Compatibility is not accumulation.
Shadow does not become stronger by collecting every adjacent framework. It studies mechanisms, separates convergent ideas from copied authority, and keeps only what can be translated into a check, state, contract, or test.
Open the system reference at this layer.
Follow the mechanism through numbered execution, a worked trace, artifact-bound evidence, adverse results, and validation still required.
The intake record
Every external mechanism enters as a candidate with provenance and a bounded claim.
IDENTITYWhat exactly is being compared
Project, version, source, license, artifact type, implementation status, and the specific mechanism under review.
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What exactly is being compared
Project, version, source, license, artifact type, implementation status, and the specific mechanism under review.
Names are not mechanisms. Shadow distinguishes a paper, repo, product, standard, metaphor, benchmark, runtime, and policy plane before deciding whether anything can be reused.
STATUSREAL · REAL_THIN · WRONG_TAG · VAPOR
The register records whether a referenced system exists as described and whether the label matches the artifact.
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REAL · REAL_THIN · WRONG_TAG · VAPOR
The register records whether a referenced system exists as described and whether the label matches the artifact.
A wrong tag can still point to useful code, but the claim must be corrected. A vapor or unavailable system may remain cite-only or be retired; it cannot silently become a dependency.
LICENSEClean-room and permission check
License, attribution, data rights, naming, and implementation boundaries are resolved before code or text crosses the interface.
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Clean-room and permission check
License, attribution, data rights, naming, and implementation boundaries are resolved before code or text crosses the interface.
Convergent evolution is documented as convergence, not ownership. Closed or ambiguous systems can serve as comparison or counterexample without being imported.
Four integration modes
The mode defines what Shadow is actually claiming to have done.
A / BACKENDRun as an evaluation backend
Shadow produces or consumes artifacts through an external harness without pretending the harness is native code.
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Run as an evaluation backend
Shadow produces or consumes artifacts through an external harness without pretending the harness is native code.
The backend must be pinned by version, configuration, target, and result identity. If it has not run, the page says contract or scaffold—not integration complete.
B / ADAPTERTranslate across an interface
A replaceable adapter maps Shadow cases, actions, or receipts into another tool's contract.
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Translate across an interface
A replaceable adapter maps Shadow cases, actions, or receipts into another tool's contract.
Adapters preserve both schemas and record information loss. They should fail visibly when required fields cannot be represented rather than inventing a green default.
C / ABSORBInternalize a primitive
A compatible mechanism becomes a Shadow-native check after provenance, deduplication, authority review, and regression testing.
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Internalize a primitive
A compatible mechanism becomes a Shadow-native check after provenance, deduplication, authority review, and regression testing.
Absorption does not imply endorsement by the source project. Shadow owns the new implementation and must explain where its behavior differs.
D / CITECompare or acknowledge only
The external work informs vocabulary, contrast, or history without becoming executable dependency or control.
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Compare or acknowledge only
The external work informs vocabulary, contrast, or history without becoming executable dependency or control.
Cite-only is often the correct outcome when licensing, maturity, scope, or authority does not support integration.
The forge
A retained mechanism must survive conceptual and executable pressure before it can steer a consequential decision.
DEDUPLICATEOne failure, one controlling concept
Overlapping checks are merged, layered, or kept independent for a stated reason.
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One failure, one controlling concept
Overlapping checks are merged, layered, or kept independent for a stated reason.
More gauges can create false confidence, conflict, or review fatigue. Shadow asks whether a new mechanism detects a distinct failure, provides independent evidence, or merely renames an existing alarm.
TRANSLATEFrom idea to typed behavior
Candidate → attention signal → input fields → deterministic states → binding floor → receipt → test.
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From idea to typed behavior
Candidate → attention signal → input fields → deterministic states → binding floor → receipt → test.
A compelling essay does not become a gate until the input, state matrix, failure behavior, authority, and evidence trail are explicit. Speculation may inspire the candidate but cannot supply the runtime status.
CONTRADICTIONReconcile or preserve disagreement
When two mechanisms imply different actions, the conflict is named and routed rather than averaged into false harmony.
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Reconcile or preserve disagreement
When two mechanisms imply different actions, the conflict is named and routed rather than averaged into false harmony.
Absolute floors remain independent. Non-binding scores can inform review, but no aggregate turns a refusal into a proceed. Unresolved contradictions enter the Open Question Ledger.
CHANGE CONTROLEarn the merge
A proposal needs provenance, owner, tests, migration, receipt impact, claim impact, and a rollback path.
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Earn the merge
A proposal needs provenance, owner, tests, migration, receipt impact, claim impact, and a rollback path.
Acceptance into a development branch is not evidence of efficacy. Status moves separately through proposed, specified, built, self-tested, independently reproduced, field-tested, and validated tiers.
A mechanism is retained because it catches a distinct failure and survives testing—not because its source is prestigious or its language is beautiful.