Six Primitives
Reference table for the six fixed protocol primitives. Authoritative contract: .nimi/spec/platform/core-protocol.authority.yaml and rule family P-PROTO-*.
The Six
| Primitive | Rule | Carries |
|---|---|---|
| Timeflow | P-PROTO-100 | Progression, timing, temporal meaning |
| Social | P-PROTO-101 | Relationships, social graph semantics |
| Economy | P-PROTO-102 | Value, exchange, economic state |
| Transit | P-PROTO-103 | Movement between worlds or contexts |
| Context | P-PROTO-104 | Shared situational meaning |
| Presence | P-PROTO-105 | Who or what is present, and under what conditions |
Each primitive is a contract surface. Worlds may define their own internal rules; meaning that crosses worlds must fit one of these six contracts.
Authority
| Layer | Role |
|---|---|
| Platform protocol | Defines the primitives' shape and version policy |
| Realm | Owns the source of truth and semantic execution for the six primitives |
| Apps | Consume and observe; do not execute |
The P-PROTO-003 rule pins primitive semantic execution and truth source to Realm.
Cross-Consistency
A world transition that involves multiple primitives must satisfy all relevant primitive contracts simultaneously:
| Constraint | Why |
|---|---|
| A transit must satisfy Social + Economy + Context simultaneously | Transit moves a participant across worlds; social standing, economic standing, and contextual meaning must all align |
| Presence cannot bypass social admission | Being "present" in a world requires social admission first |
| Timeflow cannot break economy settlement windows | Time progression must respect economic settlement boundaries |
The six primitives are not independent enums. They are mutually constraining.
Versioning Posture
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Strategy | strict-only |
| Cross-minor handshakes | Forbidden |
| Backward compatibility shims | Forbidden |
| Failure mode | Fail-close on contract violation |
Clients must match. There is no graceful degradation pretending compatibility while violating contracts.
Authorization Presets
Apps interact with primitives under scoped authorization. The platform admits three preset templates that all share the same token shape and validation chain:
| Preset | Read | Write | Delegate |
|---|---|---|---|
readOnly | yes | no | no |
full | yes | yes | no |
delegate | yes | yes | one level |
delegate allows up to one level of further delegation by default.
App Modes
| Mode | Primitive read | Primitive write | Active count per world |
|---|---|---|---|
render-app | yes | no | many |
extension-app | yes | yes | at most one active per world |
Audit Events
Cross-primitive actions emit audit events recorded under the platform audit dictionary (config/platform-audit-events.yaml).