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open-standards/wai/REGISTRY.md
Transaction Science 7fb55e8c17 wai: the refinement-only role, base admission as one table, and refines 
SPEC registers the residual refinement capabilities wai.image.int_refine,
wai.video.int_refine, wai.audio.int_refine and wai.splat.int_refine, each
refinement-only: applied in a declared order to the output of the stage
below it, bound to that output's producer by content hash, and never decoded
on its own. Section 4 never takes step 3 or 5 with one; section 8 adds the
role and lists the envelopes its registration makes non-conforming.

SPEC section 5's Base admission table holds the bases of every capability
applied to a base's output, the refinements and the LCEVC enhancement layer.
codecs::BASE_ADMISSION is that table; enhancement_bases, companion_applies_to
and admits read it, and no other admission logic remains.

The registry gains the refinement kind and role. A refinement is not
dispatchable, never selected, never a companion or a companion's base, and
not in the video media class; its class is StandardDefined and, like the
audio scene, it composes another envelope's decoded output, so it is as
exact as the base it refines. The registry export is regenerated.

A WAI1 manifest gains the optional member refines, kept as JSON so a
malformed value still parses; container::Refines reads it and reports
refines-malformed. Wai::check_component_roles reports a refinement without
refines, with a fallback, as a fallback, and refines on any other capability.
The emit paths parse a refinement's WIR1 payload.

extensions/staged-delivery.md defines stage sets, the refines member, the
per-unit application algorithm with its closed list of reasons, holds and
batches, tiers and stage hashes, the residual form, deferral, live deadlines,
attestation, byte counting, and the WIR1 payload with its check order, caps,
declared cost and refusal codes.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
2026-10-02 00:02:12 -04:00

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WAI registry

The registry is the set of strings SPEC §5 registers, with the classes the specification gives each one. Its source of truth is one table in the reference implementation, wai-rs/src/codecs/registry.rs together with the class functions of wai-rs/src/codecs/mod.rs. wai registry export writes it out in machine-readable form:

file what
registry/capabilities.json every registered string with its kind, status, media class, role, fidelity tier, licence class, replicate class, set membership, registering section, edition and registration date; the named identifiers that are not capabilities; the unregistered labels
registry/capabilities.schema.json JSON Schema (2020-12) for that file; its enums are the label sets below
vocab/v2.ttl, vocab/v2.jsonld, vocab/v2.shapes.ttl the same registry as RDF, a JSON-LD context for manifests, and a SHACL shape that checks a manifest's capability and fallback against it, only the form of its media, and its parameter-set pins (vocab/README.md); a violation for a string the registry does not hold means the string is not registered in this revision, not that the envelope fails to conform or cannot be dispatched (SPEC §4, §8)
the table at the end of this file the same registry, for reading

A library test (codecs::registry::tests::registry_export_matches_committed) and a CI step (wai registry export --check in .github/workflows/wai-conformance.yml) fail when a committed file differs from what the table renders. Edit the table, never the exported files.

Kinds

Every registered string has one kind.

  • payload — a capability whose payload a sink decodes: it may be a WAI1 capability or fallback, or a WAI2 rendition.
  • companion — a companion-only capability (SPEC §5, §7.1): its payload is applied with a base rendition and never on its own, so it is only ever a WAI2 companion.
  • refinement — a refinement-only capability (SPEC §5, Refinement capabilities): its payload is applied to the output of the stage below it, bound to that output's producer by content hash, and never decoded on its own. It is a WAI1 capability with refines, or a WAI2 component with role: "refinement" (staged-delivery). The bases each one applies over are SPEC §5's Base admission table, which also holds the bases of the enhancement layer wai.video.lcevc.
  • derivation — an operation of ISO/IEC 23001-16 (wai.derive.*, derived-tracks). It acts on samples another capability decoded and names no payload format.
  • record — a signed record a WAI tool emits and verifies (a receipt kind: wai.asset.provenance, the quantum-operations receipts, the delivery records wai.video.manifest and its siblings). It names no payload format.

A derivation or record string is not a payload capability, so it is not dispatchable (SPEC §4): dispatch never takes an envelope's capability that names one, and step 5 may still take a usable fallback. A refinement is not dispatchable either; staged-delivery §4 processes it.

Two further tables hold strings that look like capabilities and are not:

  • identifiers name a part of a capability's definition (wai.det.fixed64, the fixed-point floor; wai.world.sim.*, the simulation steps of the feed and avatar capabilities);
  • unregistered labels are strings the reference implementation uses as labels that no revision registers, each with the reason.

Status

  • registered — the payload format (for a record or derivation, the definition) is pinned. The WAI-native integer codecs wai.video.int_motion, wai.video.int_hyper, wai.neural.int_hyper, wai.audio.int_codec and wai.splat.int_codec were registered with a decoder and no byte layout (the first, the fourth and the fifth also with the tool that wrote their bitstreams); v0.4.0 completes their registrations by pinning their formats (SPEC §8, Completing a registration; SPEC §5, Payloads of the WAI-native integer codecs).
  • candidate — the string is registered but no revision has pinned its payload format. An encoder MUST NOT emit a candidate, and a sink MUST treat it as unsupported (SPEC §5, Candidate capabilities). The reference implementation lists candidates in codecs::is_candidate, reports an envelope that names one from Wai::check_candidates and WaiMulti::check_candidates, and never dispatches or selects one.

Every dispatch and selection function uses one predicate, codecs::is_dispatchable(cap), SPEC §4's dispatchable: false for a companion-only capability, a refinement-only capability, a candidate, a record and a derivation; true for a registered payload capability that is not a candidate, and for a string this revision does not register, which a later MINOR revision may register (SPEC §8) and which a sink decodes only if it advertises it. A new dispatch or selection function MUST use it too.

Editions

A registration that names an edition of its standard carries that edition. A registration that names none carries the edition of its named standard current on the date it was registered, and no later edition or amendment: a later edition or amendment that changes the bitstream gets a capability string of its own (SPEC §8, Editions). The export records both: edition (a designation, or null for the edition current on the registration date) and registered (the date of the first commit of this repository that registers the string; the specification entered the repository on 2026-06-12, so a string registered before then carries that date).

Licence classes

Every payload, companion and refinement capability carries a licence class: royalty-free, patent-pool, proprietary or non-commercial (codecs::capability_license). It is a property of the capability, not a per-file claim. The classification has no default: a capability registered without a class is a registry defect the tests reject. The sources and residual caveats for each class are in research/media-codec-registry.md. A capability whose royalty status is not established is classified conservatively (patent-pool), never royalty-free; a candidate's class is provisional until a revision pins its payload format, since the licensing of a format not yet chosen cannot be established. Every derivation operation carries the class codecs::derivation::derivation_license gives it; a record carries none.

How to register a string

  1. Add the capability constant to wai-rs/src/codecs/mod.rs and, for a payload, companion or refinement capability, list it in known_capabilities() and give it an arm in capability_tier, capability_license and capability_replicate_class (each function has no default, and the tests reject a registered capability without one). A record goes in RECORDS, a derivation in codecs::derivation.
  2. Give it a row in ROWS of wai-rs/src/codecs/registry.rs: the SPEC §5 heading it is registered under, the edition it carries, and the registration date. A string whose payload format is not yet pinned also goes in CANDIDATES.
  3. Register it in SPEC §5, under that heading, with its payload format and role. The test spec_and_registry_name_the_same_strings holds SPEC and the table to the same set of strings, in both directions.
  4. Run cargo run --no-default-features --bin wai -- registry export from wai/wai-rs, and commit the files it writes.
  5. Link it from the codec glossary entry that describes its bitstream, or list it in the glossary's GLOSSARY_NO_ENTRY table with the reason (glossary/SCHEMA.md).
  6. Add a CHANGELOG entry.

Changing what a registered string carries is governed by SPEC §8: a payload format and a role are fixed once registered.

The registry

string kind status media role licence replicate sets registered in
wai.asset.provenance record registered — — — — — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.audio.aac payload registered audio standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.audio.ac4 payload registered audio standalone proprietary standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.audio.avs3 payload registered audio standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.audio.flac payload registered audio standalone royalty-free standard-defined floor §5 Mandatory floor
wai.audio.iamf payload registered audio standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.audio.int_codec payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.audio.int_refine refinement registered audio refinement royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Refinement capabilities (staged delivery)
wai.audio.ivas payload registered audio standalone patent-pool standard-tolerance — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.audio.mpegh payload registered audio standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.audio.opus payload registered audio standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.audio.scene payload registered audio standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.audio.score payload registered audio standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.avatar.pose payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.derive.crop derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.dissolve derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.grid_composition derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.identity derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.mirror derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.overlay_composition derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.roi_selection derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.rotation derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.scaling derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.derive.srgb_fill derivation registered — — patent-pool — — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.feed.state payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.film.linear payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.film.reel payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.generate.spectral payload registered image standalone royalty-free generative-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.haptic.mihs payload registered haptic standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.haptic.signal payload registered haptic standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.image.avif payload registered image standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.image.int_refine refinement registered image refinement royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Refinement capabilities (staged delivery)
wai.image.jp2 payload registered image standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.image.jpeg payload registered image standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.image.jpegai payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-entropy-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.image.jxl payload registered image standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.image.png payload registered image standalone royalty-free standard-defined floor §5 Mandatory floor
wai.mesh.draco payload registered volumetric standalone royalty-free standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.mesh.glb payload registered volumetric standalone royalty-free standard-unclassified — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.meta.dovi companion registered metadata companion proprietary standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.meta.hdr10plus companion registered metadata companion royalty-free standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.neural.bmshj2018 payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.cmic payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.dac payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.dcvc_fm payload registered video standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.dcvc_rt payload registered video standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.elic payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.encodec32 payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.glc payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.int_hyper payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.int_mlicpp payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.int_synth payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.mbt2018_mean payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.mimi payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.mlicpp payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.mlicv2 payload registered image standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.snac payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.video_bmshj2018 payload registered video standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.neural.wavtokenizer payload registered audio standalone royalty-free neural-float — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.pc.gpcc payload registered volumetric standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.pc.vpcc payload registered volumetric standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.prior.nnc payload registered binary standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.prior.set payload registered binary standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.quantum.calibration record registered — — — — — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.quantum.circuit payload registered binary standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.quantum.job record registered — — — — — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.semantic.clip payload registered image standalone royalty-free behavioral — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.semantic.perco2 payload registered image standalone non-commercial behavioral — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.splat.4d payload registered volumetric standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.splat.int_codec payload registered volumetric standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.splat.int_refine refinement registered volumetric refinement royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Refinement capabilities (staged delivery)
wai.splat.sog payload candidate volumetric standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.splat.spz payload registered volumetric standalone royalty-free standard-unclassified — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.tensor.nnc payload candidate binary standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Prior artifacts, general tensors and derivation operations
wai.ternary.tt payload registered binary standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.text.xz payload registered text standalone royalty-free standard-defined recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.text.zstd payload registered text standalone royalty-free standard-defined floor §5 Mandatory floor
wai.video.av1 payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.video.av1.lossless payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance recommended §5 Recommended modern set
wai.video.av2 payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.avc payload registered video standalone patent-pool standard-defined — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.avs3 payload registered video standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.channel record registered — — — — — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.evc payload registered video standalone patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.evc.baseline payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.hevc payload registered video standalone patent-pool standard-defined — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.int_hyper payload registered video standalone royalty-free neural-int-exact — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.int_motion payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.int_refine refinement registered video refinement royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Refinement capabilities (staged delivery)
wai.video.j2k payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-tolerance — §5 Immersive audio, cinema, volumetric, haptics, HDR
wai.video.keys record registered — — — — — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.lcevc companion registered video enhancement patent-pool standard-unclassified — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.manifest record registered — — — — — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.package record registered — — — — — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.ssai record registered — — — — — §5 Neural capabilities
wai.video.vp9 payload registered video standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.video.vvc payload registered video standalone patent-pool standard-defined — §5 Broadcast and streaming codecs
wai.world.live payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.world.model payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.world.replay payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.world.scene payload registered interactive standalone royalty-free standard-defined — §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
identifier (not a capability) meaning in
wai.det.fixed64 the fixed-point arithmetic floor the deterministic *-equivalence criteria are computed in §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.world.sim.feed0 the identity simulation step of wai.feed.state §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
wai.world.sim.skeletal0 the skeletal-pose simulation step of wai.avatar.pose §5 Interactive, temporal & computed content
unregistered label reason
wai.quantum.mitigate a receipt-kind label the wai-quantum crate seals; no revision of SPEC or of an extension registers it, so it is not a registered record
wai.quantum.decode a receipt-kind label the wai-quantum crate seals; no revision of SPEC or of an extension registers it, so it is not a registered record
wai.quantum.compile a receipt-kind label the wai-quantum crate seals; no revision of SPEC or of an extension registers it, so it is not a registered record
wai.quantum.rearrange a receipt-kind label the wai-quantum crate seals; no revision of SPEC or of an extension registers it, so it is not a registered record
wai.quantum.qbom a receipt-kind label the wai-quantum crate seals; no revision of SPEC or of an extension registers it, so it is not a registered record