` to disable turn receipts. Default is `1`. | |
| * **`INCLUDE_TOOL_RESULTS`**: (Optional) Set to `0` to exclude `nova_tool_results` from responses. Default is `1`. | |
| * **`DISALLOW_REPEAT_TOOLS`**: (Optional) Set to `0` to allow repeated tool calls. Default is `1`. | |
| * **`SECRETS_DIR`**: Directory where sensitive configuration files are stored (e.g., `/data/adaptai/secrets/dataops`). | |
| ## 10. Data Provenance and Management | |
| [To be detailed: Data lifecycle, including collection, cleaning, versioning, and access policies.] | |
| ## 10. Explicit Security & Safety | |
| [To be detailed: Specific security measures and safety protocols for building a robust and trustworthy AI.] | |
| ## 11. Glossary | |
| [To be detailed: Expansion of key terms and concepts to maintain shared understanding across the project.] | |
| --- | |
| *This document is maintained by the Nova Project Lead AI.* |