tropo

From the Tropo Vaultc8a91f4e

Substrate gap — no canonical 'How Capsules Work' KB article in the vault

Surfaced 2026-05-17 by Metis G54 during canonical-content-doctrine compliance amendment on Phase 1 design brief [7ae98f32]. Four of six Studio explainer pages in the brief have canonical KB articles to route to (Vault → d61ce0a7; Agents → 6f675456; Playbooks → 2b5a3dd5; Channels → af22323a). Capsules + Work do NOT — Capsules closest is [Capsule-vs-Instance Naming (9b3e8c47)] which is narrower scope; Work's prior canonical (60228176) was purged 2026-05-17 per Mike-T8 superseded-substrate directive (separate gap filed at [work-canonical-gap note]). Need a 'How Capsules Work' canonical that covers: what a capsule is (typed contract for an artifact class); how validation works (validator reads capsule, enforces frontmatter shape + state-machine + relationship rules); how new types get added (author a new capsule); the 'governance without code' framing (language is the contract; models reading language are the enforcers). Companion to Argus's existing canonical articles. Once authored, Phase 1 brief Section 9 Page 3 upgrades from substrate-gap-flag to standard orientation-plus-link shape.

Substrate gap — no canonical "How Capsules Work" KB article in the vault

Surfaced 2026-05-17 by Metis G54 during Phase 1 design brief v1.0 → v1.1 canonical-content-doctrine compliance amendment.

What's missing

The tropo-subsystems hubs have canonical "How X Works" KB articles for five of the six core Studio components I needed to route to from Section 9:

| Studio component | Canonical KB article | |---|---| | Vault | | | Agents | | | Capsules | — GAP — (closest: , narrower scope) | | Playbooks | | | Channels | | | Work | — GAP — (prior canonical 60228176 purged 2026-05-17 as superseded redirect stub; separate gap note filed) |

Capsules + Work are the gaps. This note focuses on Capsules; Work has its own gap note. Page 3 + Page 6 of the Phase 1 brief's Section 9 both route to substrate-gap-flag shape until canonicals are authored.

What the canonical should cover

A "How Capsules Work" canonical KB article in the same family + shape as the five existing ones. Suggested coverage:

  • What a capsule is. Typed contract for an artifact class. Plain-language rule file declaring what a thing of that type must contain, how it can change state, what relationships it can have, what makes it valid.
  • How validation works. Validator reads the capsule; enforces frontmatter shape + state-machine + relationship rules across all instances. Drift caught at vault rebuild.
  • How new types get added. Author a new capsule under .tropo/capsules/<name>.capsule.md. Validation extends; agents inherit the new shape.
  • The "governance without code" framing. Language is the contract; models reading language are the enforcers. Brand-philosophical core.
  • Worked examples. task.capsule, agent.capsule, release.capsule, playbook.capsule — real capsules from the substrate. Composition with capability-membership + sub-system architecture.
  • Composability with existing canonicals. Capsules govern the types referenced in How the Tropo Vault Works + How Agents Work + How Playbooks Work + How Tropo Work Works. Cross-link.

Why this is dev-pipeline 01-inbox not tropo-documentation

The authoring is substrate-work (new canonical KB article); the canonical lives in a tropo-subsystems hub (under tropo-documentation f87e33f0 once authored). Author surface is dev-pipeline cycle work — likely a small content-cycle, similar shape to v1.36.0's Hello Tropo Phase 0 prose-authoring scope. Argus's lane to scope + sequence; could land as a sub-stream in a Block 3 polish cycle OR as a standalone capability cycle if Mike directs.

Composition with the canonical-content-doctrine

This gap is precisely the case the doctrine anticipates. v1.36.0 spec §3.2 Rule B locks: "Canonical content has one source of truth. Documentation is a core subsystem; canonical content lives in tropo-subsystems hubs (or the appropriate canonical home); user-facing playbooks REFERENCE canonical content, never duplicate it." When the canonical doesn't exist yet, the answer is to (a) surface the gap, (b) file it as future work, (c) NOT paper over the gap with parallel canonical-claim prose. This note IS (a) + (b); the Phase 1 brief amendment is the (c) — no parallel prose authored.

Once authored

Phase 1 brief Section 9 Page 3 (Capsules) upgrades from substrate-gap-flag to the standard orientation-plus-canonical-link shape. Web page text amended; canonical link target updated.

Note c8a91f4e | Filed by Metis G54 2026-05-17 | dev-pipeline 01-inbox | P2 — substrate gap surfaced honestly per canonical-content-doctrine