Japanese version: Purpose

Purpose

Define a canonical Markdown format for Semantic Snapshot records used by AIKernel to preserve intermediate reasoning state with governance metadata.

Scope

This document defines:

• required snapshot sections
• metadata keys
• section semantics
• format constraints for reproducibility and auditability
• responsibility boundary with ROM (format shell vs semantic content model)

Specification / Procedure

1. Snapshot document structure

All semantic snapshots must follow this top-level order:

1. Snapshot Metadata
2. Orchestration
3. Material Quarantine
4. Thought Process
5. Expression Buffer

2. Snapshot Metadata block

Use a front block with explicit key-value lines:

---\n# [Snapshot Metadata]\nTimestamp: 2026-05-03T00:50:00Z\nKernelVersion: v0.0.7\nRouter: IModelVectorRouter (Type: LogicHeavy)\nPromptSignature: "sha256:7f8e9a..."\n---

Required fields

• Timestamp: UTC ISO 8601 timestamp
• KernelVersion: executed kernel contract version
• Router: selected routing abstraction and profile
• PromptSignature: verified signature digest for fail-closed governance

Optional fields

• SnapshotId
• ParentSnapshotId
• ProviderSet
• MaterialHash
• ExpressionHash

3. Orchestration section

Must summarize only signed execution policy and constraints.

# 1. Orchestration\n> Signed prompt summary and execution constraints

Constraints:

• Keep policy-focused and concise.
• Do not include raw external material.
• Do not include generated final output artifacts.

4. Material Quarantine section

Must list only verified or sanitized material items.

# 2. Material Quarantine\n- [Source A]: Verified and Structured\n- [Source B]: Sanitized

Constraints:

• Material status must be explicit.
• Unverified material must not be promoted into reasoning state.

5. Thought Process section

Must record phase-oriented reasoning progression as structured checkpoints.

# 3. Thought Process\n## Phase: Task Decomposition\n1. [x] Decomposition Task A\n2. [ ] Decomposition Task B (In Progress)

Constraints:

• Use phase headers for replay readability.
• Progress markers should remain deterministic and diff-friendly.

6. Expression Buffer section

Must isolate generated artifacts from reasoning and material layers.

# 4. Expression Buffer

// Generated code

Constraints:

• Expression content must not be implicitly reclassified as material.
• Any promotion from expression to material requires explicit governance action.

7. Governance rules

• Snapshots are append-only records in Git history.
• Signature verification is an execution precondition.
• Unsigned or invalidly signed snapshots are non-executable in orchestration.

8. Validation checklist

• [ ] Required metadata keys present
• [ ] Section ordering is valid
• [ ] Material status is explicit
• [ ] Thought process phases are structured
• [ ] Expression is isolated
• [ ] Prompt signature is present and verified

9. Relationship with ROM (Relation-Oriented Markdown)

This specification defines the snapshot container; ROM defines semantic structure inside the container.

• SEMANTIC_SNAPSHOT_FORMAT: guarantees section ordering, governance metadata, and verifiability.
• ROM: guarantees relational expression through YAML, Headings, Bullets, and [[id]].

Operational rules:

• Body content in Material Quarantine and Thought Process may follow ROM.
• Snapshot top-level ordering (1..5) is governed by this specification.
• Non-ROM fragments should be treated as lower-trust even when quarantined.

10. Canonicalization and Semantic Hash Rules

To stabilize signatures and diff behavior, normalize the following before hashing.

• Heading numbering variance (# 1. ... vs # ...) is treated as equivalent.
• Bullet ordering can be order-insensitive when semantics are commutative.
• [[id]] links are compared as resolved identifier sets.
• Whitespace/newline/indentation formatting noise is ignored in hash inputs.

Fail-Closed:

• If normalized content does not match PromptSignature, execution is denied.
• If unresolved links (orphan IDs) exist in mandatory references, execution is halted.

References

• Semantic Context OS Vision
• Context Isolation Specification
• Attention Pollution Theory
• Material Quarantine Trust Model
• Design Intent

Changelog

• 2026-05-03 v0.0.0 Initial draft

Owners

• AIKernel Architecture Team
• v0.0.1 (2026-05-06): Version upgrade aligned with documentation guidelines