Ref-003: AEnvironment Rewrite Strategy & Risk Register

Overview

This document outlines the strategy for rewriting the AEnvironment runtime around SEA™ Services (Semantic Core, Knowledge Graph, Projections). It details the high-leverage risks and how we exploit/mitigate them.

Core Strategy

“Semantic First Platform”: The runtime does not own state; it materializes state from the Semantic Core.

• Input: SEA™ DSL definition of an Environment.
• Process: Semantic Core validates -> Emits SemanticChangeEvent -> Projections generate artifacts.
• Output: Running Environment + Knowledge Graph Nodes + Compliance Reports.

Risk Register

1. Semantic Core as Tier-0 Dependency

Risk: Semantic Core outage blocks all deployment/work. Exploit: Forces strict discipline; single source of truth prevents “forked reality.” Mitigation:

• Local-First CLI: Deterministic CLI that can validate/project from a pinned, signed semantic bundle without network calls to the service.
• Bundle Caching: Content-addressed bundles (hash = AST).
• SLOs: High-availability design for read paths.

2. Projection Pipeline Brittleness

Risk: Projections (DSL -> Config) fail or lag, stalling releases. “The Glass Factory Problem.” Exploit: Projections act as Regression Tests for Meaning. A projection failure indicates a semantic breaking change. Mitigation:

• Deterministic Projections: Input AST -> Output Bytes must be pure functions.
• Golden File Tests: “Projection Contracts” tracked in git.
• Retry Queues: Durable event handling for logic that depends on external state.

3. Bidirectional Isomorphism Consistency

Risk: “Equilibrium Thrash” where Code and DSL endlessly try to update each other. Exploit: Use reverse reconciliation as Observability (Drift Radar) rather than auto-merge. Mitigation:

• One Writer Principle: Only DSL creates truth initially.
• Proposals Only: Reverse events generate PRs/Comments, never commits.
• Semantic Diff Review: Human-in-the-loop gating for significant changes.

4. Determinism Hazards

Risk: Non-determinism (HashMaps, ordering) breaks trust and caching. Exploit: “Same Semantics -> Same Output” becomes a core auditable feature. Mitigation:

• Ordered Maps: Enforce stable ordering in all generic data structures.
• Canonical Serialization: sea fmt and sea normalize in CI.

5. Multi-Language Drift

Risk: Rust Core logic diverges from Python/TS bindings. Exploit: Centralized logic in Rust guarantees consistency if enforced. Mitigation:

• Unified Tests: just all-tests runs suites across all languages.
• Generated Bindings: No hand-rolled logic in bindings; thin wrappers only.

6. Governance Velocity Killers

Risk: Strict “Inconsistency Blocks Deployment” rules slow iteration. Exploit: Governance is the “Enterprise Moat.” Mitigation:

• Severity Tiers: “Warn” for dev namespaces, “Block” for prod.
• Fast Feedback: < 5min latency target for full validation.
• Actionable Errors: sea explain provides fix suggestions.

Implementation Sequence

1. Semantic Core (Rust) + CLI: Establish the parser, validator, and deterministic graph model.
2. One-Way Projections: Build the “DSL -> Config” path first. Validate with Golden Tests.
3. Governance Gates: Integrate Semantic Diff and Policy Checks into CI.
4. Event Model: Implement SemanticChangeEvent bus and async projection workers.
5. Reverse Reconciliation: Add “Drift Detection” sensors (read-only) before enabling any write-back.