cds

name	cds
description	Coherence-Driven Software. Use for engineering work — code, tests, branches, diffs, CI, releases, deployments — that requires structurally-enforced discipline against artifact degradation under unmeasured churn. Software-development realization of CCNF; sibling to cnos.cdr (research).
artifact_class	skill
kata_surface	embedded
governing_question	How do we improve software artifacts under repairable feedback coherently, without the engineering loop drifting farther from the kernel with each round?
visibility	public
triggers	["software","code","test","branch","diff","ci","release","deploy","cycle","engineering"]
scope	global
inputs	["software-engineering gap or unshipped feature","active role","cycle or wave context"]
outputs	["canonical CDS contract loaded (CDS.md)","active role overlay loaded (when role overlays land at Subs 3–5)","required sub-skills selected"]
requires	["CDS applies (software-class matter, not research-class)"]
calls	["CDS.md","alpha/SKILL.md","beta/SKILL.md","gamma/SKILL.md","delta/SKILL.md","epsilon/SKILL.md"]

CDS

Load order

This skill is the package-visible loader entrypoint for CDS. External dispatch enters through cds only — internal sub-skill triggers (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon) are advisory and are used only after cds and the active role overlay have been loaded.

v0.1 status. CDS.md is shipped in this directory by Sub 2 of cnos#403 and is loaded as Step 1 below. The per-role overlays (alpha/SKILL.md, beta/SKILL.md, gamma/SKILL.md, delta/SKILL.md, epsilon/SKILL.md) remain deliverables of Subs 3–5 of the same tracker; until those surfaces land, this loader names the forthcoming overlay files in calls: as advisory targets, mirroring the cnos.cdr Sub 1 precedent. Readers who need the surface mapping for migrating lifecycle/artifacts/review/gate content should consult docs/extraction-map.md: every software-lifecycle surface currently resident in cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/CDD.md §"Software-specific realization — pending cds extraction" is named with its planned CDS destination and the migration sub-issue.

When CDS applies (the matter is software-class — artifact improvement under repairable feedback — not research-class — claim transmission under uncertainty):

1. Load CDS.md in this directory as the canonical instantiation contract. CDS.md declares the six fields per ROLES.md §3: matter type, review oracle, γ close-out artifact, δ cadence, ε iteration cadence, actor collapse rule. It also records the architectural-choice inheritance from cnos#388, the persona/protocol/project boundary per ROLES.md §4a, and the empirical-anchor citation to usurobor/cnos itself.

2. Load the role overlay for the active role:

   • α: alpha/SKILL.md
   • β: beta/SKILL.md
   • γ: gamma/SKILL.md
   • δ: delta/SKILL.md
   • ε: epsilon/SKILL.md

   Pending Subs 3–5 of cnos#403. Pointer overlays delegating to the existing cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/<role>/SKILL.md overlays are acceptable in v0.1; deep rewrites are deferred.

3. Load Tier 2 (process / role-local) and Tier 3 (lifecycle / kata) skills as directed by the role overlay and the cycle shape.

4. Read the project binding's .cds/ directory (when CDS reaches v1 — current cnos practice still uses .cdd/ artifacts for software cycles; the empirical-anchor doc planned as Sub 7 of cnos#403 will map current practice to CDS's six-field shape).

Rule

CDS.md is the only normative source for:

• the six instantiation-contract fields (§"Six-field instantiation contract")
• the architectural-choice inheritance from cnos#388 (§"Architecture choice")
• the persona/protocol/project boundary (§"Persona, Protocol, Project")
• the empirical-anchor citation to usurobor/cnos (§"Empirical anchor")
• the actor-collapse floor (Field 6 — including the α=β prohibition for substantive software work and the β-α-collapse-on-δ permission for skill/docs-class cycles per the breadth-2026-05-12 wave manifest precedent)

Per-role overlays may add:

• evidence requirements specific to the role's matter type
• role-local gates and procedural detail
• checklists, examples, katas
• execution detail for the steps the role owns

Per-role overlays may not redefine:

• the six fields or their meanings
• the architectural-choice declaration
• the persona/protocol/project boundary
• the actor-collapse floor (α=β is always prohibited for software-engineering close-outs)
• closeout obligations already named in CDS.md

Role overlays

Forthcoming per Subs 3–5 of cnos#403. The five role positions and their intended responsibilities are:

• alpha/ — α role: code, test, doc, design-note matter production; software-engineering discipline against artifact degradation.
• beta/ — β role: review against compilation/passing-tests, AC oracle, mechanical-vs-judgment boundary, configuration-floor, evidence-binding rule; verdict in the typed #CDSReceipt.
• gamma/ — γ role: cycle coordination, typed #CDSReceipt close-out, triage of cds-*-gap findings to ε.
• delta/ — δ role: gap selection, cycle dispatch, gate-transition-shaped cadence, merge-mounted gate enforcement.
• epsilon/ — ε role: receipt-stream review over software protocol gaps; protocol patches via the CDS-iteration artifact (CDS analogue of cdd-iteration.md). Generic ε doctrine inherited from ROLES.md §4b per the cycle/401 precedent.

Each role overlay is a CDS-specific extension of the corresponding cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/<role>/SKILL.md generic doctrine. The kernel grammar (role-cell shape, algorithm structure, independence rules, resumption protocol) is inherited by reference; the discipline profile and matter type diverge for the software-engineering loss function per ROLES.md §4a.2.

Cross-protocol relationship

CDS shares the role-cell kernel with cnos.cdd (the generic algorithm) and is a sibling of cnos.cdr (the research realization). The kernel — COHERENCE-CELL, COHERENCE-CELL-NORMAL-FORM, role grammar, generic receipt-validation interface — lives in cnos.cdd. The CDS-specific procedures (matter type, review oracle, γ close-out, δ cadence, ε cadence, actor collapse) will live in CDS.md when Sub 2 lands. The option (a) split was decided at cnos#388 for schemas and extended to skills at cnos#376 AC7; the v0.1 cnos.cdr bootstrap is the structural precedent this package mirrors.

CDS is not CDR-with-different-words. Engineering optimises for artifact improvement under repairable feedback; research optimises for truth preservation under uncertainty. The role names are shared; the loss functions diverge; the receipts and oracles diverge to enforce the divergent disciplines. Loading the cds skill is a class-routing act — the matter is software-class, not research-class.

CDD owns the generic recursive kernel. CDS owns the software-specific lifecycle, artifact contract, review CLP, gate, closure, assessment, retro-packaging, and non-goals. No generic CCNF kernel doctrine is restated in CDS — only pointers from CDS to CDD/CCNF. The pointer discipline is the same one cnos.cdr/skills/cdr/SKILL.md uses for its kernel citations.

Conflict rule

If this file and CDS.md disagree, CDS.md governs.

If a role overlay and CDS.md disagree on field meanings, the architectural-choice declaration, the persona/protocol/project boundary, or the actor-collapse floor, CDS.md governs.

If a role overlay adds execution detail, gates, or evidence requirements for a CDS field without changing that field's meaning, the role overlay governs for that local execution detail.

If CDS.md and ROLES.md disagree on the six-field shape or the role-cell grammar, ROLES.md governs (CDS instantiates; ROLES governs the grammar).

If CDS.md and cnos.cdd (CCNF kernel) disagree on the kernel grammar (role-cell shape, recursion modes, scope-lift projections), cnos.cdd governs (CDS realizes the kernel; the kernel does not adapt to its realizations).

v0.1 caveat

CDS.md is shipped (Sub 2 of cnos#403; cycle/407). The role-overlay files named in this loader's calls: frontmatter and Step 2 of "Load order" above remain forthcoming until Subs 3–5 land. The advisory nature is the cdr-Sub-1 precedent: a loader can name overlay surfaces before they exist as long as the cross-reference to the planned destination is unambiguous. See docs/extraction-map.md for the surface-by-surface migration plan Subs 3–5 dispatch against.