← Values Commons

The Weave — the ontology as a graph (v0 spec)

*The converged design from the rhizome brainstorm: the navigable commons re-formed from a tree into a
rhizome — one sourced values-graph, many lenses, cross-platform, no center. This is the buildable v0.
G1 is shipped (engine v0.10 + a passing proof); G2–G4 are sequenced below. 2026-06-29.*

The realization that makes it buildable

The graph already exists — implicitly. Lenses are node-sets; content/ontology.json is the
taxonomic edges; KEY2THEME + the values spine are the value-edges; the passport is a traversal
bias. So v0 is not a database and not a rewrite — it is four small things: make the implicit graph
explicit in a pure function, add one sourced edge-file, add node URIs + external IDs, and ship
computed analogy (which needs zero new data because it reuses the spine). One vertical slice proves all
three threads — metaphor · cross-platform · uncapturable — at once.

Schema (a superset of what already exists)

Node — a lens entity with an address and outbound IDs; existing fields ride in untouched:

{ "id": "ovs:phones/fairphone-5",        // stable URI: ovs:<category>/<code>
  "kind": "entity", "label": "Fairphone 5", "domain": "Tech & digital", "category": "phones",
  "scores": {…}, "provenance": {…},        // unchanged lens data
  "ids": { "wikidata": "Q…", "off": "…", "schema": "Product" } }   // NEW, optional, sparse-ok

Edge — its own forkable file (a new lens type), so it federates by the machinery you already have:

// content/edges/<shard>.json   format: "open-values-edges" v0.1
{ "edges": [
  { "from":"ovs:phones/fairphone-5", "rel":"alternative-to", "to":"ovs:phones/iphone-15", "source":"…" },
  { "from":"ovs:org/nestle", "rel":"parent-of", "to":"ovs:brand/kitkat", "source":"…", "asof":"2026" },
  { "from":"ovs:phones/fairphone-5", "rel":"analogous-to", "to":"ovs:clothing/patagonia",
    "note":"the Patagonia of phones", "computed":true } ] }

v0 edge types: alternative-to (swaps) · parent-of/owned-by (who's really behind it) ·
analogous-to (the metaphor). Every asserted edge carries a source — receipts on links. Identity is
the human URI for linking + lensHash for integrity (git's refs-vs-commits, applied to knowledge).

Engine primitives — v0.10, shipped (G1)

Pure, Node-testable, built on-device from CC_BUNDLE + the edges file. In app/engine.js:

theme). Only themes with data appear — never faked.

(the computed "X of Y"), nearest-first with a resemblance 0–100, labelled computed. Reuses signature
— the same cross-domain projection as the passport spine.

stay in the lenses, so it scales over ~19k entities. sigDistance underlies the analogy with an honest
overlap floor (no comparison on too little shared ground).

Proof: research/graph_test.js — 12/12. "The Patagonia of phones"
computes from values alone; the low-values phone resembles fast fashion; no analogy is forced across thin
overlap. The architecture's riskiest claim is a passing test.

The metaphor engine

your shared values"* with a confidence from the distance — never an authoritative claim; a sourced edge can
override a computed one.

["candidate","brand"]] }` — names the roles so the system can explain and translate a stance (the spine
already does the translation).

Cross-platform (a mapping file, not an endpoint)

✅ shipped (G2). engine.WEAVE_CONTEXT maps ovs relations → web vocabularies (`parent-of → schema:parentOrganization /
wdt:P749, made-by → schema:manufacturer, alternative-to → schema:isSimilarTo`). Any node then **exports
as JSON-LD** (web-citable), and resolve(extId) joins inbound from OFF/Wikidata. The Commons-widget pattern
makes a single verdict-node embeddable anywhere. CC becomes the values overlay on the open-data web —
no server, just shared identifiers.

Uncapturable (it federates exactly like facts already do)

✅ shipped (G2). mergeGraph is mergeLens generalized: merge edges by (from, rel, to), with provenance,
dedupe, and a baseHash flag — content-addressed by edgesHash, the same contract the federation suites guard. Content-addressed, sharded by
domain/region, lazy-loaded per the existing pattern. No new trust model, no center, works offline. A
community can fork the Weave, add sourced edges, and pass the file — knowledge that federates like a patch.

What v0 ships — and what it deliberately doesn't

Ships: the explicit graph + computed analogy (G1 ✅) · node URIs + sparse external IDs · a small sourced
edges.json (alternatives + ownership for ~2 flagship categories) · **one additive UI surface: a
"Connections" panel** on the product detail — Alternatives · Who owns it · Resembles · Elsewhere. Additive,
calm, no IA rework.
Does NOT (yet): the Garden skin, full graph visualization, community-authored indexes, wormholes UI, a
sourced edge for every entity. Fast-follows, not v0.

Risks, named & mitigated

instantly, zero new sourcing) + a tight, real ownership set; frame the rest with the ontology's honest
"growing" pattern.

not touch navigation.

worded as a suggestion by shared values, not a fact.

Build sequence (each phase = one real artifact, gated, never crosses the line)

graph_test.js (12/12). No UI. The de-risker.

dedupe, provenance, baseHash flag), the JSON-LD @context + toJSONLD (a node exports as web-citable
linked data), the seed app/edges.json (banking alternatives + a sourced ownership edge), and the panel's
graceful org-target rendering — all proven in graph_test.js (21/21). *(Expanding the edge DATA across
categories = Codex's content lane; the format + merge + context = the standard, shipped.)*

shape of values the two share (drawn as the sigil), with a "Save as a card" button on the top Resembles
result, rasterized by the existing downloadCardPNG. The conceptual-map format (the vote example above) is
specced for the engine's explain/translate; the shareable card is G4's shipped artifact. **The Weave v0
(G1–G4) is complete** — think · spread · connect · share, all on no server.

(engine.indexMatch/runIndex + the forkable open-values-index file + the #indexes builder — anyone
authors their own "things strong on my values" slice, saved/run/exported/forked, no official taxonomy, no
server) · cross-instance wormholes ✅ (engine.twinOf — a CC entity becomes a passport, carried through
the spine into another instance, returning its values-twin there; surfaced in the Connections panel as
"Through the standard." Proven: *Triodos Bank's twin in the world of learning is the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy*, via people + openness). The deeper rhizome is now real end-to-end; what remains is deploy (a
second live instance makes wormholes a walkable journey) and Codex edge/lens data population.

Naming (owned by principle)

The Rhizome = the architecture. The Weave = the sourced edge-graph (open-values-edges). User-facing,
stay humane and literal: "Connections" and "Resembles." The poetics live here; the buttons stay plain.