amduat-api/notes/proper alignment.md

This is a good place to stop pushing and start settling. I’ll show you how this plugs into ASL-HOST cleanly, without dragging you further into new specs than necessary — and then I’ll send you off gently, with a coherent mental model you can carry forward on your own.

What follows is not a new layer. It’s a proper alignment of the layers you already defined.

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How the Virgin / Presented Domain Model Plugs into ASL-HOST

1. ASL-HOST’s actual responsibility (clarified)

ASL-HOST is not:

• A store
• An authority
• A policy engine
• A domain model

ASL-HOST is:

The execution environment in which ASL + PEL semantics are allowed to act on reality.

So ASL-HOST must provide three minimal abstractions:

1. Local domains (persistent)
2. Presented domains (ephemeral)
3. Authority state (virgin → rooted → operational)

Nothing more.

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2. ASL-HOST domain table (minimal)

ASL-HOST maintains a domain registry, not a trust database.

Conceptually:

DomainRegistry:
  local:
    - domain_id
      role: authority | personal | common
      path: /var/lib/asl/...
  presented:
    - domain_id
      role: presented
      path: /mnt/usb/REQUEST
      lifetime: execution

This registry is:

• Created at boot
• Augmented at USB mount
• Consumed by PEL
• Destroyed after execution

No persistence required for presented domains.

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3. USB intake → ASL-HOST flow (clean)

Step 1: Host boot

ASL-HOST initializes:

• Authority state
• Local ASL stores
• Domain registry (local only)

If no authority keys exist:

authority_state = Virgin

Nothing else happens.

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Step 2: USB insertion

ASL-HOST does not interpret content.

It only:

1. Mounts USB read-only

2. Computes a fingerprint:

   presented_domain_id = hash(usb_device + manifest)
   

3. Registers:

domain:
  id: PRESENTED::<hash>
  role: presented
  path: /mnt/usb/REQUEST

This is pure ASL-HOST behavior.

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4. PEL sees everything as domains

PEL is invoked with a domain map, not paths:

domains:
  authority:
    id: <authority-domain-id>
    path: /var/lib/asl/authority
  presented:
    id: PRESENTED::<hash>
    path: /mnt/usb/REQUEST

From here on:

PEL does all semantic interpretation.

ASL-HOST steps back.

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5. Virgin authority fits perfectly

When authority_state = Virgin:

ASL-HOST enforces exactly one rule:

Only pel_program_type = authority-genesis is executable.

That’s it.

No other policy logic belongs here.

After successful execution:

• Authority keys exist
• Policy hash sealed
• Snapshot written

ASL-HOST updates:

authority_state = Rooted

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6. Admission & rescue fit naturally

Admission

PEL program:

type: domain-admission
inputs:
  - presented
outputs:
  - new_domain
  - dam

ASL-HOST simply:

• Allows new local domain registration
• Writes domain metadata
• Stores DAM

No interpretation of identity or intent.

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Rescue

PEL program:

type: rescue
inputs:
  - presented
outputs:
  - encrypted_artifacts

ASL-HOST:

• Writes encrypted blocks
• Registers nothing permanent unless requested
• Produces receipt

Same machinery. No branching.

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7. Where ASL-HOST stops (important)

ASL-HOST never:

• Decides who “owns” a domain
• Understands identity semantics
• Inspects artifact contents
• Interprets policy meaning

It only enforces:

• Domain lifetimes
• Mount discipline
• Authority state gating
• Execution boundaries

That’s why this integrates cleanly.

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8. Mental model you can carry forward

Here is the stable picture you can now rely on:

Reality consists of only four things

1. Domains
2. Artifacts
3. Programs
4. Receipts

Everything else is scaffolding.

The auth host is not special

It is simply:

A host where PEL is allowed to mutate the domain registry.

Virgin → Rooted → Operational Presented → Admitted → Federated

All transitions happen through receipts.

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9. Why this is “gentle”

You don’t need to:

• Rewrite ASL-CORE
• Finalize PEL-TRACE
• Solve global identity
• Solve federation

You can now:

• Boot a virgin authority
• Run one genesis program
• Admit one domain
• Rescue one disk
• Produce one receipt

That is enough to enter your own domain — technically and conceptually.

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10. Sending you off

You now have:

• A clean ASL-HOST boundary
• A principled virgin state
• USB as a first-class domain
• PEL as the only actor
• Receipts as truth

From here, the system will crystallize naturally as you implement.

You don’t need me to carry you further right now.

But when you want to:

• formalize diagrams
• tighten canonicalization
• test threat edges
• or explain this to others

I’ll be right here.