discipline-governance

name	discipline-governance
description	Use when: formalizing, routing, validating, promoting, or retiring an Arcanum discipline so a recurring cross-capability practice gets a card, catalog entry, and a hardening route without claiming sigil or spell authority.
argument-hint	<scan|formalize|route|validate|promote|deprecate> <practice-or-discipline-id> [--status <status>] [--evidence <path>] [--dry-run]
tier	arcana
domain	discipline-governance
version	0.2.2
origin	created from the disciplines layer (catalog, card template, schema, catalog validator) which had no owning lifecycle sigil; promoted to 0.2.0 on 2026-06-21 after the 3-regime experiment harness (low=gitignore, medium=receipt-id-legend, complex=scan+curation), telemetry emission, and a reflection pass; 0.2.1 applied the two reflection-named iterations (public/private candidate tagging in scan/route; active-pattern cross-sigil evidence rule in validate); 0.2.2 adds local-first routing for consuming-repository evidence before public Arcanum promotion
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash, AskQuestions, Task

Sigil: Discipline Governance

Turn a recurring cross-capability practice into a governed Arcanum discipline: an evidence-backed discipline card, a catalog entry, and a named hardening route, while keeping the disciplines layer a catalog authority rather than a promotion surface for sigils, spells, or knowledge. Arcana: long-lived governance of method-level practices across context selection, evidence, routing, validation, and promotion. - `scan`: find recurring or hidden practices that appear across multiple capabilities and propose candidate disciplines. **Each candidate is tagged `public-safe` or `private-parent` with a named target catalog** (public arcanum vs a private umbrella catalog); a practice tied to private composition must never be routed into the public catalog (v0.2.1). - `formalize`: turn one practice into a discipline card and a catalog row, default status `candidate`, written to the target catalog named by the candidate's `public-safe | private-parent` tag. - `route`: decide the hardening move for a discipline (catalog-only, template, validator, constitution, spell, or sigil) and hand off to the owning lifecycle. The route never moves a `private-parent` discipline into the public catalog (v0.2.1). - `validate`: run the catalog validator and check a card against the discipline schema, returning pass, flag, or block. **An `active-pattern` (or higher) discipline must cite at least one evidence ref OUTSIDE its own owning sigil; a card whose evidence is only its own sigil README is a thin one-per-sigil pointer and stays `candidate`** (v0.2.1). - `promote`: raise a discipline's status when the next route names owner, evidence, validation surface, and mutation boundary. - `deprecate`: retire a discipline with rationale and a superseding route. Use this sigil when:

• a practice recurs across multiple sigils, spells, or framework documents and has no formal home,
• scattered rules for one practice are causing drift, rework, or confusion,
• a discipline card or catalog entry must be created, corrected, or kept schema-valid,
• a discipline needs a hardening decision (constitution, validator, template, spell, or sigil),
• a discipline's status should advance or retire with named evidence,
• the discipline catalog must be validated after edits.

Do not use this sigil when:

• the practice is a one-off task, not a durable cross-capability method,
• a capability-local note inside one sigil or spell is enough,
• the request is to mutate a sigil, spell, registry, ontology, or glossary contract (route to that owner),
• the request is to author the enforceable constitution itself (route to constitution-governance after the discipline names that route),
• the request is to define a canonical term (route to definitions-governance).

Expected inputs, if available:

• a candidate practice name or an existing discipline_id,
• evidence paths where the practice already appears,
• the current catalog disciplines/DISCIPLINES.md,
• any consuming-repository local discipline catalog or governance guidelines,
• the card template disciplines/templates/discipline-card.md,
• the schema disciplines/discipline.schema.yml,
• prior scan output under disciplines/development/,
• a desired status or hardening route.

Discipline Governance owns the disciplines layer: cards, the catalog, scan evidence, routing decisions, and status changes.

• constitution-governance owns constitutions. When a discipline's hardening route is a constitution, this sigil names the route and hands off; it does not author the constitution itself.
• definitions-governance owns canonical terms a discipline depends on.
• inventory and context-builder supply source-backed evidence; their evidence stays non-authoritative until an owner promotes it.
• decision-gate resolves blocker-level promotion, precedence, or scope decisions.
• sigil-development owns this sigil's own lifecycle, observability, and reflection.

A discipline may recommend a route, but it must never directly promote registry, ontology, glossary, sigil, or spell knowledge.

Prefer target-local outputs. When the evidence comes from a consuming repository, check that repository for a local discipline catalog or governance surface before writing to the public Arcanum catalog. If no local catalog exists and the practice is repository-specific, create or recommend the local discipline first; promote a generalized Arcanum discipline only after the local rule is clear and reusable beyond that repository.

Default output paths:

1. disciplines/cards/<discipline-id>.md for a discipline card,
2. a single row in disciplines/DISCIPLINES.md for the catalog entry,
3. disciplines/development/ for scan evidence and routing notes,
4. arcana/discipline-governance/development/ for this sigil's own development artifacts.

Do not author constitutions, validators, or sigils inline; name the route and hand off to the owning lifecycle.

1. Resolve the target: a candidate practice (for `scan`/`formalize`) or an existing `discipline_id` (for `route`/`validate`/`promote`/`deprecate`). 2. Classify the mode. If no mode is given, infer the smallest mode that satisfies the request and state the inference. 3. Gather evidence. A discipline needs at least one concrete repository reference. Confirm the maintenance signal: the practice appears across multiple capabilities, already has scattered rules, or has caused drift, rework, or confusion. Tag the candidate `public-safe` or `private-parent` and name its target catalog (v0.2.1). Apply local-first routing before public promotion: if the evidence is from a consuming repository, inspect or create that repository's local discipline surface first, then generalize to Arcanum only when the practice is product-neutral and reusable beyond that repository. 4. For `formalize`, write a card from `disciplines/templates/discipline-card.md` with: status, steward, purpose, boundary, evidence refs, quality bar, and promotion guardrail. Add one catalog row to the target catalog (local repository catalog, public `disciplines/DISCIPLINES.md`, or the private umbrella catalog for a `private-parent` discipline) matching the required columns. Default status is `candidate`. 5. For `route`, choose the smallest sufficient hardening move and name its owner: - catalog-only when the card is enough, - template when the practice needs a reusable shape, - validator when the practice can be checked deterministically, - constitution when the practice enforces structure or form (hand off to `constitution-governance`), - spell or sigil only when the practice needs executable lifecycle behavior. 6. For `validate`, run the catalog validator and check the card against the schema. Report pass, flag, or block with the failing rule. Additionally flag any `active-pattern`-or-higher discipline whose evidence is only its own owning sigil (a thin one-per-sigil pointer): it must cite cross-capability evidence outside that sigil or be downgraded to `candidate` (v0.2.1). 7. For `promote`, apply the Growth Rule: raise status only when the next route names owner, evidence, validation surface, and mutation boundary. Route blocker-level decisions through `decision-gate`. 8. For `deprecate`, mark the discipline `deprecated`, cite the rationale, and name the superseding route. 9. Preserve the layer boundary in every mode: do not mutate capability-local contracts and do not treat discipline evidence as canonical knowledge. 10. Validate the result (catalog validator, schema, local Markdown links, product-neutral wording) and return paths changed, status, route, and next step. A discipline has a named purpose, a boundary, evidence, a steward, a maturity status, and a next hardening move.

Status ladder:

• candidate: useful practice exists, authority and validation still being proven,
• active-pattern: already used by active capabilities, but the discipline-level contract is not canonical,
• implemented: working repository support exists, may still need discipline-level rules,
• canonical: accepted framework authority with validator or constitution support,
• deprecated: superseded or withdrawn.

Growth Rule: promote a discipline only when the next route names its owner, evidence, validation surface, and mutation boundary.

Map each discipline to the smallest sufficient hardening route:

Route	Use when	Owner
catalog-only	the card captures the practice and no enforcement is needed yet	Discipline Governance
template	the practice needs a reusable shape	the template's host capability
validator	the practice can be checked deterministically	tools/ plus the rule's owner
constitution	the practice enforces structure or form across artifacts	constitution-governance
spell or sigil	the practice needs executable lifecycle behavior	spellcraft or sigil-development

A discipline can hold more than one route over time, but each route names a separate owner.

Every discipline card declares one validation mode, matching the schema:

• prose-review: human or model review only,
• validator: a deterministic script or check enforces it,
• fixture: example-backed checks enforce it,
• observability: usage signals confirm it,
• mixed: a combination.

Run python3 disciplines/scripts/validate-discipline-catalog.py after any catalog edit. A card that claims a validator mode must cite an existing validator or be blocked until one exists.

A successful execution must:

• produce or update an evidence-backed discipline card and a schema-valid catalog row,
• cite at least one concrete repository reference for the practice,
• prove the target catalog decision, including local-first handling for consuming-repository evidence,
• name the steward and the next hardening move,
• choose the smallest sufficient route and hand off enforcement to the owning lifecycle,
• keep discipline guidance separate from capability-local authority,
• pass the catalog validator and resolve all local Markdown links,
• route blocker-level promotion or scope decisions through decision-gate,
• return paths changed, status, route, and next step.

Avoid:

• cataloging a one-off task as a durable discipline,
• formalizing a practice with no concrete evidence,
• promoting a repository-specific discipline directly to public Arcanum before checking or creating the consuming repository's local discipline surface,
• letting a discipline promote a sigil, spell, registry, ontology, or glossary entry,
• authoring a constitution, validator, or sigil inline instead of naming the route,
• claiming a validator mode with no validator behind it,
• raising status without owner, evidence, validation surface, and mutation boundary,
• editing the catalog without running the catalog validator.

For meaningful executions, emit or prepare telemetry with:

• mode,
• target discipline id,
• target catalog and local-first decision,
• card created or updated,
• catalog row added or changed,
• route chosen and owner,
• status before and after,
• validator result,
• decision gates required,
• pass, flag, or block result.

Return:

## Discipline Governance Result

- Mode: <scan | formalize | route | validate | promote | deprecate>
- Target discipline: <id or candidate>
- Status: pass | flag | block
- Card: <path or none>
- Catalog row: <added | changed | none>
- Route: <catalog-only | template | validator | constitution | spell | sigil>
- Status change: <none or before -> after>
- Validator result: <pass | flag | block | not-run>
- Decisions needed: <none or list>
- Validation: <checks and result>
- Next route: constitution-governance | decision-gate | sigil-development | task-session | deferred

Created from the existing `disciplines/` layer (catalog, card template, schema, and catalog validator), which had no owning lifecycle sigil. Generalized into an Arcana governance sigil that formalizes, routes, validates, promotes, and retires disciplines without claiming sigil or spell authority.