Pattern Proposal: File-Backed Blackboard Workspace

Summary

Uses a standardised, version-controlled filesystem structure as a shared blackboard for agent memory, templates, and runtime context.

Candidate Pattern

• ID: file-backed-blackboard-workspace
• Classification: intelligence
• Maturity: established
• Type: implemented

Observed Signals

No specific signals listed.

Evidence

Supporting Evidence

• src/cas_runner/bootstrap.py (init_workspace, merge_cas_governance_block, bootstrap) - Scaffolds file hierarchy and merges governance blocks.
• cas-knowledge/runtime/execution-profile.yaml - Blackboard runtime profile read and written by agent steps.

Scope Assessment

• Evidence Strength: high
• Confidence: high
• Applies to: ideas-to-life-cas

Rationale

• Intent: Allow multiple independent scripts, agents, and CI workflows to share, persist, and version state without requiring an external database.
• Context: Initialized during bootstrap (bootstrap.py) and referenced by all runtime evaluation steps.
• Force: External state stores (Redis, PostgreSQL) add infrastructure overhead and cannot easily be checked out at specific git revisions.
• Force: Agent steps need shared access to global rules, templates, and runtime execution contexts.

Traceability

Artifact source: proposed-patterns