data.md

type	REFERENCE
domain	data
title	Data
audience	ai-agents developers
status	current
last_updated	2026-09-10
framework_version	v1.0.0
validation	date_last_tested status scope 2026-08-23 passed docs/capabilities/data.md - route table verified against leaf targets

Data

Entities are the application's vocabulary: persistence is the floor, and relationships, lifecycle, contexts, HTTP, trust, work, AI, files, and agent projections attach to the same noun. The code keeps saying Recipe while everything underneath changes.

Route by need

The request says	Fetch
"where should data live?" - first store, or a change	entity stores
"orders belong to customers" - things owned by things	relationships
"publish approved records to another audience"	named sources
"we outgrew SQLite" - move without rewriting verbs	store cutover
"users delete things by accident" - undo	recoverable deletion
"emails/keys/regions keep arriving dirty" - trim and casing	field hygiene
"backups / disaster recovery"	backups
"search by meaning"	semantic search
"what can an Entity<T> become?" - the full hook map	Entity capability hooks
"create only if absent, or replace only the revision I read"	Data write contracts
"change a few fields and preserve the rest"	PATCH an Entity

Standing constraints

• The same Entity verbs on every store. Adding a store never moves data - moving is cutover's explicit job.
• Same syntax is not the same guarantees: read the store node's boundary section before promising behavior.

Do not, at this level

• Do not pre-create databases, schemas, or wiring - provisioning is on demand.
• Do not add a second store "for flexibility" without a named outcome.

For the one-screen maturity view, see Data in the capability map.