The host node starts in its ROM (entry 12), and the boot feeds it the system's source through the console: capsules/v4/sys/map-64.f18, the fourteen .f18 blobs and end.f18, each found, hash-checked and signature-checked as any capsule, then EOT. The ROM assembles the system and starts it at (IDLE); the host reads the image record (v4_image_from_node) for what only the assembled system knows. A ROM error is reported with its blob, line and meaning, then PARITY:FAIL. Deleted: v4/tools/mkimage.c, capsules/v4/nucleus-64.f18, v4/capsule/*.v4, v4/tools/v4tof18.py. The .f18 files are the source now. - text.c speaks the rest of the ROM's language (set, here, store, start; v4_text_value, v4_text_start), so the oracle reads the same source: test_host_rom_nucleus compares the ROM against text.c on the .f18 files, word for word, image record included. Host tests load the .f18 files. - mkmap image writes v4_map_image (the map's description of the system); hosted and the kernel link the ROM and the map instead of v4_image_64.c. - Hera (Captain Bob's ruling, option 1): births stream the system the ROM assembled, as assembled code; hera.4th is unchanged. test_host_unit's host builds the system with the ROM. - New parity lines: PARITY:V4_F18 per blob, PARITY:V4_ROM words=2049 rom_hash=0xa6c792b5821010b7 instructions=60725216. Acceptance: amd64, aarch64, riscv64 boot to ok> with PARITY:V4_POST tests=538 pass=538 fail=0, POST: PASSED, and PARITY:V4_SYSTEM word_count=317 dict_hash=0xe5a57f3eb72ff94a on all three -- the same hash as the prebuilt nucleus gave. make -C v4 test test-32 hosted-check: all pass. Logs: logs/20261015-141648, -141938, -142350. Startup cost under QEMU TCG, the ROM's assembly (last V4_F18 line to V4_ROM): amd64 26.7 s of 132 s to ok>; aarch64 41.0 s of 195 s; riscv64 20.5 s of 101 s. Hosted native: +0.85 s. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
StarForth / LithosAnanke documentation — the map
Start here. This page says where each kind of document lives and which one to believe. Reorganised 2026-10-14 (the docs triage): one place for current reference, one archive for everything kept as record, and every superseded or abandoned document labelled as such in its own header.
- INDEX.md — every document in the repository, with its status.
- DEAD-AND-REVISED.md — the ideas that were abandoned, and the claims that were revised, each with the date and where the decision is recorded.
- DELETE-CANDIDATES.md — what was deleted as duplicate, and why (2026-10-14).
What to believe
| For | Authoritative | Where |
|---|---|---|
| How to work in this repo, and current status | .claude/CLAUDE.md |
repo root |
| What was decided, and why; work as it happened | the FABRIC record | fabric/ — FABRIC-3.md is the living one |
| StarForth v4 (the F18-derived engine) | the v4 design | v4.0.0/ and ../v4/README.md |
| Roadmap and release-versioning policy | ROADMAP.md |
reference/ |
| Getting onto the boards | the bring-up checklist | ../boards/BRINGUP.md |
| A word, a primitive, a term | the dictionaries and the ontology | reference/ |
| What the code does | the code, and its folder's README.md |
../kernel/, ../v3/, ../v4/ |
Where two documents disagree, the one higher in this table wins, and code wins over all.
Layout
- fabric/ — the design and work record, numbered in order.
FABRIC-3.md(bare-metal boot and everything since) is open; the others are closed:- FABRIC-0, -1 and -2 are history;
- FABRIC-3.5 and -3.6 are the Tripod/kernel reshuffle, still authoritative for what they ruled;
- FABRIC-3.7 (elevation) is closed as not needed;
- FABRIC-4 holds ideas caught early, not yet scoped.
- v4.0.0/ — StarForth v4: justification, engine, decomposition, nucleus, mesh,
parity with v3.
plans/holds the step plans, all executed. - reference/ — current reference material:
ROADMAP.md(roadmap and the ratified versioning policy);M7.1.md(init capsules and birth);word-acl/(the word-level ACL design);kernel-args/(the boot command line);hosted-acceptance-test/;DICTIONARY.mdandSTARFORTH_PRIMITIVES.md(the words);ONTOLOGY.md(the lexicon);L8_ADAPTIVE_CONFIG_TABLE.md.
- working/ — living material and the source for
formal/:architecture/(design notes and HOWTOs);experiments/(DoE designs and campaign data);papers/(academic sources, the system narrative, proposals);hardware/,specifications/andscratch/;archive/, which has four parts:historical/: finished work, kept as record;superseded/: replaced, and each file's header names what replaced it;dead/: abandoned or never adopted;- the older
legacy/,quality/,operations/,research/andsession-logs/.
- formal/ — the press-ready LaTeX tier (three volumes, books, standalone
reports). Governed by
formal/CLAUDE.md. - book/ — the LithosAnanke and StarForth book build.
- pptx/ — slide decks for different audiences.
- patent/ — provisional patent material. Legal hold: ask Captain Bob before
touching anything here (also
formal/patent/,formal/scraps/legal/,working/legal/).
Adding a document
- Draft in
working/; promote toformal/when it is ready to be cited (formal/CLAUDE.md). Reference material that describes the system as it is goes inreference/. - When a document is overtaken, do not delete it:
git mvit intoworking/archive/superseded/ordead/with a header saying why and what replaces it, and add a line toDEAD-AND-REVISED.md. - Rules for documentation work: CLAUDE.md.