Bounded Combinatorial Systems (BCS) is a reusable philosophy for constructing systems from stable definitions, explicit bindings, visible constraints, authorized resolution, preserved trace, and audience-safe projections. The Bounded Combinatorial Design Language (BCDL) is its mechanical notation and record vocabulary.
This README is an orientation surface. PHILOSOPHY.md and MECHANICAL_LANGUAGE.md are the canonical philosophical and language specifications; registries point to canonical artifacts rather than replacing them.
Separate meanings. Bind explicitly. Resolve causally. Preserve trace. Project safely.
DEFINE → BIND → VALIDATE → RESOLVE → COMMIT → TRACE → PROJECT
- DESIGNED: BCS, BCDL, semantic topology, connection protocol, promotion process, and conformance method.
- IMPLEMENTED: the repository topology, contracts, registries, read-only bindings, conformance fixtures, validators, deterministic compiler, tests, and CI definition.
- TESTED: only the checks recorded in
PROJECT_STATE.mdand the foundation pass report. - VALIDATED: nothing in the intended cross-project design workflow yet.
The conformance fixtures are designed examples with structural tests. They are not evidence that BCDL improves real implementation work.
| Need | Canonical location |
|---|---|
| Philosophy and non-goals | PHILOSOPHY.md |
| Mechanical language | MECHANICAL_LANGUAGE.md |
| Filesystem authority | REPOSITORY_TOPOLOGY.md |
| Promotion and decisions | GOVERNANCE.md |
| Honest maturity | PROJECT_STATE.md |
| Universal concepts | grammar/ |
| Project-local mappings | bindings/ |
| Lawful/invalid examples | compositions/ |
| Connected repositories | registry/repositories.json |
| Read-only connection rules | integrations/CONNECTION_PROTOCOL.md |
| Chronological evidence | docs/pass-reports/ |
BCS reads pinned public evidence and records typed interpretive mappings. It does not install, own, or modify connected projects. Periodic Semantic Grammar remains a semantic substrate reference; Design Flow remains an independent governance system; domain projects retain their local vocabulary and authority.
PUBLIC REPOSITORY @ PINNED SHA
→ READ-ONLY EVIDENCE
→ LOCAL BCS BINDING
→ CONFORMANCE / COMPARISON
-/-> EXTERNAL MUTATION
Python 3.12 and the standard library are sufficient for ordinary validation.
python tooling/validate_repository.py
python tooling/compile_projections.py --check
python -m unittest discover -s tests -vRemote drift is an explicit, networked, non-mutating check:
python tooling/check_remote_baselines.pyInstall the repository-managed hooks once per checkout:
python tooling/install_local_guardrails.pyThe pre-commit guard fetches the branch's configured remote and blocks the commit that would make local HEAD more than two commits ahead of its upstream. Missing upstream configuration, an unavailable remote, a detached HEAD, or an unverifiable ahead count blocks the commit rather than relying on stale information. Push the existing local commits and retry. Like every client-side Git hook, it can be bypassed deliberately with Git's --no-verify option; the guardrail protects the normal commit path rather than claiming an unbypassable policy.
BCS is not a runtime dependency, universal ontology, game engine, replacement for Periodic Semantic Grammar or Design Flow, or source of authority over another repository. A BCS binding is interpretive unless its connected project explicitly adopts it. No license has been selected; that legal choice remains unresolved.