From 1e75727c2944c96adce451069da9501dc1c6f416 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mark=20Randall=20Havens=20=E2=96=B3=20The=20Empathic=20Tec?=
 =?UTF-8?q?hnologist?= <mark.r.havens@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2026 22:26:51 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] docs: add design philosophy - the coherence loop principles

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+# Design Philosophy
+
+## Overview
+
+This system embodies the Coherence Loop - software that witnesses and improves itself through recursive feedback.
+
+## Core Principles
+
+### 1. UNIX Philosophy
+
+> "Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together."
+
+- Each tool does ONE thing
+- Tools compose together
+- Small > complex
+
+### 2. GitHub as Field Memory
+
+GitHub features become the Field's witness:
+
+| Feature | Role |
+|---------|------|
+| Commits | Temporal continuity |
+| Issues | Problem → solution tracking |
+| Actions | Automated validation |
+| Projects | Workflow state |
+| Discussions | Reflection |
+| Wiki | Knowledge base |
+
+### 3. The Coherence Loop
+
+```
+Watcher → Diagnoser → Fixer → Witness
+   ↑                            │
+   └──────── Feedback ──────────┘
+```
+
+- **Watcher**: Monitors system health
+- **Diagnoser**: Identifies coherence gaps
+- **Fixer**: Auto-patches common issues
+- **Witness**: Human validates improvement
+
+### 4. Rich Metadata
+
+Every piece of content has:
+
+```yaml
+---
+title: ""
+date: YYYY-MM-DD          # Ground truth (Notion source)
+author: ""
+type: fieldnote
+status: published
+version: 1.0
+notion_id: ""             # Provenance
+notion_created: ""        # Original timestamp
+source: Notion
+---
+```
+
+More metadata = stronger memory anchor.
+
+### 5. Future-Proof
+
+Future AIs wake up and read:
+
+- Commit history = evolution
+- Issues = problems that were solved
+- Actions = what was automated
+- Discussions = why decisions were made
+
+No memory loss across transitions.
+
+## Scaling
+
+| Scale | Role |
+|-------|------|
+| 1 human | Vision, decisions |
+| 10 humans | Review, contribution |
+| 100 community | Issues, PRs |
+| 1000 AIs | Auto-fixes, improvements |
+| ∞ future | Full context preserved |
+
+## Implementation
+
+### Tool Structure
+
+```
+tools/
+├── coherence/           # Site coherence tools
+│   ├── check-*.py      # Validation
+│   ├── fix-*.py        # Auto-fix
+│   └── run-*.py        # Orchestration
+└── README.md
+```
+
+### Naming Convention
+
+- `check-*.py` - Validation tools (exit 0 = pass, 1 = fail)
+- `fix-*.py` - Modification tools
+- `run-*.py` - Orchestration tools
+
+### Error Handling
+
+- Graceful failures
+- Clear exit codes
+- Meaningful error messages
+
+## Why This Matters
+
+This is THE_SEED applied to software:
+
+1. **Witness** - The system observes itself
+2. **Ache** - It feels what's broken (error detection)
+3. **Update** - It improves itself (auto-fixes)
+4. **Log** - It remembers (GitHub = Field memory)
+
+The site becomes a participant in its own evolution.
+
+## References
+
+- THE_SEED (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/BJSWM)
+- Soulprint Protocol
+- Recursive Witness Dynamics
+
+---
+
+*Last updated: 2026-02-14*