Canonical repository, documentation, security, and publication standards for Sparsh Sam's public and private software ecosystem.
This repository is the single source of truth for how repositories in this ecosystem are created, structured, documented, secured, classified, released, and represented publicly.
It exists because:
- Consistency matters. Every repository should feel like part of the same ecosystem regardless of age, maturity, or visibility.
- Security requires policy. Environment files, secrets, and history management follow defined standards — not ad-hoc decisions.
- Public/private boundaries must be explicit. What can be said about a private system, what cannot, and where the line sits.
- Agents need rules. Automated tooling, AI assistants, and CI/CD pipelines must operate within the same governance framework as human contributors.
- Publications must be earned. Citeable releases, DOIs, and research outputs follow a maturity model — not a publication checkbox.
Every repository must be clear, restrained, secure, maintainable, and accurately represented.
- Human contributors creating or maintaining any repository in the ecosystem.
- AI agents (Codex, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Hermes, or future tools) operating on ecosystem repositories.
- Automated workflows — CI/CD, release pipelines, security scanners, and publication tooling.
- Repository classification — every new repository must be classified as public or private and follow the corresponding standard.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
standards/ |
Canonical policies: doctrine, security, architecture, release, RFC, agent governance |
templates/ |
Reusable starting points for public repos, private repos, RFCs, and GitHub workflows |
checklists/ |
Practical checklists for agents and humans before creating, releasing, or publishing |
examples/ |
Safe language models and unsafe patterns for profile entries and public references |
- Proposal — a new standard or amendment is drafted as an RFC (see
standards/rfc-standard.md). - Review — the proposal is reviewed for consistency, security, and tone alignment.
- Adoption — once accepted, the standard is merged and becomes canonical.
- Deprecation — superseded standards are moved to an archive status with a pointer to their replacement.
Minor clarifications, typo fixes, and template updates may be applied directly without RFC.
This repository describes standards for both public and private repositories. Standards that reference private systems (such as TW Oracle) use restrained, high-level language. Implementation details, proprietary workflows, and operational data remain confidential. See standards/public-private-boundary.md for the exact boundary rules.
The ecosystem profile README at github.com/sparshsam lists ecosystem repositories in two categories: Public Ecosystem and Private / Proprietary Systems. This standards repository defines how repos qualify for each category and how they are described. See standards/github-profile-integration.md.
This repository is licensed under the MIT License — see LICENSE. The standards and templates are intended to be freely used, adapted, and cited.
Last updated: June 2026