metadata-is-universal-extension-mechanism
IN derived (depth 1)
Node metadata is the universal extension mechanism carrying all structured lifecycle state (retraction flags, stale reasons, challenges, access tags, supersession markers), and retraction flags pinned in metadata survive recomputation to enforce sticky retraction.
Summary
The system uses a single generic metadata dictionary on each node as the catch-all place to attach new behavior — retraction flags, staleness markers, access controls, supersession links, and more — instead of adding dedicated fields every time a feature is introduced. This keeps the core data model stable while letting capabilities grow freely, and it means that when a node is explicitly retracted, that sticky flag lives in metadata where it persists through recomputation cycles until someone deliberately clears it.
Justifications
SL — Metadata carries structured state AND survives recomputation — it is both the carrier and the enforcer of lifecycle semantics
Antecedents (all must be IN):
- network-metadata-carries-structured-state — Node state such as `_retracted`, `retract_reason`, `superseded_by`, `challenges`, `access_tags`, and `summarized_by` lives in the generic `metadata` dict rather than typed Node fields, keeping the dataclass stable while features layer on behavior.
- retracted-pin-survives-recompute — A node explicitly retracted via `retract()` gets a `_retracted` metadata flag that pins it OUT — surviving both `assert_node` on its antecedents and `recompute_all()`, clearable only by `assert_node` on the pinned node itself
Dependents
These beliefs depend on this one:
- metadata-actively-governs-truth-propagation — Lifecycle state carried in node metadata (retraction flags, stale reasons) is not passive storage but actively governs truth propagation behavior — retracted nodes are skipped during BFS traversal and trigger nodes are never recomputed — ensuring that the universal extension mechanism directly controls truth maintenance rather than merely recording state
- network-state-is-extensible-and-consistently-tracked — Network state management is both extensible (metadata carries all lifecycle state — retraction flags, stale reasons, challenges, access tags, supersession — as a universal key-value mechanism) and consistently tracked (every mutation maintains the audit log and dependents index simultaneously), ensuring new state dimensions can be added without compromising existing consistency guarantees