Morphism Kernel

Source: morphism-kernel.md (ingested 2026-03-28)

type: normative authority: canonical audience: [agents, contributors] ssot-atom: governance-kernel last-verified: 2026-03-21 scope: governance

MORPHISM Governance Kernel

Status: Accepted Authority: This document is normative. All derived artifacts MUST NOT contradict it. Rationale: See ADR-002 Philosophy: morphism-philosophy.md Theory: Non-normative mathematical exposition in Paper 1 (papers/agentic-mathematics/main.tex)

Mathematical foundations: The formal axiom system (A1-A10) and invariant derivation proofs are in Paper 1 (Agentic Mathematics, papers/agentic-mathematics/main.tex). The traceability matrix mapping invariants to code is in papers/bible/traceability-matrix.md.

Invariants (MUST / SHALL)

These are enforced at CI, hook, and review gates. They are not guidelines.

I-1 · One Truth Per Domain

Every governance assertion MUST have exactly one canonical source. Derived artifacts (hub docs, app configs, READMEs) MUST reference that source; they MUST NOT restate it.

Enforcement: scripts/ssot_verify.py · scripts/docs_sync.py --check · drift-check CI job

I-2 · Drift Is Debt

Any deviation between a canonical source and its consumers is a defect, not a style choice. Drift MUST block merge. Stale atoms MUST be re-extracted within one release cycle.

Enforcement: drift-check workflow (required status check) · scripts/ssot_extract.py

I-3 · Observability

Every decision that changes governance state MUST produce an immutable, auditable trace: commit (with ticket), ADR entry, or SSOT registry update. Silent changes are forbidden.

Enforcement: commit-msg hook · scripts/validate_commit.py · CODEOWNERS review requirement

I-4 · Scope Binding

Every protocol MUST explicitly declare what it does NOT govern. Implicit scope expansion is treated as a violation, not an omission.

Enforcement: PR review · Doctrine Section 12 tenet enforcement matrix

I-5 · Entropy Monotonicity

System entropy (ambiguity + undocumented exceptions + stale references) MUST NOT increase across releases without explicit authorization. Maturity score MUST NOT decrease below threshold without a recorded exception.

Enforcement: scripts/maturity_score.py --ci --threshold 60 in integration-gate CI job (current score model: 0-125 across 12 categories)

I-6 · Refusal as Structure

Rejecting a change MUST be as cheap and observable as accepting one. Policy scripts MUST emit structured, actionable output on rejection. Silent passes that mask failures are forbidden.

Enforcement: scripts/policy_check.py --mode ci --explain exit codes + stderr output

I-7 · Minimal Authority

Permissions MUST be expressed in the smallest admissible unit: "can do X in context Y." CODEOWNERS MUST cover all critical paths. Broad grants ("owns everything") are permissible only for the repo owner role.

Enforcement: scripts/verify_pipeline.py (CODEOWNERS coverage check)

Protocol (Read–Verify–Execute)

All governance-touching transitions MUST follow this sequence:

READ   → Establish current state, entropy bounds, applicable scope constraints.
VERIFY → Check: valid state output? entropy preserved? scope respected?
EXECUTE → Apply change, record input state, rule applied, output state, verification evidence.

Executing without completing Verify is undefined behavior in this framework. Discovering a violation mid-Execute MUST produce a rollback, not a silent partial commit.

%% Read-Verify-Execute protocol with Refuse and Rollback branches
flowchart TD
    R[READ: Establish state and scope] --> V{VERIFY: Valid output? Entropy preserved? Scope respected?}
    V -- Yes --> E[EXECUTE: Apply change and record trace]
    V -- No --> REFUSE[REFUSE: Reject with structured output]
    E --> OK[Change committed]
    E -- Violation discovered --> ROLLBACK[ROLLBACK: Revert partial commit]

Amendment Process

Open a PR modifying this file and the corresponding ADR.
Run python scripts/ssot_extract.py to re-hash updated atoms.
Obtain review from @alawein (CODEOWNERS).
Merge only after drift-check and integration-gate pass.

Amendments that weaken an invariant MUST include a documented exception rationale in the ADR.

Scope

This document governs: governance state transitions, SSOT atom authority, CI gate requirements, hook chain behavior, CODEOWNERS coverage.

This document does NOT govern: application business logic, UI/UX decisions, infrastructure topology, third-party service configuration.

Non-normative background: ADR-002 · Paper 1 (papers/agentic-mathematics/main.tex) · Philosophy: morphism-philosophy.md