AGENTS.md

Repository Guidelines

Project Scope

• 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), safe plasticity via Mask (≤5%), ephemeral Fast‑Weights, grammar‑constrained tool calls, auditable evolution with clear rollback.
• Blueprints: Soul+Mask+Fast‑Weights, Neuro‑Cellular Autonomy; update protocols with EMA/EWC/guards; eval gates and metrics for promotion.

Project Structure & Modules

• Numbered folders (00_–14_) are the source of truth.
• Key paths: 00_overview/, 01_goals_scope/, 02_architecture/, 04_decisions/, 05_experiments/, 06_metrics/, 08_evals/, 10_protocols/, 11_data/, 13_receipts/; entry index: index.md.

Build, Test, and Development

• View locally/GitHub; lint: markdownlint '**/*.md' or prettier -w '**/*.md'.
• JSON check: jq . 13_receipts/RECEIPT_TEMPLATE.json; schema: npx ajv -s 13_receipts/SCHEMA.json -d 13_receipts/*.json.

Coding Style & Naming

• Markdown: wrap ~100 cols, 2‑space indent, - lists.
• File names: ADRs ADR-####-kebab.md; logs YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ_LOG.md; keep 00_…14_ prefixes.

Testing & Tracking

• Experiments must be reproducible; record IO and deltas in 13_receipts/.
• Eval gates live in 08_evals/; metrics in 06_metrics/. Include expected results.

Branching & Commits

• Branches: main (stable), develop (integration), feature/*, release/*, hotfix/*.
• Commit cadence: small, frequent commits with detailed bodies; link ADRs/issues and affected paths. Use Conventional Commits (feat|fix|docs|chore|refactor|test).
• PRs: target develop; include summary, rationale, receipts/indices updates, and screenshots/snippets for major changes.

Contributor Workflow

• Design changes via 04_decisions/ADR-TEMPLATE.md (one ADR per decision).
• Add experiments with 05_experiments/EXPERIMENT_TEMPLATE.md; update receipts and indices.
• Append to 03_research_logs/ only; never rewrite history. Update index.md/READMEs when adding artifacts.

Documentation & Continuous Tracking

• Every meaningful change updates related docs and indices the same day.
• Experiments/turns produce receipts in 13_receipts/ (validate against schema when applicable).
• Research logs are append‑only and timestamped per session.
• PRs must call out impacted eval gates (08_evals/) and metrics (06_metrics/).