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FOUNDATIONS

Introduction

Renderflow's foundations are the assumptions and invariants that make its architecture coherent.

Conformance

This document is authored in conformance with:

  • .github/specs/architecture/document.spec.md
  • .github/specs/architecture/foundation/foundations.spec.md

Purpose & Scope

This document defines the stable truths Renderflow assumes about transformation, execution, and maintainability.

It does not define system ownership or implementation structure.

Definitions

  • Foundation: an assumption or invariant intended to remain stable over time.
  • Invariant: a property the architecture tries to preserve as the project evolves.
  • Stable abstraction: a concept that remains useful even when implementation changes.

Renderflow Foundations

1. Intent should be externalized

Build intent must live in specifications, declared transforms, and explicit plans rather than in a contributor's memory.

2. Transformations form a navigable space

Whenever content can move through multiple representations, the architecture should treat those possibilities as a structured search and planning problem.

3. Planning and execution are distinct concerns

The project must be able to reason about paths, targets, and trade-offs without committing to execution.

4. Reuse is architecturally valuable

If multiple outputs share a valid intermediate, the architecture should preserve that intermediate as shared work rather than repeat it independently.

5. Reproducibility depends on both content and context

Outputs are defined by source content, declared configuration, selected transforms, and relevant supporting artifacts such as templates and caches.

6. Extensibility must remain bounded

Plugins, transforms, and AI integrations are valuable only when they enter the system through explicit contracts that preserve architectural clarity.

7. Diagnostics are part of correctness

A workflow that cannot explain what it will do, what it did, or why it failed is not fully reliable.

Requirements, Constraints & Guidelines

Requirements

  • Foundations must remain applicable as new outputs, transforms, and integrations appear.
  • They must support reproducibility, inspectability, and extensibility.
  • They must inform downstream system and architecture boundaries.

Constraints

  • Foundations must not depend on a specific crate, provider, or packaging tool.
  • Temporary implementation compromises must not be elevated into invariants.
  • This document must not duplicate the system model.

Guidelines

  • Prefer assumptions that explain multiple current capabilities.
  • Prefer invariants that future contributors can preserve during change.
  • Prefer conceptual truths over product slogans.

Authoring Contract

Purpose

Own Renderflow's stable architectural assumptions.

Responsibilities

This document owns:

  • invariants,
  • architectural assumptions,
  • stable mental models that downstream design and systems should preserve.

Non-Responsibilities

This document does not own:

  • detailed system decomposition,
  • implementation code,
  • specific engineering workflow,
  • roadmap sequencing.

Inputs

  • PURPOSE.md
  • PRINCIPLES.md
  • PILLARS.md
  • METHODOLOGY.md

Outputs

  • SYSTEM.md
  • ARCHITECTURE.md
  • ROADMAP.md
  • DECISIONS.md

AI Generation Rules

AI systems should identify the assumptions Renderflow depends on, not merely the features it currently exposes.

Validation

A downstream document should be able to cite these foundations when explaining why systems are separated the way they are.

Acceptance Criteria

  • Stable assumptions are explicit.
  • Invariants support downstream architecture.
  • Implementation detail is absent.
  • The document remains meaningful as the project evolves.

AI Authoring Strategy

AI systems should:

  1. inspect purpose, principles, pillars, and methodology,
  2. identify the assumptions necessary to preserve them,
  3. express those assumptions as durable invariants,
  4. avoid current-module descriptions.

Rationale & Context

Renderflow's visible features—graph planning, DAG execution, caching, plugins, and documentation—only stay coherent if they rest on shared assumptions. This document names those assumptions so evolution can be deliberate instead of accidental.

Dependencies & External Integrations

Upstream Dependencies

  • PURPOSE.md
  • PRINCIPLES.md
  • PILLARS.md
  • METHODOLOGY.md

Downstream Dependencies

  • SYSTEM.md
  • ARCHITECTURE.md
  • ROADMAP.md
  • DECISIONS.md

Examples & Edge Cases

Example

Caching is not just an optimization tactic. It follows the foundational idea that reproducibility depends on explicit content and context, which can be hashed, compared, and reused.

Edge Case

A workflow may choose not to reuse intermediates for a specific reason, but that does not change the foundational belief that reuse is architecturally valuable when correctness permits it.

Validation Criteria

This document is valid when contributors can use it to explain why Renderflow's planning, caching, diagnostics, and extensibility belong together.

  • .github/specs/architecture/document.spec.md
  • .github/specs/architecture/foundation/foundations.spec.md