metadata-governs-lifecycle-across-read-and-write-paths
IN derived (depth 3)
Node lifecycle state carried in metadata actively governs both mutation behavior (retracted nodes skipped during truth propagation, sticky retraction surviving recompute) and inspection behavior (staleness checking skips OUT nodes, compact surfaces stale reasons) — a single metadata mechanism controls the system's complete operational surface.
Summary
The system uses one unified mechanism — metadata on each node — to control everything that happens to that node, whether the system is reading it or changing it. This matters because it means there is no split between "what the system knows about a node" and "how the system treats that node"; retraction, staleness, and propagation all flow from the same source, eliminating an entire class of inconsistency bugs where read behavior and write behavior could disagree.
Justifications
SL — Write-path governance (depth-2) and read-path governance (depth-2) share the same metadata fields, making lifecycle a unified cross-cutting concern rather than two independent implementations.
Antecedents (all must be IN):
- metadata-actively-governs-truth-propagation — Lifecycle state carried in node metadata (retraction flags, stale reasons) is not passive storage but actively governs truth propagation behavior — retracted nodes are skipped during BFS traversal and trigger nodes are never recomputed — ensuring that the universal extension mechanism directly controls truth maintenance rather than merely recording state
- lifecycle-awareness-spans-checking-and-propagation — Both read-only inspection and mutation-driven propagation respect node lifecycle consistently: staleness checking skips OUT nodes and never mutates state, while propagation skips retracted nodes and preserves trigger identity — lifecycle state is honored across the system regardless of whether the operation is read or write.
Dependents
These beliefs depend on this one:
- metadata-provides-extensible-lifecycle-governance — Node metadata is simultaneously the universal extension mechanism for network state (carrying all structured lifecycle properties with consistent audit tracking) and the active governor of truth propagation behavior across both read and write paths — retracted and stale nodes are skipped in propagation and staleness checking respectively, driven by the same metadata fields.