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SPEC-001

Runtime Overview

Status: Draft

Standard: CKS Runtime

Category: Foundational Specification

1. Purpose

This specification defines the architectural role of CKS Runtime within the CKS ecosystem.

It establishes:

  • the purpose of Runtime;
  • the Runtime lifecycle model;
  • architectural responsibilities;
  • component boundaries;
  • interactions with CKS Core;
  • interactions with external adapters.

This specification serves as the architectural foundation for every subsequent Runtime specification.

All subsequent Runtime specifications shall be interpreted in accordance with the architectural principles established by this specification.

2. Scope

This specification defines the Runtime architecture.

It does not specify:

  • session semantics;
  • transaction semantics;
  • storage implementations;
  • runtime APIs;
  • persistence formats.

Those topics are specified separately.

3. Runtime Definition

A Runtime is the canonical operational environment responsible for managing Canonical Knowledge Structures throughout their lifecycle.

Runtime owns operational lifecycle management.

CKS Core owns semantic authority.

The Runtime Standard defines operational behaviour.

Semantic behaviour remains exclusively defined by the CKS Core Standard.

Runtime shall never redefine or reinterpret canonical semantics.

4. Runtime Responsibilities

The Runtime Standard defines the following operational responsibilities:

  • creating sessions;
  • maintaining runtime state;
  • executing transactions;
  • coordinating validation;
  • orchestrating persistence;
  • managing version history;
  • aggregating diagnostics;
  • coordinating explainability;
  • exposing runtime services to adapters.

Every responsibility performed by Runtime is operational rather than semantic.

The Runtime Standard defines these responsibilities conceptually.

Individual specifications define their externally observable behaviour.

5. Runtime Execution Model

Runtime manages one or more independent knowledge sessions.

Each session owns:

  • runtime state;
  • a reference to the current Canonical Knowledge Structure;
  • version history;
  • diagnostics;
  • transactional context.

Sessions are isolated from one another.

Operations performed within one session shall not affect the state of another session unless explicitly specified by a future Runtime specification.

The Runtime coordinates these sessions but never modifies the semantic definition of knowledge itself.

6. Relationship to CKS Core

Runtime depends upon CKS Core.

Core provides:

  • canonical models;
  • canonical validation;
  • canonical serialization;
  • canonical evolution;
  • canonical semantic diagnostics.

Runtime invokes these services without modifying their behaviour.

The reference implementation provides this integration through the cks-runtime-core package, which contains CksCoreAdapter — a concrete implementation of CoreInterface.

The dependency direction defined by ANALYSIS-001 is normative and shall remain unchanged throughout the evolution of the Runtime Standard.

7. Runtime Architecture

The Runtime architecture consists of several cooperating conceptual subsystems.

                    Adapters
                        │
        ┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
        │               │               │
      MCP             CLI            HTTP
        │               │               │
        └───────────────┼───────────────┘
                        │
                CKS Runtime
                        │
     ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
     │                  │                  │
 Session Manager   Transaction Engine   Storage
     │                  │                  │
 Diagnostics      Version History   Explainability
                        │
                   CKS Core

Communication between CKS Runtime and CKS Core passes exclusively through the Core API Boundary, as defined in ANALYSIS‑001 and ARCH‑001. The reference implementation realises this boundary via the CksCoreAdapter class.

Each conceptual subsystem owns a single operational responsibility.

Concrete implementations may combine or separate subsystems provided externally observable behaviour remains conformant.

8. Runtime Components

The Runtime Standard defines the following conceptual components.

These components represent architectural responsibilities rather than mandatory implementation units.

Components may be implemented as separate modules, services or internal structures.

Session Manager

Owns runtime sessions.

Transaction Engine

Coordinates atomic Runtime state transitions.

Validation Coordinator

Invokes canonical validation provided by CKS Core.

Validation Coordinator

Invokes canonical validation provided by CKS Core. In the reference implementation this responsibility is carried by CksCoreAdapter (part of the cks-runtime-core package), which wraps the public Python API of cks-core.

Diagnostics Aggregator

Collects diagnostics produced throughout runtime operations.

Version Manager

Maintains runtime history.

Storage Layer

Persists runtime state through an implementation-independent abstraction.

Explainability Coordinator

Coordinates explanation services without redefining semantic meaning.

9. Architectural Rules

The following rules are mandatory.

Runtime shall never:

  • redefine canonical semantics;
  • reinterpret canonical validation;
  • alter canonical serialization;
  • replace canonical evolution.

Runtime shall treat every service provided by CKS Core as authoritative.

Runtime shall not introduce an alternative semantic authority.

Runtime may:

  • orchestrate;
  • schedule;
  • coordinate;
  • aggregate;
  • persist;
  • expose operational services.

10. Adapter Model

Adapters expose Runtime capabilities to external systems.

Examples include:

  • MCP
  • CLI
  • Python API
  • HTTP API

Adapters contain no semantic knowledge.

Adapters are transport-specific integrations rather than extensions of Runtime.

Adapters shall communicate exclusively through the Runtime API.

11. Lifecycle

The canonical Runtime lifecycle is:

Create Session
        ↓
Attach Knowledge Structure
        ↓
Validate
        ↓
Execute Operations
        ↓
Commit Transaction
        ↓
Persist
        ↓
Expose Results
        ↓
Close Session

Individual Runtime implementations may introduce additional internal stages provided the externally observable lifecycle remains equivalent.

Future specifications may refine individual lifecycle stages while preserving this overall structure.

12. Design Goals

The Runtime Standard is designed to achieve:

  • deterministic behaviour;
  • behavioural predictability;
  • implementation independence;
  • ecosystem interoperability;
  • adapter neutrality;
  • operational extensibility;
  • semantic stability;
  • transport independence.

13. Conformance

A Runtime implementation conforms to this specification when it:

  • operates exclusively on Canonical Knowledge Structures;
  • preserves Core semantics;
  • exposes operational services without redefining semantic behaviour;
  • satisfies all mandatory Runtime specifications.

Conformance to this specification does not imply conformance to the complete Runtime Standard.

Additional Runtime specifications define further normative requirements.

14. Summary

CKS Runtime is the canonical operational environment of the CKS ecosystem.

It manages the operational lifecycle of canonical knowledge while preserving the semantic guarantees established by CKS Core.

This specification establishes the architectural foundation upon which every subsequent Runtime specification is built.