let d = import "defaults.ncl" in d.make_adr { id = "adr-001", title = "Ontoref is a Standalone Protocol Project, Not Part of Stratumiops", status = 'Accepted, date = "2026-03-12", context = "The ontology/reflection patterns originated inside stratumiops as self-description tooling (stratum-ontology-core, stratum-reflection-core, stratum-daemon). Consumer projects (typedialog, vapora, kogral) needed the same patterns but had no path to adoption that did not entangle them with stratumiops' pipeline-specific crates (stratum-graph, stratum-state, stratum-orchestrator). Protocol evolution (schema changes, ADR lifecycle, daemon features) was blocked behind stratumiops release cycles. The three crates were logically a specification layer that happened to live in the wrong repo.", decision = "Ontoref is extracted as a standalone protocol project with independent versioning, CI, and crates: ontoref-ontology (Rust types for the ontology graph), ontoref-reflection (mode runner and schema validation), ontoref-daemon (NCL export cache, file watcher, actor registry). Consumer projects adopt the protocol via a thin `scripts/ontoref` bash wrapper and a `.ontoref/config.ncl` declaration. The ontoref project itself is allowed to use stratum-db and platform-nats as optional peer dependencies via workspace path references, since those crates are infrastructural rather than domain-specific.", rationale = [ { claim = "Protocol concerns are orthogonal to pipeline concerns", detail = "Stratumiops' primary value is the action graph execution engine (stratum-orchestrator) and its pipeline crates. The ontology/ADR/reflection protocol serves any project — not just stratumiops consumers. Coupling forces every protocol adopter to also accept stratumiops' dependency tree.", }, { claim = "Independent versioning enables protocol stability", detail = "Protocol schema changes (new ADR fields, new ontology edge kinds, new reflection mode types) should not require a stratumiops release. Ontoref's version contract is between ontoref and its consumers; stratumiops is one consumer, not the owner.", }, { claim = "ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT decouples protocol tooling from project location", detail = "The ontoref entry point accepts ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT as an env var, defaulting to its own SCRIPT_DIR only if unset. Consumer wrappers (scripts/ontoref) set ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT to their own root before exec-ing the ontoref entry. This design allows one ontoref checkout to serve multiple projects.", }, { claim = "stratum-db and platform-nats as peer deps, not bundled deps", detail = "ontoref-daemon uses stratum-db (for optional SurrealDB persistence) and platform-nats (for NATS events) as optional features via path dependencies. These crates are infrastructural and re-usable. Bundling them into ontoref would duplicate the crates; referencing them as peers preserves the single canonical implementation.", }, ], consequences = { positive = [ "Consumer projects (typedialog, vapora, kogral) can adopt the protocol with a single wrapper + config file", "Protocol schema evolution is independent of stratumiops pipeline releases", "One ontoref checkout serves all projects via ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT env var", "Stratumiops becomes a first-class protocol consumer, not the protocol owner — eats its own dogfood", "ontoref-daemon is protocol-agnostic: any project can use it for NCL caching regardless of whether it uses stratumiops", ], negative = [ "ontoref-daemon has path dependencies on stratumiops/crates — requires both repos to be checked out locally for builds", "Two entry points per project: scripts/stratumiops (pipeline) and scripts/ontoref (protocol) — dual maintenance surface", "ONTOREF_ROOT must be set or defaulted correctly in every consumer wrapper", ], }, alternatives_considered = [ { option = "Keep all tooling in stratumiops, consumers depend on it as a git subtree or submodule", why_rejected = "Submodule/subtree patterns create update friction and do not solve the versioning coupling. Every consumer needs stratumiops' full dependency tree even for protocol-only use.", }, { option = "Publish ontoref crates to crates.io and consume via version pins", why_rejected = "Rapid iteration on protocol schemas makes published crate semantics too rigid at this stage. Path dependencies allow simultaneous development of protocol and consumers without publication ceremony.", }, { option = "Inline protocol tooling into each consumer project separately", why_rejected = "Schema drift across projects would immediately arise. The protocol's value is precisely its shared contract — decentralizing it defeats the purpose.", }, ], constraints = [ { id = "no-stratumiops-domain-deps", claim = "ontoref crates must not import stratumiops domain crates: stratum-graph, stratum-state, stratum-orchestrator, stratum-llm, stratum-embeddings", scope = "crates/ontoref-ontology/Cargo.toml, crates/ontoref-reflection/Cargo.toml, crates/ontoref-daemon/Cargo.toml", severity = 'Hard, check = { tag = 'Grep, pattern = "stratum-graph|stratum-state|stratum-orchestrator|stratum-llm|stratum-embeddings", paths = ["crates/ontoref-ontology/Cargo.toml", "crates/ontoref-reflection/Cargo.toml", "crates/ontoref-daemon/Cargo.toml"], must_be_empty = true, }, rationale = "Domain crates from stratumiops encode pipeline-specific types. Importing them would re-couple the protocol to the pipeline and prevent independent adoption.", }, { id = "ontoref-project-root-consumer-set", claim = "The ontoref entry point must not unconditionally overwrite ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT — it must default only when unset", scope = "ontoref (bash entry point)", severity = 'Hard, check = { tag = 'Grep, pattern = "ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT", paths = ["ontoref"], must_be_empty = false, }, rationale = "Consumer wrappers (scripts/ontoref) set ONTOREF_PROJECT_ROOT to their own root before calling the ontoref entry. If the entry overwrites it, the daemon and ADR queries target ontoref's own repo instead of the consumer project.", }, { id = "ontoref-config-only-required-artifact", claim = "A consumer project must only need .ontoref/config.ncl and scripts/ontoref to adopt the protocol — no other files copied into the consumer", scope = "consumer project onboarding", severity = 'Soft, check = { tag = 'FileExists, path = ".ontoref/config.ncl", present = true }, rationale = "Minimizing the consumer adoption surface ensures the protocol is adopted voluntarily and fully, not partially via file copies that drift from the source.", }, ], related_adrs = ["adr-002-daemon-for-caching-and-notification-barrier"], ontology_check = { decision_string = "ontoref is a standalone project providing protocol tooling; consumers adopt via wrapper + config; stratum-db and platform-nats are optional peer deps", invariants_at_risk = ["protocol-not-runtime"], verdict = 'Safe, }, }