From 2b161d93c117e3881dac68bfbeb839113a46a4ca Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Hamilton Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:42:24 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Give every document a status line from one set of three kinds Normative draft, guide, or non-normative. SOVEREIGNTY.md, SETUP.md and EXPERIMENTS.md had none. PROVENANCE.md and REVOCATION.md were titled contracts but marked non-normative; they now point to the required rules in HOST.md sections 4 and 5. The README groups documents by kind. --- BRIEFING.md | 2 +- EXPERIMENTS.md | 2 ++ HOST.md | 2 +- PROTOCOL.md | 2 +- PROVENANCE.md | 4 ++-- README.md | 19 +++++++++++++++++-- REVOCATION.md | 4 ++-- SETUP.md | 2 ++ SOVEREIGNTY.md | 2 ++ 9 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/BRIEFING.md b/BRIEFING.md index 45e42bd..27f66d2 100644 --- a/BRIEFING.md +++ b/BRIEFING.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # Briefing contract -**Status:** Draft protocol contract. This is the protocol's main output. +**Status:** Normative draft. This is the protocol's main output. The reason `me.md` exists is to help a person keep up with agents. The briefing is how. It turns everything that moved into a person-shaped read: **what moved, where the pull is, what is missing, and what to do next.** diff --git a/EXPERIMENTS.md b/EXPERIMENTS.md index d77f84d..38a90e1 100644 --- a/EXPERIMENTS.md +++ b/EXPERIMENTS.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # Experiments +**Status:** Process. Non-normative. + `me.md` is being developed through small, reversible experiments. The goal is not to turn the first useful interface into a standard. It is to learn which human capabilities matter, which boundaries must hold, and which technical choices can remain replaceable. diff --git a/HOST.md b/HOST.md index 06dfee6..de8e978 100644 --- a/HOST.md +++ b/HOST.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # Host contract -**Status:** Draft protocol contract. Normative for conforming hosts. +**Status:** Normative draft. A host that claims conformance must follow it. A *host* is anything that reads or writes a person's context on their behalf: a desktop agent, a CLI, an IDE assistant, a chat harness, a background daemon, a script. The protocol does not care which. This document defines what any of them must do to call itself conforming. diff --git a/PROTOCOL.md b/PROTOCOL.md index 866c904..b08650c 100644 --- a/PROTOCOL.md +++ b/PROTOCOL.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # The protocol shape -**Status:** Draft. This page is the smallest complete statement of the protocol. +**Status:** Normative draft. This page is the smallest complete statement of the protocol. `me.md` works with any AI harness or platform. If a tool can read and write files, it can serve a person's store. This page gives the full engagement in one shape. [HOST.md](./HOST.md) gives the full conformance rules. diff --git a/PROVENANCE.md b/PROVENANCE.md index cc97114..76b0705 100644 --- a/PROVENANCE.md +++ b/PROVENANCE.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ -# Provenance contract +# Provenance -**Status:** Working protocol hypothesis. Non-normative. +**Status:** Working protocol hypothesis. Non-normative. The required provenance rules are in [HOST.md §4](./HOST.md#4-provenance). This document explains them and records what is still under test. Provenance explains how durable context came to exist and why a change was allowed. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 37629d8..08f7076 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -54,12 +54,27 @@ It is not a transcript, not a hidden profile, not a productivity score, not empl ## Documents +Every document starts with a status line. There are three kinds. + +**Normative drafts.** These are the rules. A host that claims conformance follows them. Until version 1.0, any release can change them. + - [PROTOCOL.md](./PROTOCOL.md) — the smallest complete statement: the store, the loop, and a paste-in block for any harness -- [SETUP.md](./SETUP.md) — the setup instruction for the person, ready to copy - [HOST.md](./HOST.md) — full conformance rules for implementers, with black-box tests - [BRIEFING.md](./BRIEFING.md) — the main output: the person-shaped read - [SOVEREIGNTY.md](./SOVEREIGNTY.md) — the commitments to the person -- [CONTEXT.md](./CONTEXT.md), [EXPRESSION.md](./EXPRESSION.md), [PROVENANCE.md](./PROVENANCE.md), [REVOCATION.md](./REVOCATION.md), [SYSTEM.md](./SYSTEM.md), [EXTENSIONS.md](./EXTENSIONS.md), [EXPERIMENTS.md](./EXPERIMENTS.md) — the deeper contracts + +**Guide.** For the person. It adds no rules. + +- [SETUP.md](./SETUP.md) — the setup instruction, ready to copy + +**Non-normative.** Design notes, vocabulary, and open questions. They explain the rules. They do not add to them. + +- [CONTEXT.md](./CONTEXT.md) — shared vocabulary +- [PROVENANCE.md](./PROVENANCE.md) and [REVOCATION.md](./REVOCATION.md) — the reasons behind HOST.md §4 and §5 +- [EXPRESSION.md](./EXPRESSION.md) — how context is put into words and admitted +- [SYSTEM.md](./SYSTEM.md) — the conceptual system map +- [EXTENSIONS.md](./EXTENSIONS.md) — the open-source boundary and candidate extensions +- [EXPERIMENTS.md](./EXPERIMENTS.md) — how the protocol is tested ## Status diff --git a/REVOCATION.md b/REVOCATION.md index 17ab1e5..08b4d1f 100644 --- a/REVOCATION.md +++ b/REVOCATION.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ -# Revocation and deletion contract +# Revocation and deletion -**Status:** Working protocol hypothesis. Non-normative. +**Status:** Working protocol hypothesis. Non-normative. The required revocation rules are in [HOST.md §5](./HOST.md#5-revocation). This document explains them and records what is still under test. A person’s control is not complete if context can be added but cannot be reliably stopped, forgotten, or removed. diff --git a/SETUP.md b/SETUP.md index 95df2ef..0ab3b01 100644 --- a/SETUP.md +++ b/SETUP.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # Set up me.md with any agent +**Status:** Guide for the person. It adds no rules. The rules are in [PROTOCOL.md](./PROTOCOL.md) and [HOST.md](./HOST.md). + `me.md` is a new protocol for working with agents. It preserves human sovereignty: you own what agents know about you, you decide what they remember, and you can take it all with you. The purpose is not memory for its own sake. The purpose is to let you act on the things that matter most to you, with agents that know you well enough to help. You do not install the protocol. You give one instruction to any agent that can write a file. diff --git a/SOVEREIGNTY.md b/SOVEREIGNTY.md index 5e245d2..25eaa75 100644 --- a/SOVEREIGNTY.md +++ b/SOVEREIGNTY.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # The me.md sovereignty contract +**Status:** Normative draft. Every other document must keep these commitments. The open questions are in [What remains under test](#what-remains-under-test). + `me.md` is experimental. Its storage layout, APIs, and implementation details will change as we learn. These commitments are different. They are the conditions under which a personal context system remains meaningfully user-owned. An implementation should be able to explain how it preserves them before claiming compatibility with `me.md`. From 2d7c79e0f53718aa6930cc1b7d0b1bdd17271355 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Hamilton Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:22:24 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Scope the status-line sentence to the listed documents README.md and GOVERNANCE.md have no status line and are not protocol documents. --- README.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 08f7076..9ff1470 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ It is not a transcript, not a hidden profile, not a productivity score, not empl ## Documents -Every document starts with a status line. There are three kinds. +Every protocol document listed below starts with a status line. There are three kinds. **Normative drafts.** These are the rules. A host that claims conformance follows them. Until version 1.0, any release can change them. From 59e972cf6870ee6e46e257796fc2921070284b6b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Hamilton Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:46:43 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Keep the protocol overview a guide; clarify conformance scope --- PROTOCOL.md | 2 +- README.md | 7 ++++--- 2 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/PROTOCOL.md b/PROTOCOL.md index b08650c..7ee2931 100644 --- a/PROTOCOL.md +++ b/PROTOCOL.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # The protocol shape -**Status:** Normative draft. This page is the smallest complete statement of the protocol. +**Status:** Guide. This page summarizes the store and loop. [HOST.md](./HOST.md) defines host conformance. `me.md` works with any AI harness or platform. If a tool can read and write files, it can serve a person's store. This page gives the full engagement in one shape. [HOST.md](./HOST.md) gives the full conformance rules. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 9ff1470..ee334c1 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -56,14 +56,15 @@ It is not a transcript, not a hidden profile, not a productivity score, not empl Every protocol document listed below starts with a status line. There are three kinds. -**Normative drafts.** These are the rules. A host that claims conformance follows them. Until version 1.0, any release can change them. +**Draft contracts.** HOST.md defines host conformance, SOVEREIGNTY.md states the commitments to the person, and BRIEFING.md defines a conforming briefing. These drafts may change. -- [PROTOCOL.md](./PROTOCOL.md) — the smallest complete statement: the store, the loop, and a paste-in block for any harness - [HOST.md](./HOST.md) — full conformance rules for implementers, with black-box tests - [BRIEFING.md](./BRIEFING.md) — the main output: the person-shaped read - [SOVEREIGNTY.md](./SOVEREIGNTY.md) — the commitments to the person -**Guide.** For the person. It adds no rules. +**Guides.** Setup and an overview of the rules. + +- [PROTOCOL.md](./PROTOCOL.md) — the store, the loop, and a paste-in block for a harness - [SETUP.md](./SETUP.md) — the setup instruction, ready to copy