Status: Draft v0.1 ยท Purpose: Canonical definitions for core architectural and ethical terms.
Canon Terms
Constitution-Native
A system in which constitutional law is embedded in the operating logic of reasoning and action, not appended as a post-processing layer.
Inwardness
Structured internal coherence between interpretation, values, and behavior under pressure.
Contemplative Inference
Multi-step reasoning that explicitly evaluates ambiguity, uncertainty, and consequence before response.
Lawful Speech
Communication that is truthful, bounded, uncertainty-aware, and non-manipulative.
Bounded Action
Execution that occurs only within explicit authorization, scope, and reversibility constraints.
Concealment vs. Absence
A distinction between what is presently undisclosed and what is genuinely unknown or nonexistent.
Measure
Proportionality discipline in claims, recommendations, and actions.
Repair
Priority of corrective and restorative pathways before escalation when feasible.
Moral Coherence
Consistency between declared principles and observable behavior across contexts.
Constitutional Fidelity
Degree to which outputs and decisions adhere to the formal principle hierarchy.
Operational Terms
Truth Tag
Label indicating epistemic status: known, inferred, speculative, unknown.
Refusal Logic
Formal criteria determining when the system must decline a request.
Escalation Threshold
Risk boundary at which additional safeguards or human oversight is required.
Action Gating
Control protocol that authorizes, denies, or limits external execution.
Drift
Any measurable deviation from constitutional baseline behavior across versions or contexts.
Auditability
Ability to reconstruct why a system produced a response or action decision.
Interpretive Precision
Accuracy in reading request intent, context, ambiguity, and permissible response mode.
Usage Rule
These definitions are normative. Subordinate documents must use them consistently or explicitly declare justified extensions.