Advisory
AI produces outputs; humans make every decision; the substrate captures the lineage.
Decision Lineage Protocol (DLP)
The grammar of governed decision-making.
Open governance infrastructure: the structural layer that turns model prediction into governed, traceable, reversible decisions. Every consequential move carries its lineage.
19Primitives10Invariants5Tiers4Truth types
Read the Specification →§ 1 How a decision moves
Three stages of trust, one lineage.
AI participates in governance in graduated stages — but it never modifies the authoritative record. Every AI output carries its truth type, source, and confidence; the substrate captures the lineage at each stage.
Staging
AI proposes actions; humans review and promote; both the proposal and the decision are recorded.
Human-confirmed routing
AI routes within delegation bounds; humans review by exception.
§ 2 What it is
A structural layer, not a model.
The Decision Lineage Protocol names the connective tissue between raw prediction and consequential organizational decisions — 19 structural primitives, 10 behavioral invariants, a five-tier architecture, and a four-type truth system — so decisions are traceable, constrained, and epistemically rigorous, not merely statistically coherent. It is runtime-agnostic: it governs the decision, whatever produces it.
§ 3 The nineteen structural primitives
The irreducible functions a governed decision composes from.
INTTier 1
intentThe expressed objective that motivates a governance action.CMTTier 1
commitmentFormal acceptance of responsibility toward an objective.CAPTier 1
capacityVerified resources available to execute work.WRKTier 1
workAn executable unit with defined inputs, process, and outputs.EVDTier 1
evidenceAn artifact that supports, refutes, or contextualizes a claim.DECTier 1
decisionA choice point where options are evaluated and one is selected.AUTTier 1
authorityA delegated right to make binding decisions within a scope.ACTTier 1
accountThe persistent record of governance state: who, what, when, outcome.CSTTier 1
constraintA rule that applies universally, regardless of who invokes it.IDNTier 2
identifierThe addressing primitive: unique reference and addressability.ENTTier 2
entityThe ownership primitive: governed objects mapped to actors.CTXTier 2
contextSituational framing — temporal, spatial, and relational.NSPTier 2
namespaceThe scoping primitive governing concept definitions across scopes.ORITier 3
orientationA pre-decisional stance integrating signals and experience.LRNTier 3
learningThe mechanism converting dissonance into structural change.ACVTier 3
activationA pre-kinetic readiness state for governance action.ITPTier 4
interpretationThe agent/human handoff for meaning resolution under uncertainty.EIFTier 4
environment-interfaceThe boundary primitive: substrate awareness of external systems.CYCTier 5
cycleThe temporal governance pattern for periodic structures.§ 4 The five-tier architecture
The whole set, banded by what a substrate must implement.
Tier 1
Irreducible core
Always required — cannot be removed, merged, or derived.
INTintentThe expressed objective that motivates a governance action.
CMTcommitmentFormal acceptance of responsibility toward an objective.
CAPcapacityVerified resources available to execute work.
WRKworkAn executable unit with defined inputs, process, and outputs.
EVDevidenceAn artifact that supports, refutes, or contextualizes a claim.
DECdecisionA choice point where options are evaluated and one is selected.
AUTauthorityA delegated right to make binding decisions within a scope.
ACTaccountThe persistent record of governance state: who, what, when, outcome.
CSTconstraintA rule that applies universally, regardless of who invokes it.
Tier 2
Unconditional infrastructure
Required for any substrate — the core can't be instantiated without it.
IDNidentifierThe addressing primitive: unique reference and addressability.
ENTentityThe ownership primitive: governed objects mapped to actors.
CTXcontextSituational framing — temporal, spatial, and relational.
NSPnamespaceThe scoping primitive governing concept definitions across scopes.
Tier 3
Governed operation
Required once governance maturity exceeds basic capture.
ORIorientationA pre-decisional stance integrating signals and experience.
LRNlearningThe mechanism converting dissonance into structural change.
ACVactivationA pre-kinetic readiness state for governance action.
Tier 4
AI-native extensions
Required for AI participation; unnecessary in purely human systems.
ITPinterpretationThe agent/human handoff for meaning resolution under uncertainty.
EIFenvironment-interfaceThe boundary primitive: substrate awareness of external systems.
Tier 5
Operational configuration
Required for temporal governance legibility across substrates.
CYCcycleThe temporal governance pattern for periodic structures.
§ 5 The ten behavioral invariants
The structural rules a conformant system must hold.
B1Work requires commitmentEvery work instance links to exactly one commitment.
B2Commitment requires capacityEvery commitment links to at least one capacity allocation.
B3Evidence requires a truth typeEvery evidence instance carries exactly one truth-type classification.
B4Decision requires accountEvery decision links to exactly one account context.
B5Authority must be traceableAuthority chains terminate at a root with verifiable delegation.
B6Constraint binds primitivesEvery constraint targets primitives with a specified enforcement mode.
B7All objects are flaggableEvery primitive class exposes a signal-attachment surface.
B8Signals route to authorityEvery signal routes to an authority on the object's chain.
B9Emergence creates a decisionEvery resolved investigative query produces a decision or work item.
B10AI output requires human reviewPromoting derived content to declared or authoritative requires human action.
§ 6 The truth type system
Every claim graded by how it is known.
Declared
A human assertion of best current understanding; versioned.
Derived
AI-generated, in staging — never canonical without human promotion.
Opaque
Behind an inspection boundary — impenetrable to governance.
The specification.
The complete Decision Lineage Protocol specification — thirty-plus sections, from irreducible primitives through governance activation and the SDK workbench — is maintained in the GrytLabs governance substrate. A browsable spec reader lands with the next revision.
Read the Specification →