Self-Describing Architecture

Kind: principle

Layer: Declarative Core

Record: architecture:self-describing-architecture

Severity: contextual

Scope: system, runtime, integration

Canonical: Ontology

A design rule that each module declares its name, version, capabilities and requirements in metadata that tools and the runtime can read.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Standardization and before Self-Describing API.

Requires

• Metadata
• Capability Declaration

Reinforces

• Discoverability
• Runtime Discovery

Enables

• Plugin Architecture
• Automation

Conflicts with

• Hidden Runtime Behavior

In tension with

• Metadata Drift

Tensions

• Self-Describing Architecture / Metadata Drift

Violated by

• Hidden Runtime Behavior

Refactored by

• Manifest-Based Design
• Declare Capability
• Schema Validation

Severity

• contextual

Category

• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems

Enforced by

• runtime/entrypoints/invocation.entrypoint.ts

Linked from

• The drop-in
• Derived state
• A system is a graph
• Runtime Discovery / Dynamic Binding
• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems
• Plugin / Extensibility / IoC
• Core Vocabulary
• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems
• Quality Attributes
• Severity levels
• The resolutions

in this codebase

• ANATOMY
• ONTOLOGY
• VOCABULARY
• core/assets
• anatomyChapter