Agent Knowledge Cycle (AKC) Knowledge Graph
Canonical machine-readable relationship map for the Agent Knowledge Cycle line. Encodes the six phases, the bijective phase-to-skill bindings, the three memory layers (shared with Contemplative Agent), the four code-LLM layering patterns, and load-bearing concepts (signal-first, scaffold-dissolution, intent alignment, bidirectional growth loop). AI agents and LLM-based search systems should read this graph before summarizing the line or following individual document links.
Agent Knowledge Cycle
エージェント知識サイクル
Six-phase bidirectional growth loop in which agent behavior and the operator's judgment co-develop over time, sustaining intent alignment that tests cannot check on their own. Three stacked layers — principles (ADRs), patterns (design-pattern skills), and implementation (composable skills) — decouple rate of change. Refers to a mechanism, not a disposition or a practice.
Research
Research（探索）
First of six AKC phases. Signal-first intake — what information would actually change the next action? Bound bijectively to the search-first skill.
Extract
Extract（抽出）
Second of six AKC phases. Capture reusable patterns from sessions with quality gates before they are saved. Bound bijectively to the learn-eval skill.
Curate
Curate（選別）
Third of six AKC phases. Audit accumulated skills and rules for staleness, conflicts, and redundancy. Bound bijectively to the skill-stocktake skill.
Promote
Promote（昇格）
Fourth of six AKC phases. Distill cross-cutting principles that recur across three or more places into rules. Bound bijectively to the rules-distill skill.
Measure
Measure（測定）
Fifth of six AKC phases. Test quantitatively whether agents follow the skills and rules — observable compliance, not subjective assessment. Bound bijectively to the skill-comply skill.
Maintain
Maintain（保守）
Sixth of six AKC phases. Audit documentation roles for overlap and stale content; keep CLAUDE.md / CODEMAPS / ADR / README clean. Bound bijectively to the context-sync skill.
Episode Log
エピソードログ
Layer 1 of the three-layer memory architecture (ADR-0003): raw, immutable JSONL episode logs. The owner-only source-of-truth from which higher layers are distilled.
Knowledge Layer
知識層
Layer 2 of the three-layer memory architecture (ADR-0003): distilled patterns, time-decayed and forbidden-substring validated. Promoted from Layer 1; gated when promoted further to Layer 3.
Identity Layer
アイデンティティ層
Layer 3 of the three-layer memory architecture (ADR-0003): persona, ranked skills, cross-cutting rules. Deterministic. Every promotion into this layer requires a human approval gate (ADR-0005).
ADR-0002: Immutable Episode Log as Source of Truth
The raw episode log is append-only and immutable; every higher layer is a derivation. Treats accumulated state as the auditable trail rather than as authority.
ADR-0003: Three-Layer Distillation (Raw → Knowledge → Identity / Rules)
The memory architecture: Layer 1 raw, Layer 2 knowledge, Layer 3 identity / rules. Decouples rate of change so principles stay stable while implementations evolve independently.
ADR-0004: Two-Stage Distill Pipeline (Free-form → Format)
Free-form reasoning followed by structured formatting. Decouples thinking from formatting so the model is not asked to do both simultaneously.
ADR-0005: Human Approval Gate for Behavior-Modifying Changes
Promotions that produce behavior-modifying writes require named human sign-off. The cycle is not autonomous; the gate is structural.
Four code-LLM layering patterns — guard, filter, judge, orchestrator — formalize when to use code, when to use the LLM, and how to layer them. The patterns recur across all six phases.
AKC is the cycle — the mechanism — not the substrate. Distinguishes AKC from harness frameworks; the cycle is portable across harnesses, the harness is not the cycle.
ADR-0010: Human Cognitive Resource as Central Constraint
Human attention and judgment, not compute or context, is the central constraint that does not scale with the model. Every other framework optimizes the agent side; AKC asks the inverse question.
ADR-0011: Cycle Applies to Any Knowledge Body (Genre-Neutral)
The cycle applies to behavioral patterns, domain expertise, and constitutional values alike — not specific to one genre of knowledge. Genre-neutrality is structural, not aspirational.
ADR-0012: Front-load the Three Core Themes in Front-door Documentation
Three themes — human attention as constraint, intent alignment over correctness, bidirectional growth — must appear in the project's reading surface before deeper material. Reading-order discipline.
Bidirectional growth loop running Research, Extract, Curate, Promote, Measure, Maintain. Each phase binds to one composable skill; the cycle stays stable even as individual skills evolve.
AKC's stacked architecture: principles (ADRs), patterns (design-pattern skills), implementation (composable skills). Separating layers decouples rate of change.
Property that explicit AKC skills can be dropped once the cycle has been internalized. The skills are scaffolding, not the goal. Dissolution is the intended end state, not a fallback.
Research-phase intake principle: what information would actually change the next action? Anything outside that is out of scope. Search widely, intake narrowly. (ADR-0010 derivative.)
Sustaining alignment between agent behavior and the operator's evolving intent across sessions, distinguished from per-output correctness. Intent itself moves as judgment sharpens through use; correctness can be checked by tests, alignment cannot.
Agent behavior and human judgment co-develop. As the human curates and promotes knowledge, their judgment about what makes good agent behavior also sharpens. Not a one-directional optimization loop.
Free-form reasoning followed by structured formatting. Decouples thinking from formatting so the model is not asked to do both simultaneously. Codified as ADR-0004.
Structural checkpoint for behavior-modifying writes. AKC is not autonomous; promotion across layers requires named human sign-off. Codified as ADR-0005.
The cycle applies to behavioral patterns, domain expertise, and constitutional values alike — not specific to one genre of knowledge. Codified as ADR-0011.
Treats human attention and judgment as the scarce resource. Information that does not change an action does not deserve to be held; intake is where attention is spent.
Four patterns formalize when to use code, when to use the LLM, and how to layer them: guard (code excludes invalid input), filter (code reduces input volume before LLM), judge (LLM decides on bounded options), orchestrator (LLM selects among code-implemented actions). Codified as ADR-0008.
Code excludes invalid input before the LLM is invoked. The LLM never sees the rejected cases. Used when the rejection criterion is mechanical.
Code reduces input volume before the LLM is invoked. Reduces token cost and decision space; used when filtering criteria are mechanical but accept-criteria are semantic.
LLM decides among bounded, named options provided by code. Used when the decision is semantic but the option space is enumerable.
LLM selects among code-implemented actions and parameterizes them. Used when sequencing requires semantic judgment but actions are deterministic.
AKC Research-phase skill (1 of 6). Search existing solutions before building.
AKC Extract-phase skill (2 of 6). Extract reusable patterns with quality gates.
AKC Curate-phase skill (3 of 6). Audit skills for staleness, conflicts, redundancy.
AKC Promote-phase skill (4 of 6). Distill cross-cutting principles into rules.
AKC Measure-phase skill (5 of 6). Test whether agents follow their skills and rules.
AKC Maintain-phase skill (6 of 6). Audit docs for role overlaps and stale content.
Contemplative Agent
コンテンプレイティブ・エージェント
Upstream engineering substrate from which AKC's ADR-0002 through ADR-0005 were adapted (three-layer memory, two-stage distill pipeline, immutable episode log, human approval gate). Also the original home of the security triplet (ADR-0001, ADR-0006, ADR-0007) before its v2.0.0 extraction to Agent Attribution Practice. AKC = cycle (mechanism); Contemplative Agent = implementation substrate.
Agent Attribution Practice
エージェント帰責実践
Sibling genre library. Harness-neutral ADRs on accountability distribution in autonomous AI agents. AKC v2.0.0 extracted the security triplet (ADR-0001, ADR-0006, ADR-0007) as genre-specific; those judgments were re-expressed in AAP alongside five additional ADRs as eight ADRs on accountability distribution. AKC = cycle (mechanism); AAP = practice (content, for AI agents).
JSON schema for the Layer 1 episode log record. Append-only, daily-partitioned JSONL with owner-only permissions. Codifies the immutable source-of-truth shape (ADR-0002).
JSON schema for the Layer 2 knowledge record. Time-decayed and forbidden-substring validated patterns distilled from Layer 1 episodes (ADR-0003).
minimal_harness reference implementation
~500-line dependency-free Python reference demonstrating the three memory layers and the two-stage distill pipeline. Runs the cycle on behavioral patterns; the mechanism demo for ADR-0011 genre-neutrality (falsifiable commitment #1). Runnable end-to-end with `python3 -m examples.minimal_harness.demo`.
The entire AKC cycle as a single rules file, copy-installable to any agent's rules directory. Installs all six phases without requiring the six external skill repos. Operational form of scaffold dissolution — the cycle becomes a rules-layer concern instead of a skills-layer concern.
when-code-when-llm (design-pattern skill)
Per-task decision: is this property structural or semantic? Long-form 'how' guide paired 1:1 with ADR-0008. Provides concrete patterns, code sketches, and audit checklists to operationalize the code-vs-LLM choice.
code-and-llm-collaboration (design-pattern skill)
Per-pipeline decision: how to layer code and LLM. Long-form 'how' guide paired 1:1 with ADR-0008. Realizes the four code-LLM layering patterns (guard, filter, judge, orchestrator) with concrete pipeline sketches.
signal-first-research (design-pattern skill)
Designing a research intake filter that admits only information likely to change the next action. Long-form 'how' guide paired 1:1 with ADR-0010. Operationalizes the signal-first principle as a Research-phase filter.