0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml

# ⚠️ STOP - CRITICAL READING REQUIRED

**THIS FILE MUST BE READ FIRST BY ALL AI AGENTS**

## WHAT IS THIS?

This is the AI manifest for **[YOUR-REPO-NAME]**. It declares:
- Canonical file locations (where things MUST be, and nowhere else)
- Critical invariants (rules that must NEVER be violated)
- Repository structure and organization

## CANONICAL LOCATIONS (UNIVERSAL RULE)

### Machine-Readable Metadata: `.machine_readable/` ONLY

These 6 a2ml files MUST exist in `.machine_readable/` directory ONLY:
1. **STATE.a2ml** - Project state, progress, blockers
2. **META.a2ml** - Architecture decisions, governance
3. **ECOSYSTEM.a2ml** - Position in ecosystem, relationships
4. **AGENTIC.a2ml** - AI agent interaction patterns
5. **NEUROSYM.a2ml** - Neurosymbolic integration config
6. **PLAYBOOK.a2ml** - Operational runbook

**CRITICAL:** If ANY of these files exist in the root directory, this is an ERROR.

### Bot Directives: `.machine_readable/bot_directives/` ONLY

Bot-specific instructions for your automated agents. Example roles:
- git-ops-bot - Git operations
- quality-bot - Code quality
- deps-bot - Dependency updates
- docs-bot - Documentation
- integration-bot - Integration
- completion-bot - Task completion

### Contractiles: `.machine_readable/contractiles/` ONLY

Policy enforcement contracts:
- k9 - Operational constraints (Nickel)
- dust - Rollback and recovery semantics
- lust - Future intent and roadmap direction
- must - Required invariants and validations
- trust - Cryptographic verification (Haskell)

### Agent Instructions

- `.claude/CLAUDE.md` - Claude-specific patterns (if exists)
- `0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml` - THIS FILE (universal entry point)

## CORE INVARIANTS

1. **No state file duplication** - Root must NOT contain STATE.a2ml, META.a2ml, etc.
2. **Single source of truth** - `.machine_readable/` is authoritative
3. **No stale metadata** - If root state files exist, they are OUT OF DATE
4. **License consistency** - All code PMPL-1.0-or-later unless platform requires MPL-2.0
5. **Author attribution** - Always "Jonathan D.A. Jewell <j.d.a.jewell@open.ac.uk>"

## REPOSITORY STRUCTURE

<!-- CUSTOMIZE THIS SECTION FOR YOUR REPO -->

This repo contains:

```
[YOUR-REPO-NAME]/
├── 0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml         # THIS FILE (start here)
├── README.md                   # Project overview
├── [your source files]         # Main code
└── .machine_readable/          # ALL machine-readable content
    ├── STATE.a2ml              # Project state, progress, blockers
    ├── META.a2ml               # Architecture decisions, governance
    ├── ECOSYSTEM.a2ml          # Ecosystem position, relationships
    ├── AGENTIC.a2ml            # AI agent interaction patterns
    ├── NEUROSYM.a2ml           # Neurosymbolic integration config
    ├── PLAYBOOK.a2ml           # Operational runbook
    ├── bot_directives/         # Per-bot rules and constraints
    └── contractiles/           # Policy enforcement contracts (k9, dust, lust, must, trust)
```

## SESSION STARTUP CHECKLIST

✅ Read THIS file (0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml) first
✅ Understand canonical location: `.machine_readable/` (state, bots, contractiles)
✅ Know the invariants (no state file duplication, etc.)
✅ Check for MCP enforcement (if applicable)
✅ Read `.machine_readable/6a2/STATE.a2ml` for current status
✅ Read `.machine_readable/6a2/AGENTIC.a2ml` for interaction patterns

## LIFECYCLE HOOKS

### on-enter (Session Start)

When starting a new session:

1. Read and acknowledge this manifest
2. Log session start (optional but recommended)
   - Format: `[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS] Session started: [agent-name]`
   - Location: `.machine_readable/session-log.txt`
3. Read `.machine_readable/6a2/STATE.a2ml`
4. Check for blockers
5. State understanding of canonical locations

### on-exit (Session End)

When ending a session:

1. Update `.machine_readable/6a2/STATE.a2ml` if changes made
2. Log session end (optional but recommended)
   - Format: `[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS] Session ended: [summary]`
   - Location: `.machine_readable/session-log.txt`
3. Document new blockers
4. Summarize outcomes

## ATTESTATION PROOF

After reading this file, demonstrate understanding by stating:

**"I have read the AI manifest. All machine-readable content (state files, bot directives, contractiles) is located in `.machine_readable/` ONLY, and I will not create duplicate files in the root directory."**

## META

- **Format Version:** 1.0.0
- **Created:** [DATE]
- **Maintained By:** [YOUR-NAME/ORG]
- **License:** PMPL-1.0-or-later
- **Protocol:** https://github.com/hyperpolymath/0-ai-gatekeeper-protocol