NASA-IMPACT · NISH1001 · Apr 27, 2026 · Apr 16, 2026 · Apr 16, 2026 · Apr 16, 2026
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -33,20 +33,22 @@ See `docs/design_philosophy.md` for full design principles.
 
 ### Base System (`akd/_base/`)
 
-Everything inherits from `AbstractBase` or `UnrestrictedAbstractBase`. See `docs/specs/AKD_BASE.md` for the full reference.
+Everything inherits from `AbstractBase`. See `docs/specs/AKD_BASE.md` for the full reference.
 
 **Key exports from `akd._base`:**
 
-| Class | Purpose |
+| Class / Protocol | Purpose |
 |-------|---------|
-| `AbstractBase` | Strict base with schema validation (agents, tools) |
+| `AbstractBase` | Concrete base with schema validation, streaming, and config binding (agents, tools) |
 | `InputSchema` / `OutputSchema` / `IOSchema` | Typed schemas with required docstrings |
 | `BaseConfig` | Configuration base |
-| `StreamEvent` / `StreamingMixin` | Streaming event system |
-| `ToolCall` / `ToolResult` / `ToolCallingMixin` | Tool calling infrastructure |
+| `ConfigBindingMixin` | Opt-in: config property binding + metadata binding (already on `AbstractBase`) |
+| `AKDExecutable` / `AKDTool` / `RunContextProtocol` | Structural protocols — framework adapters satisfy these without inheriting `BaseAgent` / `BaseTool` |
+| `StreamEvent` | Streaming event hierarchy |
+| `ToolCall` / `ToolResult` | Tool calling data models |
 | `RunContext` | Execution context passed to agents (in `_base/structures.py`) |
 | `HumanResponse` | Human reply for HITL resumption (in `_base/structures.py`) |
-| `Memory` | Message storage with session lifecycle |
+| `validate_input` / `validate_output` | Standalone schema validators for non-inheriting adapters |
 
 ### Adding Agents or Tools
 
@@ -97,7 +99,6 @@ See specs:
 
 **`akd/structures.py`** (public, also re-exports `HumanResponse`):
 - `SearchResult` / `SearchResultItem` — search results with metadata
-- `ExtractionSchema` / `SingleEstimation` — extraction output schemas
 - `HumanResponse` — re-exported for backend convenience
 
 ## Project Structure
@@ -107,26 +108,20 @@ akd/
 ├── _base/             # Base classes, streaming, tool calling, memory, structures
 ├── agents/            # Agent implementations
 │   ├── _base.py       #   BaseAgent, InstructorBaseAgent, LiteLLMInstructorBaseAgent
-│   ├── search/        #   SearchAgent, DeepLitSearchAgent, ControlledSearchAgent, AspectSearchAgent
-│   ├── gap_analysis/  #   GapAgent
-│   ├── extraction.py  #   EstimationExtractionAgent
-│   ├── query.py       #   QueryAgent, FollowUpQueryAgent
-│   ├── relevancy.py   #   Relevancy checking agents
-│   ├── storm/         #   STORM workflow agent
-│   └── intents.py     #   Intent detection
+│   └── relevancy.py   #   RelevancyAgent, MultiRubricRelevancyAgent
 ├── tools/             # Tool implementations
 │   ├── _base.py       #   BaseTool, BaseToolConfig
 │   ├── human.py       #   HumanTool (HITL)
-│   ├── search/        #   SearxNG, Serper, SemanticScholar, CodeSearch, Composite, Pipeline
+│   ├── search/        #   SearxNG, Serper, SemanticScholar, Composite, Pipeline
 │   ├── scrapers/      #   Web, PDF, Crawl4AI, PyPaperBot, Docling scrapers
 │   ├── resolvers/     #   DOI, Arxiv, ADS, Unpaywall resolvers
 │   ├── reranker.py    #   CrossEncoder, NoOp rerankers
 │   ├── relevancy.py   #   Relevancy checker
 │   └── source_validator.py
-├── configs/           # Configuration (project, prompts, lit, storm)
+├── configs/           # Configuration (project, prompts, lit)
 ├── guardrails/        # Safety and validation guardrails
-├── mapping/           # Agent/tool registry and field mapping
-├── planner/           # Workflow planning
+├── mapping/           # Runtime agent registry + field-mapping machinery
+├── planner/           # Workflow planning (agents registered at runtime)
 └── structures.py      # Public data structures
 
 tests/                 # Mirrors akd/ structure — pytest + asyncio + xdist

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -79,22 +79,13 @@ This works across any transport — REST APIs, WebSockets, CLI — because the p
 
 | Category | Agent | Description |
 |----------|-------|-------------|
-| **Research** | `DeepLitSearchAgent` | Multi-agent deep literature search with triage, clarification, and synthesis |
-| | `ControlledSearchAgent` | Controlled search with configurable parameters |
-| | `AspectSearchAgent` | Interview-pattern multi-aspect search |
-| | `CodeSearchAgent` | Code repository search |
-| | `QuestionAnsweringAgent` | QA over retrieved content |
-| **Analysis** | `GapAgent` | Research gap identification via knowledge graphs |
-| | `EstimationExtractionAgent` | Intent-based data extraction |
-| | `StormAgent` | Structured narrative generation |
-| **Utility** | `IntentAgent` | User intent classification |
-| | `QueryAgent` | Query reformulation and refinement |
-| | `FollowUpQueryAgent` | Follow-up query generation |
-| | `RelevancyAgent` | Binary relevance classification |
+| **Utility** | `RelevancyAgent` | Binary relevance classification |
 | | `MultiRubricRelevancyAgent` | Multi-dimensional relevance scoring |
 | **Base** | `BaseAgent` | Core agent with streaming, tool calling, HITL, message trimming |
 | | `LiteLLMInstructorBaseAgent` | Structured Pydantic output via Instructor |
 
+Domain-specific agents live in downstream packages and can be registered at runtime via `AgentRegistry.register_agent(YourAgent)`.
+
 ## Out-of-Box Tools
 
 | Category | Tool | Description |
@@ -214,25 +205,52 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 ```
 
+**Optional extras:** pull in extra dependencies for specific features.
+
+| Extra | What it pulls in | Install when you... |
+|---|---|---|
+| `serializer` | `langgraph` | use `AKDSerializer` as a langgraph checkpoint serde (e.g. `AsyncPostgresSaver(serde=AKDSerializer())`) |
+| `ml` | `pandas`, `sentence-transformers`, `docling`, `deepeval` | need ML-backed rerankers, scrapers, or eval tools |
+| `dev` | `pytest`, `pytest-asyncio`, `pytest-cov`, `pytest-xdist`, `pre-commit`, `memray`, `scalene` | run the test suite or hack on akd itself |
+| `local` | `marimo`, `jupyter`, `ipykernel`, `ipywidgets` | run the marimo notebooks under `notebooks/` |
+
+```bash
+# As a dependency, with an extra:
+uv pip install "akd[serializer] @ git+https://github.com/NASA-IMPACT/accelerated-discovery.git@develop"
+```
+
+```toml
+# In your pyproject.toml:
+dependencies = [
+    "akd[serializer] @ git+https://github.com/NASA-IMPACT/accelerated-discovery.git@develop",
+]
+```
+
 **For local development:**
 
 ```bash
 # Create and activate virtual environment
 uv venv --python 3.12
 source .venv/bin/activate
 
-# Install dependencies
+# Install core dependencies
 uv sync
 
-# For development (includes testing tools)
+# With development tooling (pytest, pre-commit, profilers)
 uv sync --extra dev
 
-# For local development (includes marimo and other local tools)
+# With notebooks (marimo, jupyter)
 uv sync --extra dev --extra local
 
-# For ML features (includes sentence-transformers, docling, deepeval)
+# With ML extras (pandas, sentence-transformers, docling, deepeval)
 uv sync --extra ml
 
+# With the langgraph checkpoint serde (AKDSerializer)
+uv sync --extra serializer
+
+# Combine extras freely, e.g. full dev setup:
+uv sync --extra dev --extra local --extra ml --extra serializer
+
 # Setup environment variables
 cp .env.example .env
 # Edit .env with your API keys
@@ -259,13 +277,6 @@ scripts/         # Utility scripts and demos
 tests/           # Test suite (mirrors akd/ structure)
 ```
 
-## Roadmap
-
-These features are part of the design vision but not yet fully implemented:
-
-- **Conflict Agent** — a dedicated agent that specifically searches for contradictory evidence and conflicting findings across sources. Currently, conflict detection is a design principle (see [Design Philosophy](docs/design_philosophy.md)) but lacks a standalone agent implementation.
-- **Full Attribution Chain** — end-to-end traceability from final claims back to specific source sentences. Partial support exists today: `GapAgent` provides `attributed_source_answers` and the guardrail system includes an `ATTRIBUTION` risk category.
-
 ## Contributing
 
 See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for setup, style guide, branch conventions, and how to create agents and tools.

diff --git a/akd/__init__.py b/akd/__init__.py
@@ -17,28 +17,15 @@
 try:
     __version__ = _version("akd")
 except PackageNotFoundError:
-    __version__ = "0.1.1"
+    __version__ = "0.2.0"
 __author__ = "NASA IMPACT"
 __email__ = "np0069@uah.edu,mr0051@uah.edu"
 
 # Core base classes
-from akd._base import (
-    AbstractBase,
-    BaseConfig,
-    InputSchema,
-    IOSchema,
-    OutputSchema,
-    UnrestrictedAbstractBase,
-)
+from akd._base import AbstractBase, BaseConfig, InputSchema, IOSchema, OutputSchema
 
 # Core structures
-from akd.structures import (
-    ExtractionSchema,
-    ResearchData,
-    SearchResultItem,
-    SingleEstimation,
-    ToolSearchResult,
-)
+from akd.structures import SearchResultItem, ToolSearchResult
 
 # Tool system
 from akd.tools._base import BaseTool, BaseToolConfig
@@ -50,7 +37,6 @@
     "__email__",
     # Base classes
     "AbstractBase",
-    "UnrestrictedAbstractBase",
     "BaseConfig",
     "IOSchema",
     "InputSchema",
@@ -60,8 +46,5 @@
     "BaseToolConfig",
     # Core structures
     "SearchResultItem",
-    "ResearchData",
-    "ExtractionSchema",
-    "SingleEstimation",
     "ToolSearchResult",
 ]
diff --git a/akd/_base/__init__.py b/akd/_base/__init__.py
@@ -2,18 +2,16 @@
 
 from ._base import (
     AbstractBase,
-    AbstractBaseMeta,
-    AsyncRunMixin,
     BaseConfig,
     InputSchema,
     IOSchema,
     OutputSchema,
     TextInput,
     TextOutput,
-    UnrestrictedAbstractBase,
 )
+from .config_binding import ConfigBindingMixin
 from .errors import HumanInputRequired
-from .exposure import ParamExposureMixin, exposed_param
+from .protocols import AKDExecutable, AKDRunContext, AKDTool, RunContextProtocol
 from .session import AgentSession, BaseSession, ToolSession
 from .streaming import (
     CompletedEvent,
@@ -44,13 +42,12 @@
     ToolResultEventData,
 )
 from .structures import HumanResponse, RunContext
-from .tool_calling import ToolCall, ToolCallingMixin, ToolResult
+from .tool_calling import ToolCall, ToolResult
+from .validation import validate_input, validate_output, validate_schema
 
 __all__ = [
     # Base classes
     "AbstractBase",
-    "UnrestrictedAbstractBase",
-    "AsyncRunMixin",
     # Schema classes
     "IOSchema",
     "InputSchema",
@@ -59,11 +56,6 @@
     "TextOutput",
     # Config classes
     "BaseConfig",
-    # Metadata and decorators
-    "exposed_param",
-    "ParamExposureMixin",
-    # Metaclass
-    "AbstractBaseMeta",
     # Streaming
     "StreamEvent",
     "StreamEventType",
@@ -96,9 +88,19 @@
     # Tool calling
     "ToolCall",
     "ToolResult",
-    "ToolCallingMixin",
     # Context
     "RunContext",
+    "AKDRunContext",
+    # Protocols
+    "AKDExecutable",
+    "AKDTool",
+    "RunContextProtocol",
+    # Config binding
+    "ConfigBindingMixin",
+    # Validation
+    "validate_input",
+    "validate_output",
+    "validate_schema",
     # Human interaction
     "HumanResponse",
     "HumanInputRequired",