Pattern Proposal: File-Tree Knowledge Repository Persistence

Summary

Uses a structured, version-controlled directory hierarchy as the canonical persistence engine for architectural decisions, rules, and runtime evaluations.

Candidate Pattern

• ID: file-based-repository-persistence
• Classification: architectural
• Maturity: strategic_direction
• Type: emerging

Observed Signals

No specific signals listed.

Evidence

Supporting Evidence

• src/cas_runner/bootstrap.py (bootstrap, init_workspace, merge_cas_governance_block) - Initializes and merges governance files and directory scaffolding into the local workspace.

Scope Assessment

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

Rationale

• Intent: Store architectural state and governance models as plain text (Markdown, YAML, JSON) files directly under git version control.
• Context: Continuous architecture governance mandates auditability, diffability, and offline editing of decisions, metrics, and templates.
• Force: Relational databases isolate architecture knowledge from code repositories
• Force: Architectural governance artifacts must be reviewable in standard pull requests

Traceability

Artifact source: proposed-patterns