# Reference

> Condition operators, the standard library patterns used by the reference organizations, diagnostics, and the files of the reference toolchain.

Canonical: https://endoskeletal.com/reference/
Last updated: 2026-09-28

## Conditions

| Form | True when |
| --- | --- |
| `holds p` · `false p` | p's operative claim has status T · F |
| `unknown p` · `contradicted p` | status N (no evidence, or expired) · status B |
| `holds pv.cost(r) <= 500 USD per month` | the claim holds and its value compares; dimensions must match |
| `occurred E(x) by P` | a valid event matching E exists; binds x |
| `count E over 30 d >= 3` | valid matching events within 30 d of now (clock time) |
| `since E > 30 days` | elapsed clock time since the latest matching event; N if none |
| `within 2 business-days: C` | C becomes true by the deadline (calendar-resolved) |
| `violated commitment of N for x` | a commitment detached from N for x passed its deadline unmet |
| `breached N` · `in-force N` · `gap _` | a prohibition's aim held · N is enacted and not repealed · a requirement is unsatisfied |
| `self is ag.Autonomous` | a kind claim about the acting principal |
| `status(r) = T` · `bound(r)` | a realization's satisfaction status · it is bound |
| `exists x : Entity . C` | over finite projections at the evaluation index |

## Deontic lines

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| `obligation of P to Q` | detaches a commitment from P to Q when the condition holds |
| `prohibition on P` | breached when the aim holds; fires or-else |
| `permission of P` | P is free to act; may have no aim |
| `power of P to decide \| authorize \| appoint \| bind \| amend … about X` | P's acts of that type count. Institutional verbs only (`E-FAMILY`) |
| `immunity of P from amend \| bind … about X` | no power can be used to that effect against P |
| `counts-as E as V` | an event of shape E is the institutional act V |

Modifiers: `level operational | collective | constitutional`, `source …`, `priority superior | specialis | posterior | explicit`, `or-else N`, `not tradeable`, `not defeasible`.

## Library patterns

| Pattern | Expands to |
| --- | --- |
| `gov.Constitution(founders, amendBy, board, quorum, delay)` | Recognition, Amend (board votes over 14 d + delay), AmendCollective, Vote, Appoint, Dismiss, Admit, Propose, Engine powers, Materialize, CompilerDelegation, Entrenched, NoSelfAmend, and the DurableRecord / Clock / Entropy requirements |
| `gov.Freeze(except)` | prohibition on the Engine dispatching commitments not arising from `except` |
| `gov.Proposal(kind, approver, deadline, escalateTo)` | Decide power, Route duty with deadline, Escalate |
| `gov.ReviewedProposal(…, reviewer, …)` | as Proposal, but the decide power requires the reviewer's `gov.Reviewed` claim |
| `org.Approval(approver, subject, threshold, deadline, escalateTo)` | Power, Duty, Escalation, and a Gate prohibiting execution before approval |
| `fin.Budget(scope, resource, limit, reserve, window, orElse)` | Limit and Guard prohibitions sharing one or-else |
| `fin.SpendTier(holder, subject, limit)` | decide power conditioned on amount; stack tiers for a delegation matrix |
| `fin.ForecastCadence(holder, term, cadence, deadline)` | obligation to derive a forecast each period; revisions never overwrite |
| `ev.TrustPolicy(source-kind, base, promote-when, vocab)` | information rule: base status for claims from that source kind |
| `ev.Reaffirm(holder, term, cadence, deadline)` | obligation to re-evidence or consciously lapse decaying claims |
| `ev.ContestResolution(owner, vocab, deadline)` | every contested condition gets an owner and a deadline |
| `rz.RealizationEnvelope(holder, requirement, operation, admissible)` | power to authorize an external operation when `admissible` holds |
| `rz.Failover(holder, requirement)` | power to bind active any bound realization with status T |
| `rz.ExperimentPower(holder, pattern, budget, duration)` | power to constitute sandbox experiment scopes within budget and time |
| `rz.Reconsider(holder, on, deadline)` | obligation to propose when any trigger condition holds |
| `rz.GapAging(holder, after)` | every gap must be closed, risk-accepted or amended within `after` |
| `rz.Crystallize(holder, requirement, promoteBy)` | Shadow, Promote (collective, needs ShadowAgreement ≥ 0.95), Envelope obligation |

Party kinds in `lib.agents`: `Autonomous`, `Program`, `ModelBased`, `Simulator`, `ExternalKnowledgeBase`. Architecture capability kinds live in `endoskel.architecture.{web, data, messaging, identity, secrets, observability}`.

## Diagnostics

| Code | Sev. | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `E-INCOMPLETE` | E | required field missing; use `unspecified` to leave it open on purpose |
| `E-DIM` · `E-CURRENCY` | E | dimension mismatch · currencies compared without a conversion claim |
| `E-THRESHOLD-UNIT` | E | a rate threshold written with `/` instead of `per` |
| `E-FAMILY` | E | a power names a non-institutional verb |
| `E-LEVEL` | E | a power enacts above its own level |
| `E-AMBIGUOUS` · `E-VERSION` | E | name resolves through two imports · declared version bump too low |
| `E-FREEZE-COVERAGE` | E | a freeze would stop a non-tradeable obligation |
| `E-WEIGHTED-NONTRADEABLE` | E | a non-tradeable norm appears in a weighting |
| `E-ARCH-PRODUCTION` | E | a research position holds a production bind or authorize power |
| `W-UNKNOWN-BRANCH` | W | a four-valued condition with no norm for its unknown case |
| `W-NO-AUTHORITY` | W | an external operation no power in scope can authorize |
| `W-SINGLE-POINT` | W | cardinality-1 position with no deputy holding exclusive powers or non-tradeable duties |
| `W-OVERLAPPING-POWER` | W | two powers cover the same act with no declared priority |
| `W-CLOCK-RESOLUTION` | W | a deadline finer than the clock's granularity |
| `U` | U | undecidable before runtime: property satisfaction, temporal intents |
| `CHAIN` · `AUTHORITY-MATRIX` · `IMMUNITY` | I | chain of recognition per norm · powers per position · what each immunity constrains |

## Reference toolchain

| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `esk/parser.py` · `compiler.py` | source → IR-D; pattern expansion with `expandedFrom`; verbalization |
| `esk/checker.py` · `checker_ext.py` | static checks, chains, authority matrix, immunities |
| `esk/engine.py` · `incremental.py` | the log, felicity, status fixpoint, commitments, gaps; dependency-indexed evaluation (byte-identical to the naive engine) |
| `esk/packages.py` · `knowledge.py` | package resolution and `endoskel.lock`; knowledge-bundle intake |
| `sim/harness.py` · `projection.py` | run manifest, discrete-event clock, checkpoints; frontier and admissibility projections |
| `sim/determinations.py` | determination store, surrogate models, the distiller and its envelope |
| `tools/frontier.py` · `provenance.py` · `rebuild.py` · `divergence.py` · `differential.py` | frontier questions · why/authority queries · replay verification · counterfactual divergence · engine equivalence |