docs(architecture): ADR-0004 — engine anchor files as instructions spine#582
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…pine Captures the pattern that emerged from PR #577 (gender anchor) and PR #581 (wow anchor): - Every engine domain subfolder has exactly one anchor file -- its single clear entry point. - Two anchor flavours, picked by what the axis is: position-anchor (HOLD: Has/Orders/Loses/Drives) for axes the room *reads* statically on the persona process-anchor (IDLE: Initiated by/Direction/Lever/Echo) for axes that *happen* dynamically - The anchor enumerates its expressions in prose (with sibling links) so zip-deployed readers can navigate the axis without the README (engine READMEs are excluded from shipped zips by scripts/build_zips.py). - engine/stack/instructions.md is the registry: every anchor is declared there with an invocation mode -- "global" (every persona, e.g. language, stress, gender, wow) or "per-khai-type" (when a specific khai entity is in scope, e.g. group, org, adoption). Status: Proposed. The implementation work to update instructions.md with the full engines registry is left as Open follow-up #1 -- this ADR documents the contract; the registry update is a separate culture/engine PR. The pattern is architecture-relevant at the khai-spine level (a KAIHACKS concern), not Cultures-specific. Open follow-up #4 calls for mirroring the contract in KAIHACKS' ARCHITECTURE.md so other khai projects inherit the same engine-entry pattern. Files: docs/architecture/adrs/0004-engine-anchor-as-instructions-entry.md NEW docs/architecture/README.md +1 line (added ADR-0004 to the ADR index table) Refs: #577 (gender precedent), #581 (wow precedent), engine/org/ process_operate_org.md (existing process-anchor convention).
This was referenced May 27, 2026
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What
New ADR capturing the architectural pattern that emerged from #577 (gender anchor) and #581 (wow anchor): every engine domain subfolder has one anchor file, which is the entry point
engine/stack/instructions.mdplugs into.Files
docs/architecture/adrs/0004-engine-anchor-as-instructions-entry.mddocs/architecture/README.mdThe decision in one block
One anchor per engine axis. Every
engine/<axis>/carries exactly one anchor file. The integration layerengine/stack/is exempt.Two flavours:
position_<axis>.mdprocess_<verb>_<axis>.mdAnchor enumerates expressions in prose (sibling links), so zip readers can navigate without the README (READMEs are excluded from shipped zips).
instructions.mdis the registry — every anchor declared with mode:Why this ADR
Until now the pattern was implicit. Three problems:
instructions.mddrift — only 5 of 7 engines were declaredscripts/build_zips.pyexcludes them)This ADR makes the contract explicit so future axes follow it by default.
What this PR does NOT do (Open follow-ups in the ADR)
instructions.mdwith the full engines registry — separateculture/enginePR (follow-up chore: switch PDF engine from pdflatex to weasyprint #1)## Anchorsections in the existing READMEs that already have entries but no formal## Anchorframing (adoption/language/stress/org/group) — separateculture/enginePR (follow-up fix: add NRW and Ruhrdeutsch culture files #2)engine/*/to assert exactly one anchor per axis — separate governance PR (follow-up chore: trigger PDF build on release #3)ARCHITECTURE.mdat the khai-spine level — separate KAIHACKS PR (follow-up feat: per-platform engine instructions (claude, copilot, gemini) #4)Relationship to KAIHACKS
The pattern is khai-spine-level architecture, not Cultures-specific. This ADR documents the Cultures-side concrete instance; the KAIHACKS-side abstract spec is follow-up #4. Other khai projects building on the same spine inherit the same engine-entry contract.
Verification
docs/architecture/README.md✅Refs: #577, #581
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