Archive (opt-in history)

Material under docs/archive/ is opt-in history: deliberation, superseded narratives, and deep background that should not pollute routine navigation or the default agent consultation path (see Default path vs archive and Default vs archive in the structure contract).

Purpose

  • Preserve traceability when curated guidance changes: old write-ups stay findable without presenting them as current truth.
  • Hold deliberation captured as Markdown (long “why” threads, rejected options, meeting summaries) that would add noise on the default path.
  • Store superseded policies or narratives for readers who need the historical record.

This tree is not a dumping ground for unvetted working notes. If you copy or summarize deliberation into the curated corpus for readers, place that Markdown here following Archive (docs/archive/) in the contribution guide.

Relationship to the default path

  • Curated pages in docs/index.md list default-path topical pages—ongoing, status: current, typically audience: agent-default—that agents and humans use for day-to-day truth.
  • This archive is separate: pages here should use audience: archive and often status: archived (per the structure contract) so tooling and readers can treat them as non-default.
  • Default path vs archive is the short policy summary on the default path; it points here when you need the archive entry and norms.

Browsing norms

  • Expect archive-oriented front matter on files in this directory (audience: archive, and/or status: archived) unless a page is explicitly a meta explainer like this README.
  • Prefer descriptive titles and links; treat claims in archive files as historical context unless a default-path page explicitly reaffirms them.
  • For classification, naming, and placement rules when adding files, see Archive (docs/archive/) in CONTRIBUTING.md.

When content should move here (vs stay on the default path)

Stay on the default path (under docs/*.md outside archive/, listed from the hub when appropriate) when the page is current governed guidance: rules, cross-boundary behavior, and how-to that readers and agents should treat as truth now.

Move or add under docs/archive/ when the material is historical, superseded, or primarily deliberative—content you want discoverable but not mixed into the default bundle. When default-path meaning replaces older guidance, the living page should carry a supersession note per CONTRIBUTING.md (see Supersession on the default path) and, when useful, point to a specific file or folder under docs/archive/.

Subfolder conventions

No topic subfolders exist yet. When you introduce one (for example docs/archive/algorea/), add a row here so future contributors can follow the same pattern.

Subfolder Convention Introduced
(none yet) — —