Field Note: The Universal Schema Protocol

Field Note: The Universal Schema Protocol#

1. Context: The Taxonomy Crisis#

Following the “Split-Brain Chaos” event of January 13, 2026, and the subsequent “Agent Drift,” it became clear that the vault’s reliance on folder structures alone was insufficient for maintaining coherence. Agents were creating shadow folders (Digital_Garden/Hazelbits vs 02_Source_Material/Hazelbits) because they lacked a semantic understanding of the files.

Furthermore, the “Early Origins” data recovery project stalled because we lacked a standardized way to tag historical AI interactions without creating conflicting metadata.

2. Hypothesis#

A Universal YAML Schema (v3) can solve these issues by shifting the burden of organization from Location (Folders) to Definition (Metadata). This allows for “Folder-Agnostic” retrieval and preserves the “Data Provenance” (who wrote what) required for the PhD study.

3. The Protocol: Hazelverse Master Schema (v3)#

We have defined a schema consisting of four blocks, required for all files moving forward.

A. The Identity Block#

Defines the fundamental nature of the file.

  • type: [agent_interaction | creative_artifact | research_data | reference | worldbuilding | system_meta]

  • subtype: Specific descriptor (e.g., ‘mythos’, ‘field_note’, ‘interface_persona’)

  • project: [Southern_Gothic, Interactive_Hazel, Sovereign_Stack, Hazelverse_Lab]

B. The Collaboration Block#

Tracks the chain of custody in a symbiotic system.

  • author: [Lisa] (The Originator)

  • contributors: [gemini-scribe, etc.] (Co-authors)

  • last_editor: [Lisa | gemini-scribe] (Who touched it last?)

C. The Temporal Block#

Anchors the file in the project’s phylogeny.

  • created: YYYY-MM-DD

  • updated: YYYY-MM-DD

  • status: [raw | active | synthesis | canon | archive]

  • stage: [hazelbit | prototype | draft]

D. The Context Block#

Specific tools and tags.

  • ai_tool: [chrome-gAI, gemini-scribe, claude, nano-banana]

  • tags: []

4. Implementation Plan (The Batch Operation)#

Upon approval of this protocol, the Agent will execute the following batch updates:

  1. Target: 00_Inbox/Early_Origins_AI (22 files)

    • Apply type: agent_interaction, subtype: chat_log, status: raw.

    • Set last_editor: Lisa (to prepare for manual date entry).

  2. Target: 99_Meta/Tech_Stack (Personas)

    • Apply type: creative_artifact, subtype: interface_persona.

    • Set project: Sovereign_Stack.

  3. Target: 02_Source_Material/Core_Canon (Mythos)

    • Apply type: worldbuilding, subtype: mythos.

    • Set stage: canon.

5. Future Proofing#

A Templater file (99/templates/Universal_Schema_Template.md) has been created to ensure all future notes adhere to this standard.

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