Module 04

The maturity ladder

draft -> checked -> bound -> hardened.

Concept · grounded · RICH E4

draft

VslMaturity level: unverified intent.

Worked examples

system magatama.seed.year10_demonstrator {
  maturity draft
}

`maturity draft` is the lowest rung: unverified intent. At draft the checker tolerates unresolved references and inferred defaults so authoring can proceed before everything is bound.

system parser-spec {
  maturity draft
  # refs may dangle; defaults may be inferred at this rung
}

`maturity draft` is the lowest rung of the ladder `draft -> checked -> bound -> hardened`. At draft, unresolved references and inferred defaults are tolerated, and lowering diagnostics are warnings rather than errors. This corresponds to `VslMaturity::Draft`, which the lowering severity function maps to `Warning`. Evaluate it as a TODO-tolerant compile mode: the document parses and is queryable while still incomplete, so you can stand up structure before every reference resolves.

system mentormind.example.maturity {
  mission "..."
  authority lane "operator:research"
  domain education
  maturity draft
  # context root and body still TODO
}

system mentormind.facilities.room_booking {
  mission "Specify a governed room-booking surface for a campus, exposing booking state as typed contracts under research authority"
  authority lane "operator:research"
  domain education
  maturity draft

  context root = "helios://local/mentormind/facilities/room-booking?view=detail&tab=contract&bind=auto"

  enum RoomState {
    value free
    value held
    value booked
  }

  type Room {
    field room_id: string required
    field capacity: integer required
    field state: RoomState required
  }

  compile booking-runtime -> varro

  action hold-room {
    risk low
    binding required
    input room_id: string required
  }

  query rooms.free {
    output Room[]
  }

  workflow reserve-room {
    inspect selection
    resolve rooms.free
    check hold-room
    render center.detail
  }

  runtime specification {
    host governed
    commit-mode host-only
  }
}

Concept · grounded · RICH E4

checked

VslMaturity level: validated by the checker.

Worked examples

maturity checked

`checked` is the second rung: the document has passed the checker. References resolve and types are consistent, but it is not yet bound to a concrete contract or hardened for production.

system parser-spec {
  maturity checked
  # structure parser-validated; lowering diagnostics still warnings
}

`maturity checked` is the second rung. Structure is parser-validated (`varro check vsl` passes) but lowering diagnostics remain warnings — like `Draft`, `VslMaturity::Checked` maps to `Warning` in the lowering severity function. The jump in obligation happens at `bound`, not here. Evaluate the boundary: checked guarantees the shape is well-formed and queryable, but does not yet force every reference to resolve into an executable lowering — that promise belongs to the next rung.

Concept · grounded · RICH E4

bound

VslMaturity level: bound to a concrete contract.

Worked examples

maturity bound

`bound` is the third rung: the spec is bound to a concrete contract, so unresolved references become checker errors rather than warnings. Promotion to bound is the point at which laxness ends.

system parser-spec {
  maturity bound
  # lowering diagnostics now ERROR, not warning
}

`maturity bound` is the third rung and the first with teeth: the lowering severity function escalates `VslMaturity::Bound` (and `Hardened`) to `Error`, so a missing or unresolved lowering target now fails rather than warns. This is the rung where the spec commits to being executable. Evaluate it as flipping `-Werror` on for lowering: everything that was a tolerable gap at draft/checked now blocks promotion.

Concept · grounded · RICH E4

hardened

VslMaturity level: hardened/production.

Worked examples

maturity hardened

`hardened` is the top rung: production-ready. Everything is bound, checked, and the strictest diagnostics apply. A hardened system should not be silently relaxed back to draft.

system parser-spec {
  maturity hardened
  # top of draft<checked<bound<hardened; lowering errors enforced
}

`maturity hardened` is the top rung of the ladder. Like `bound`, `VslMaturity::Hardened` maps lowering diagnostics to `Error`; hardened is the strictest promotion state a `.varro` document declares. This maturity ladder is the document's own rung and is orthogonal to the plasma->crystal phase model: maturity is the VSL's self-declared strictness, while phase describes how far the spec has crystallised toward proved Rust. Evaluate the design: a document can be `hardened` VSL and still only sit at the Gas phase, because the two axes measure different commitments.