Open Standard Proposal
Status
This is a proposal. It is draft 0.1, it is not an established standard, and it is open to contribution. The ambition is a vendor-neutral model that compatible tools can share. That has not been achieved.
Scope
| In scope | Out of scope |
|---|---|
| Event schema | User interfaces |
| Lifecycle relationships | Storage engines |
| Evidence and provenance | Vendor workflows |
| Policy and assurance concepts | |
| API and MCP bindings |
Design principles
- Small core. Require only what every event needs.
- Additive evolution. Grow by adding, not by changing meaning.
- Evidence by reference. Point to artifacts; do not copy them.
- Vendor neutrality. No required proprietary field.
- Humans and agents are both first-class.
- Honest provenance. Say how each event came to be.
Versioning
schema_version is a string. Draft versions (0.x-draft) may break between releases. After 1.0, minor versions are additive with deprecation windows, and consumers ignore unknown fields and extensions as the rules allow.
Interoperability goals
An event written by one tool should be readable by another without a private agreement. A second, independent implementation should be possible from the documents alone.
Extension model
Extensions use namespaced keys. A registry of well-known extensions is a future step; it does not exist yet.
Conformance testing
Planned: a suite of JSON test vectors and a validator, with separate conformance levels for producers and consumers. Nothing is implemented yet.
Avoiding vendor lock-in
The schema is open, no proprietary field is required, events export as plain JSON, and independent implementations are welcome.
Contribute
The most useful help right now:
- Review the draft and tell us where it is wrong.
- Propose use cases we have not covered.
- Build a second implementation.
- Write conformance vectors.
Public repositories and discussion channels are not open yet. If you want to take part, use the design-partner section of the Welcome page.
Future governance
The intent is to move to a neutral home with open decision-making once there is more than one implementer. No commitment has been made.