Unauthorized action
An agent asks to inspect or change a scope outside its explicit delegation. Soval withholds before protected state is resolved or disclosed.
request → delegation check → WITHHOLDGoverned lifecycle
Progress without false completion.
Soval keeps the path understandable. Katra Forge keeps each transition exact: inquiry is not formation, approval is not execution, and a passing result is not release.
The wider Katra process
The hosted workroom currently guides five steps: frame, gather, develop, check, and hand off a review copy. The wider process below describes component responsibilities; formation, repository admission, and downstream execution are not connected to this workroom.
- 01Express intentintent
A human states an idea or desired outcome in natural language. No project is inferred.
- 02Capture exact sourcecaptured
Smusma preserves the deliberate submission, classification, scope, and intended outcome.
- 03Resolve before creatingactive inquiry
The system finds a related active inquiry, identifies ambiguity, or offers an explicit unrelated line.
- 04Select a baselineprimary / fork
One primary workstream binds to exact intent. Parallel work requires an explicit fork and reconciliation condition.
- 05Develop the inquirycandidate
Evidence, assumptions, unknowns, requirements, risks, constraints, and material questions become traceable.
- 06Request formation explicitlyformation withheld
The human selects whether work should become a project or application. Selection still does not form it.
- 07Evaluate formation evidenceprepared
Identity, policy, repository, verified result, and lineage must all be valid, current, and attributable.
- 08Build Product Definitionneeds decision
Sarek coordinates requirements, backlog, Evidence State, and proposed transitions without becoming the decision authority.
- 09Compile and reviewhuman approved — pending admission
Deterministic inputs produce candidate PRD bytes, gaps, traceability, and a semantic diff for attributable human disposition.
- 10Admit and read backverified
Exact repository checks, admission, and independent readback bind the final PRD and implementation handoff.
Safe failure is part of the product.
WITHHOLD is not a dead end. It identifies the missing prerequisite and preserves a safe next action.
Stale state
A baseline, revision, approval, or provider observation has moved. The action stops, identifies drift, and requires refresh or reconciliation.
request → freshness check → refreshLost response and retry
An exact retry returns the prior result without creating a duplicate effect. The same command ID with changed meaning fails closed.
retry → semantic match → IDEMPOTENTWhat Soval shows at every consequential step
The interface keeps ten facts separate so a fluent conversation cannot visually impersonate a completed transition.
Intent, target, current state
What was requested, the exact object affected, and its verified precondition.
Effect, evidence, authority
What would change, what supports it, who may decide, and what remains unknown.
Execution, receipt, readback
What actually happened, the returned evidence, and the independently verified result.
Human entry
Start with the outcome.
The person should not need repository syntax, internal identifiers, or command vocabulary. Soval surfaces those mechanics only when they materially affect the action.
Agent entry
Use the same path, with bounded authority.
An agent carries attributable identity and delegated scope. It may analyze, draft, propose, verify, or execute only as separately permitted.
A precise vocabulary for real state
Generic “done” language hides meaningful differences. Soval uses explicit state names and their authority effect.
Candidate
Prepared work with no accepted authority.
Withheld
An effect safely stopped with an addressable reason.
Stale
A required binding no longer matches current state.
Authorized
An attributable decision permits a specific effect.
Executed
The effect was attempted or completed; verification remains separate.
Verified
The actual result was independently read back.
Admitted
The artifact entered the governing repository boundary.
Released
Only used when a separate release decision and proof exist.