info-tech-canon/CODING_AGENT_BOOTSTRAP.md

Coding Agent Bootstrap: info-tech-canon

Mission

Establish the practical repository implementation for info-tech-canon based on the existing seed artifacts and the markdown-first infospace/tooling direction.

The repository is intended to become the canonical markdown-first knowledge and standards space for InfoTechCanon.

---

Current Conceptual State

The current InfoTechCanon structure distinguishes:

kernel/
  InfoTechCanonCore.md
  InfoTechCanonKernelMap.md

models/
  information-space/
  landscape/
  organization/
  governance/
  task/
  access-control/
  security/
  data/
  devsecops/
  network/
  observability/

standards/
  tagging/
  caring/

profiles/
patterns/
mappings/
assimilation/
schemas/
views/
agent/
examples/
validation/

Core principle:

Kernel = how the canon works.
Models = broad domain structures.
Standards = cross-cutting conventions or named analytical/design frameworks.
Profiles = concrete implementation constraints.
Patterns = reusable practical solutions.
Mappings = alignment to external bodies of knowledge.
Assimilation = structured digestion of external knowledge.

---

First Implementation Goal

Create a clean repository scaffold that can host the existing Markdown seed documents and support future automation.

Do not over-engineer. Start with file layout, manifests, validation stubs, and repeatable commands.

---

Expected First Commit

Create or verify:

README.md
INTENT.md
SCOPE.md
canon.yaml

kernel/
models/
standards/
profiles/
patterns/
mappings/
assimilation/
schemas/
views/
agent/
examples/
validation/

Add placeholder README.md files in empty directories so Git tracks structure.

---

File Placement Rules

Use this placement:

kernel/InfoTechCanonCore.md
kernel/InfoTechCanonKernelMap.md

models/information-space/InfoTechCanonInformationSpaceModel.md
models/landscape/InfoTechCanonLandscapeModel.md
models/organization/InfoTechCanonOrganizationModel.md
models/governance/InfoTechCanonGovernanceModel.md
models/task/InfoTechCanonTaskModel.md
models/access-control/InfoTechCanonAccessControlModel.md
models/security/InfoTechCanonSecurityModel.md
models/data/InfoTechCanonDataModel.md
models/devsecops/InfoTechCanonDevSecOpsModel.md
models/network/InfoTechCanonNetworkModel.md
models/observability/InfoTechCanonObservabilityModel.md

standards/tagging/InfoTechCanonTaggingStandard.md
standards/caring/InfoTechCanonCaringAccessGovernanceStandard.md

---

Initial Automation Targets

Create minimal scripts or Make targets for:

make validate
make index
make tree
make agent-briefs

Initial implementations may be simple stubs that check file existence and generate basic views.

Recommended early scripts:

scripts/validate_structure.py
scripts/generate_views.py
scripts/check_links.py
scripts/extract_frontmatter.py

---

Initial Schemas

Start with lightweight YAML/JSON schemas for:

schemas/standard.schema.yaml
schemas/concept.schema.yaml
schemas/mapping.schema.yaml
schemas/profile.schema.yaml
schemas/assimilation.schema.yaml
schemas/interface-card.schema.yaml
schemas/agent-brief.schema.yaml
schemas/caring-access-descriptor.schema.yaml

Schemas may begin minimal. Prefer useful incremental validation over completeness.

---

Initial Generated Views

Generate or maintain:

views/kernel-overview.md
views/by-standard.md
views/by-concept.md
views/by-profile.md
views/by-mapping-target.md
views/refactoring-checklist.md

Generated files should include a note:

<!-- generated: do not edit manually -->

unless they are curated manually.

---

Important Guardrails

Do not redefine domain concepts while implementing repository tooling.

Do not collapse:

Organization Role
AccessRole
CARING Canonical Role

Do not collapse:

Actor
Subject
Principal

Do not collapse:

Policy
Control
Evidence

Do not collapse:

Dataset
DataStore

Do not collapse:

Artifact
Release
Deployment
Runtime State

Do not collapse:

Network Intent
Network Policy
Network Configuration
Observed Network State

Do not collapse:

Alert
Incident

Do not treat tags as substitutes for canonical fields, relationships, policies, or evidence.

---

CARING Placement

CARING is a specialized standard, not just an Access Control profile.

Use:

standards/caring/InfoTechCanonCaringAccessGovernanceStandard.md

Namespace:

itc-caring

CARING should later get:

standards/caring/agent-brief.md
standards/caring/concepts/
standards/caring/profiles/
standards/caring/mappings/
standards/caring/benchmarks/
standards/caring/examples/
standards/caring/validation/

First CARING benchmark candidate:

Kubernetes RBAC

---

Recommended First Task Sequence

1. Create repository tree.
2. Add INTENT.md, SCOPE.md, and canon.yaml.
3. Place all seed Markdown files in the correct directories.
4. Add directory-local README.md placeholders.
5. Add basic validation script checking:
   • required top-level files,
   • required directories,
   • files referenced in canon.yaml,
   • missing agent briefs.
6. Add basic view generator for views/by-standard.md.
7. Add Makefile.
8. Add initial schemas.
9. Add CARING benchmark directory.
10. Commit as: seed repository scaffold.

---

Preferred Style

Keep implementation boring and inspectable.

Use:

Python for scripts
YAML for manifests and schemas
Markdown for human-facing docs
Makefile for repeatable local commands

Avoid introducing heavy dependencies before the basic repository structure works.

---

Acceptance Criteria for Initial Implementation

The initial implementation is acceptable when:

make validate

can verify:

• required files exist,
• required directories exist,
• all manifest paths resolve,
• standards/models are placed in the expected structure,
• generated views can be created or refreshed,
• missing optional artifacts are reported as warnings, not failures.

---

Next After Scaffold

After the scaffold works:

1. Create machine-readable concept ownership index.
2. Extract concept pages from seed standards.
3. Create agent briefs per standard.
4. Create mapping skeletons.
5. Create formal CARING assimilation workspace.
6. Add link validation.
7. Add front matter validation.
8. Add retrieval/chunk manifest generation.