DOI Canon Interface
The DOI Canon Interface defines how knowledge artifacts graduate from provisional reference to durable canon. It exists to preserve signal, prevent premature authority, and ensure that what persists has survived stress, translation, and failure awareness.
Canon is not prestige. It is earned survivability.
Purpose of the Canon Interface#
The canon interface exists to:
- Prevent fragile ideas from hardening into authority.
- Preserve validated knowledge across generations.
- Enable citation without freezing inquiry.
- Separate persistence from popularity.
Canonization is a structural decision, not a reputational one.
What Canon Means in This Model#
Canon refers to artifacts that:
- Have survived cross‑regime stress testing.
- Remain coherent under scale and translation.
- Explicitly document failure modes.
- Preserve reversibility and legibility.
- Continue to function without enforcement.
Canon does not imply completeness or finality.
DOI as Interface, Not Authority#
A DOI is used here as an interface layer, not a declaration of truth.
The DOI:
- Anchors a stable reference point.
- Enables long‑term citation.
- Preserves lineage and version history.
- Signals readiness for external use.
The DOI does not confer correctness. It confers traceability.
Canon Admission Criteria#
An artifact may be considered for canon when it:
- Demonstrates invariant alignment.
- Survives RTT evaluation.
- Documents known failure modes.
- Remains minimally sufficient.
- Has been human‑curated after AI‑assisted review.
Failure to meet any criterion delays canonization.
Human Curation Requirement#
Canon decisions require human judgment.
Humans are responsible for:
- Interpreting context.
- Assessing regime translation.
- Evaluating ethical implications.
- Deciding when not to canonize.
AI may assist, but cannot authorize canon.
Canon Is Not Permanent#
Canon artifacts remain subject to:
- Re‑evaluation.
- Contextual adaptation.
- Supersession by better structures.
- Explicit deprecation when necessary.
Persistence is conditional on continued coherence.
Failure Mode#
Canon interfaces fail when:
- Prestige replaces evaluation.
- Popularity substitutes for survivability.
- Authority freezes inquiry.
- Revision becomes taboo.
At that point, canon becomes dogma.
The DOI Canon Interface exists to protect the future from premature certainty.
What enters canon should do so quietly —
and remain useful long after its creators are gone.