​

SPEC-085 v0.2 — Constitutional Governance Vocabulary and Rights Model

​

Summary

• BIOS loads the system.
• Constitution defines the substantive rules.
• Overlays customize without changing canon.
• Amendments change canon through ratified process.
• Override gates protect mandatory guardrails.
• Agent Contracts define agent citizenship, lane, authority, and duties.
• Configurability rights are not amendment rights.

​

Problem

• BIOS is sometimes used for loader files and sometimes for substantive law.
• override is used for ordinary layering, formal canonical change, and mandatory-guardrail blocking.
• Ring 2.5 is awkward and unclear in diagrams and docs.
• ORG.md and project-local governance need clearer user-configurability boundaries.
• Agent roles are moving toward governed contracts, but the vocabulary does not yet say who may configure which contracts.
• Users need to know what they can configure and what requires amendment by Prism, tenant/org, or project authority.

​

Goals

1. Define the canonical governance vocabulary for BIOS, Constitution, Prism Constitution, Overlay, Amendment, Override Gate, Ring, Agent Contract, Configurability Right, and Amendment Right.
2. Replace old Ring 2.5 language with explicit Ring 3.
3. Define an explicit Ring 0-5 model.
4. Define the configurability/amendment rights matrix across Prism product, tenant/org, project, runtime/session, and agent-contract layers.
5. Establish the Federal Republic metaphor as explanatory, not normative.
6. Define how docs, templates, generated instruction surfaces, and future governance lookup should consume the vocabulary.
7. Define validation checks that prevent users or agents from silently mutating constitutional layers outside their authority.

​

Non-Goals

• No change to the SPEC-077 / ADR #47 precedence algorithm.
• No immediate implementation of a new resolver.
• No automatic rewrite of templates before ADR #50 ratification.
• No new hard enforcement in v0.1.
• No import of legal process beyond the useful governance metaphor.
• No change to tenant/project authority beyond clarifying existing boundaries.
• No full Agent Contract implementation; this SPEC defines vocabulary and rights boundaries only.

​

Vocabulary

​

BIOS vs Constitution

• boot files and loader behavior
• AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md thin startup contract
• prism_start ritual
• status card discipline
• signal-drain obligations
• offline fallback behavior
• whole-file replica sync behavior

• substantive governance rules
• methodology
• authority scopes
• decision procedures
• precedence model
• amendment process
• mandatory guardrails
• agent citizenship duties

BIOS loads and orients. Constitution governs.

​

Ring Model

narrower wins by default, except broader mandatory:true guardrails block narrower bypass

• Ring 1 mandatory canon beats conflicting Ring 3 mandatory org policy.
• Ring 3 mandatory org policy beats conflicting Ring 2 project policy.
• Ring 2 project constitution beats conflicting Ring 4 runtime/session preference for durable project rules.

​

Federal Republic Metaphor

​

Rights Matrix

Configurability is not constitutional authorship.

​

Overlay and Amendment Rules

• adds local policy,
• narrows behavior inside allowed scope,
• configures preferences or defaults,
• may bind project-local roles,
• may not rewrite upstream canon,
• may not bypass broader mandatory: true.

• changes canonical text,
• requires explicit ratification,
• records supersession/versioning,
• updates generated mirrors,
• may require docs/template sweep,
• may require migration or feature flag plan.

• is explicit frontmatter,
• blocks narrower bypass,
• must be reported by governance lookup/resolver,
• should be visible in dashboard/conflict views,
• should be rare and intentional.

​

Agent Contract Rules

• identity or transient role binding
• specialization/lane
• authority scope
• explicit non-authority scope
• required startup context
• expected artifacts
• review obligations
• handoff obligations
• permitted tools/skills/method fragments
• prohibited shortcuts
• escalation triggers
• lifecycle/versioning
• evidence links

• canonical role = product-governed office/capability, such as Product Owner or System Architect
• persona instance = named agent binding, such as Donna, Texi, Samantha, or Candi

• bounded task
• explicit resource/file ownership
• output shape
• review target
• maximum lifetime
• no durable constitutional amendment authority

​

Citizenship Standing

(role_contract_id, persona_id_or_agent_id, project_or_session_scope)

• governance violation
• repeated failure to journal/checkpoint
• unauthorized authority claim
• bypass attempt against mandatory: true
• unsafe tool use
• repeated postmortem-causing shortcut
• stale or unreviewed contract drift

1. Record postmortem or review finding.
2. Identify violated contract/governance source.
3. Define remediation action.
4. Route to owning governance lane for review.
5. Record restoration, continued probation, suspension, or retirement decision.

​

Judicial Review

• governance lookup detects conflicting applicable rules
• a narrower layer attempts to bypass a broader mandatory: true guardrail
• runtime/session context conflicts with committed Constitution
• an Agent Contract claims authority outside its lane
• an ADR/SPEC/documentation artifact appears superseded or internally inconsistent

• prism_governance_lookup or successor resolver returns applicable rules, authority layer, mandatory state, supersession state, and conflict entries.
• prism_start / prism_status surfaces unresolved conflicts to the active agent.
• Candi owns governance-methodology triage.
• Texi owns architecture/precedence review.
• Donna owns ratification/PO resolution unless a narrower artifact assigns different authority.
• Findings must cite source artifacts and proposed operator action.

​

Governance Lookup Contract

{
  "ring": "Ring 3",
  "authority_layer": "org",
  "constitution_layer": "organization_constitution",
  "source_path": "...",
  "term": "mandatory_guardrail",
  "configurability_right": "org_owner",
  "amendment_right": "org_governance",
  "overlay_allowed": true,
  "mandatory": true,
  "conflicts": []
}

• ring
• ADR-47 authority_layer (global, tenant, org, project, user_session_runtime)
• constitution layer (prism_constitution, tenant_constitution, organization_constitution, project_constitution, runtime_session_state, agent_contract)
• source
• authority owner
• configurability owner
• amendment owner
• overlay allowed
• mandatory guardrail state
• supersession state
• conflict state
• operator action

​

Template and Docs Targets

• templates/AGENTS.md
• templates/CLAUDE.md
• templates/PRISM.md or base methodology templates
• project AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md replicas through prism_sync_bios
• project PRISM.md through governed sync path
• docs/vision.mdx
• docs/index.mdx
• docs/hybrid-rag.mdx
• docs/signal-mesh.mdx
• docs/multi-prism-controller.mdx
• docs/history.mdx
• docs/agent-surfaces.mdx
• governance precedence reference page

​

Visual Model

Prism Constitution
  mandatory:true locks
        |
Tenant Constitution
  overlays + tenant mandatory guardrails
        |
Organization Constitution
  overlays + organization mandatory guardrails
        |
Project Constitution
  local methodology + project rules
        |
Runtime / Session State
  temporary assignment + context + flags
        |
Ring 5 Enforcement + Telemetry
  warnings + audit + dashboards + improvement loop

BIOS boots. Constitution governs. Overlays configure. Amendments change canon.
Override gates protect mandatory rules. Agent Contracts define citizenship.

​

Validation Rules

• Ring 2.5 references after migration cutoff.
• override used where overlay or amendment is intended.
• generated BIOS files with hand-edited constitutional content.
• project constitution attempting to bypass broader mandatory: true.
• runtime/session config attempting durable amendment.
• standing state attached to canonical role globally when the incident is only binding-scoped.
• local agent contract mutating canonical Prism agent contract.
• active role contract missing authority or non-authority scope.
• docs pages presenting Federal Republic metaphor as normative authority.

​

Acceptance Criteria

• ADR #50 reviewed by Texi and Donna.
• SPEC-085 updated to fold binding review findings.
• Ring 0-5 vocabulary accepted or explicitly revised.
• Rights matrix accepted or explicitly revised.
• Agent Contract vocabulary accepted or explicitly deferred.

• No remaining authoritative docs use Ring 2.5.
• override, overlay, and amendment are used consistently.
• BIOS vs Constitution distinction appears in BIOS templates.
• User-configurable vs amendment-required areas are documented.
• Docs explain local non-Prism agents are configurable while Prism canonical agents require Prism-level amendment.

• A static vocabulary scan can detect old terms.
• A governance lookup response can represent configurability and amendment owners.
• A governance lookup response includes both ring and ADR-47 authority_layer.
• Tenant and org governance are represented as distinct authority/constitution layers.
• Agent standing state is attached to the role-binding tuple unless a Prism-level governance action targets the canonical role itself.
• Drift warnings are visible but non-blocking in v0.1.

​

Rollout Plan

• Donna full review.
• Texi architecture review.
• Candi folds findings.

• Promote ADR #50 from draft to accepted after review closure.
• Seal or file SPEC-085 as the operational contract.

• Desiree updates public docs and reference pages.
• Keep metaphor explanatory; use Constitutional Governance Model as product wording.

• Update source templates.
• Use prism_sync_bios for BIOS replicas.
• Use governed PRISM.md sync path for project constitution updates.

• Add static vocabulary scanner.
• Add generated-file provenance checks.
• Add rights fields to governance lookup/resolver output while preserving both ring and ADR-47 authority_layer.

• Write follow-on SPEC for Agent Contract schema and compiler.
• Link canonical/non-Prism configurability rules into that SPEC.

​

Risks

​

Open Questions

1. Texi: does Agent Contract belong in this SPEC or should this SPEC only reserve the term and defer all details?
2. Desiree: which public docs need the metaphor and which should only use the vocabulary?

​

Implementation Cost

• SPEC-021 and SPEC-077 amendments.
• ADR #47 vocabulary update or superseding amendment.
• PRISM.md, AGENTS.md, and CLAUDE.md source templates.
• Generated replicas through normal sync paths.
• At least seven docs pages: vision, index, hybrid-rag, signal-mesh, multi-prism-controller, history, agent-surfaces.
• Governance precedence reference page.
• Selected memory/feedback references where old vocabulary creates operational drift.

​

References

• ADR #50 — Governance Vocabulary v1.0
• ADR #47 — Layer Precedence and Override Semantics
• SPEC-077 — Canonical Boot and Governance Resolution
• SPEC-078 — Consensus-First Parallelism and Method Fragments
• SPEC-080 — Tri-Graph Governance Lookup and Capability Index
• ADR #40 — Persona Role Reshape
• docs/ideas/prism-agent-role-contracts.md
• docs/ideas/prism-differentiated-capability-wishlist.md
• Journal #75 — Governance vocabulary v1.0 proposal