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Ecosystem Topology

Version: 1.2.0

Status: Active

Owner: Rafael da Silva Guerra

Purpose

This document is a visual complement to Architecture Overview: the same layer model, repository structure and initiative inheritance rules, expressed as diagrams instead of tables and prose.

Context

The Architecture Overview explains the layer model in words. Some relationships — especially inheritance and the feedback loop back into the Foundation — are easier to verify correct as a diagram than as a table. This document exists so that "does this change respect the topology?" can be checked visually, not just argued in text.

Layer Model

flowchart TD
    F["Foundation<br/>Why W7 exists"]
    I["Identity<br/>How W7 is expressed"]
    G["Governance<br/>Who decides"]
    FR["Framework<br/>How work is created"]
    IN["Initiatives<br/>Enduring areas of work"]
    P["Products<br/>Maintained outputs"]
    E["Experiences<br/>What people encounter"]
    L["Learning<br/>Evidence and ADRs"]

    F --> I --> G --> FR --> IN --> P --> E --> L
    L -.->|feeds back as an ADR or amendment| F

    classDef stable fill:#111111,stroke:#c8a45d,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef volatile fill:#f7f7f5,stroke:#666666,color:#111111;
    class F,I,G stable
    class FR,IN,P,E,L volatile

Dependencies only ever point downward (solid arrows). The only upward path is the dotted feedback loop — a lesson learned at any layer becomes an ADR, and only a deliberate, reviewed ADR is allowed to change the Foundation. See Decision Framework.

Repository Structure

flowchart TB
    ROOT["project-w7<br/>Canonical ecosystem repository"]
    ROOT --> GOV["Governing layers"]
    ROOT --> WORK["Operating layers"]
    ROOT --> SUPPORT["Repository support"]

    GOV --> FOUND["foundations/"]
    GOV --> IDENT["identity/"]
    GOV --> FRAME["framework/"]

    WORK --> INIT["initiatives/"]
    WORK --> ARCH["architecture/"]
    WORK --> STD["standards/"]
    WORK --> ADR["adr/"]
    WORK --> ROAD["roadmap/"]
    WORK --> FOUNDER["founder/"]

    SUPPORT --> TEMPLATES["templates/"]
    SUPPORT --> SCRIPTS["scripts/"]
    SUPPORT --> GITHUB[".github/"]

    FOUND --> IDENT --> FRAME --> INIT
    STD -.-> GOV
    ADR -.-> GOV

Folder placement is not cosmetic — it is the mechanism that enforces the layer model in the previous diagram. A document in the wrong folder implies the wrong dependency direction. See ADR-0002.

Initiative Inheritance

flowchart TD
    W7["W7<br/><small>Foundation + Identity + Governance + Framework</small>"]
    WT["WarTips<br/><small>Active initiative</small>"]
    F1["Future initiative<br/><small>e.g. Home Lab</small>"]
    F2["Future initiative<br/><small>e.g. Academy</small>"]

    W7 -->|inherits by reference, not copy| WT
    W7 -->|inherits by reference, not copy| F1
    W7 -->|inherits by reference, not copy| F2

    WT --> WTP1["Product<br/><small>none registered yet</small>"]
    F1 --> F1P["Products<br/><small>defined when created</small>"]
    F2 --> F2P["Products<br/><small>defined when created</small>"]

Every initiative points back to exactly one W7. No initiative points to another initiative — cross-initiative dependencies are deliberately not part of this topology. If one is ever needed, it is a Type 2/3 decision under the Decision Framework, not an informal link between two docs/initiatives/ folders.

Knowledge Boundary

flowchart LR
    subgraph Obsidian["Obsidian — Rafael OS"]
        drafts["Drafts, private reflections,<br/>working notes"]
    end
    subgraph GitHub["GitHub — official record"]
        official["Reviewed Markdown,<br/>versioned, linkable"]
    end

    drafts -->|graduates once stable enough<br/>for someone else to rely on| official
    official -.->|never flows back as private notes| drafts

This is a one-way graduation, never a sync. See Information Boundaries.