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ARVIS Kernel Adapters

Status

  • Scope: Architecture (Extension Layer)
  • Position: Post-IR / Runtime-adjacent (non-cognitive)
  • Implementation frontier (2026-08, campaign STRUCT LOT S1): the canonical signal factory and the timeline projection are the implemented layer. The IR-to-canonical rule engine this document used to specify (orchestration entrypoint, mappers, rule system, semantic fingerprinting) was never wired into the runtime and has been removed from the tree; its specification lives in this file's git history and can be revived the day an external signal kernel actually consumes it.

1. Purpose

The kernel adapter layer keeps the boundary between cognition and external signal systems deterministic. What exists today:

  • a closed-world canonical signal registry: only registered canonical signals can be constructed, unknown signal codes raise;
  • a signal factory that constructs canonical signals against the registry (allowed states, allowed origins, deterministic defaults);
  • a timeline projection that turns a signal journal into a timeline snapshot for observability.

This layer performs no cognition. It projects already computed outputs into constrained external representations; the IR remains the source of truth.

2. Structure

arvis/adapters/kernel/
│
├── __init__.py                # bootstrap: registers canonical signals
│
├── signals/
│   └── signal_factory.py      # registry-validated construction
│
└── timeline_from_signals.py   # SignalJournal -> TimelineSnapshot

The canonical signal contract itself (keys, categories, specs, registry) lives in arvis/signals/canonical/.

3. Bootstrap

Importing arvis.adapters.kernel registers the canonical signal specs exactly once (bootstrap_kernel_adapters). The registry is closed-world after bootstrap: the factory rejects any signal code the registry does not know.

4. Signal Factory

SignalFactory resolves the spec for a signal code from the registry and enforces it:

  • unknown signal codes MUST raise;
  • states and origins are validated against the spec's allowed sets;
  • identifiers and timestamps are runtime metadata, generated at construction and excluded from any semantic comparison.

Given identical semantic inputs, the factory produces signals whose semantic payloads are identical; only runtime identity (IDs, timestamps) may differ.

5. Timeline Projection

signal_journal_to_timeline_snapshot projects a SignalJournal into a TimelineSnapshot:

  • entries are ordered by a lamport counter derived from journal order, never by wall clock;
  • a signal without signal_id is refused (no anonymous timeline entries);
  • a missing timestamp falls back to a STABLE epoch value, never to "now", so replaying a journal yields the same snapshot.

6. Design Constraints (for any future extension)

Anything added to this layer MUST:

  • stay post-pipeline and read-only with respect to IR;
  • be semantically deterministic (runtime metadata excluded);
  • comply with the closed-world registry;
  • introduce no scoring, prioritization, or interpretation beyond explicit rule conditions.

The removed rule-engine specification (in git history) remains the reference design if an IR-to-canonical mapping layer is ever needed again; it MUST come back together with a consumer, not ahead of one.