open-standards/joule-code/vocab/LEXICON.md
David Charlot b838b86a8b joule-code: stand up the Joule Code standard (v0.1.0 draft)
Joule Code is the coding cargo class of the substrate: a coding operation —
an edit, refactor, or generated function — is a content-addressed, signed
transition over a source tree, resolved through the energy-tiered cascade
(L0 Cache → L1 Lawful → L2 Embed → L3 Model → L4 Wire, stop-at-first-close)
with a signed JWP receipt (measured + estimated µJ, honest Provenance) per
operation. The agent schema is JouleClaw; L4 frontier agents are reached over
ACP with the credential held by the vendor's own client — no protocol token,
no required contact with any single company.

Stands up the standard to the family schema:
- README, SPEC.md (RFC-2119 normative), dual licence (Apache-2.0 code /
  CC-BY-4.0 spec), ROADMAP, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG.
- spec/: cargo (the coding-operation type), cascade (the tier binding),
  receipt (the JWP energy record), collab (federated, interface-level/Research).
- vocab/LEXICON.md.
- conformance/v1/: C1 content-addressing, C2 signing, C3 receipt, C4 cascade
  vectors + VERSIONS + regeneration; real Ed25519 RFC-8032 KATs, derived
  fields regenerated against the reference library.
- joule-code-rs/: lean reference library (schema, cargo, receipt, cascade,
  conformance). cargo test --workspace passes; the conformance harness runs
  11 pass / 0 fail / 7 skip (derived fields pending regeneration).

Single-endpoint operation is the v0.1 surface; federated collaboration is
specified at interface level and classified Research. Registers the standard
in the family README.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
2026-06-02 14:07:00 -04:00

3.2 KiB

Joule Code — Lexicon

The controlled vocabulary for the Joule Code standard. Terms are normative where ../SPEC.md uses them; this lexicon fixes their meaning so the spec, the reference library, and the conformance vectors agree. CC-BY-4.0.

Core

  • Coding operation (CodingOp) — the unit of cargo: a signed transition moving a source tree from a prior state to a successor state via an ordered edit set. Defined by base + edits, not by a restated result.
  • Operation id (op_id) — the content address (BLAKE3-256 over deterministic CBOR) of a CodingOp excluding its signature.
  • Tree state / tree id — a content-addressed snapshot of the relevant source; tree_id is BLAKE3-256 over { path: blob_id }.
  • Signed operation (SignedOp) — a CodingOp plus an Ed25519 signature over op_id ‖ prior, scoping authorization to one base.
  • Anchor — where an edit applies: a byte range against the prior blob, or a content-addressed hunk (rename-stable).

Cascade

  • Cascade — the ordered tier list a request resolves through; resolution stops at the first tier that closes the request.
  • Tier — L0 Cache (picojoules) · L1 Lawful (nanojoules) · L2 Embed (sub-millijoules) · L3 Model (joules) · L4 Wire (tens of joules). Inherited from JouleClaw.
  • Stage — the implementation of one tier; exposes try_resolve(req) -> Option<Resolution>.
  • Close — a stage closing a request: returning Some(Resolution). The closing tier is recorded in the receipt.
  • Wire / L4 / frontier agent — a remote coding agent (Claude Code, Gemini, Codex, ...) reached over ACP, with its credential held by the vendor's own client. The escape hatch, not the entry point.

Receipt and energy

  • Receipt — the signed, two-part energy record carried in a JWP frame accounting for one operation.
  • Energy — { measured_uj?, estimated_uj, provenance }, all integer microjoules.
  • Provenance — the honesty tag on an energy reading: HwShunt (hardware-measured; requires measured_uj), ModelBased (calibrated model), Estimator (coarse constant).
  • JWP — Joule Wire Protocol: the energy-aware framing that carries the receipt; cumulative energy is a first-class, signable frame field.
  • Joules per accepted change — the standard's unit of merit; the substrate's falsifiable cost basis.

Doctrine

  • Capability per joule — the doctrine: minimize energy per accepted change, not parameters per model.
  • No capture — no protocol token; core operation never requires a single steward's servers; frontier credentials never enter the protocol.
  • Ownerless — identity lives in content addressing and conformance vectors, not a brand; the spec and reference code are permissively licensed; anyone may fork.
  • The offer — the commercial layer (managed nodes, drivers, certification) that a steward operates around the substrate, never inside it.

Collaboration (Research)

  • Cluster — a known, signed-membership set of collaborators replicating operations by lockstep BFT.
  • Federated collaboration — ownerless multi-endpoint editing: coding operations as Smart Byte envelopes, transported over CommunicationOS, shared via RemoteOS. Interface-level in v0.1.