Roadmap: causal rope everywhere and only causal rope

[flyingrobots]

Target

All product text truth in Jim flows through graph-backed causal rope authority. Full strings may exist only as imports, exports, render windows, tests, or caches. They must never be authority.

Definition of done

• Every buffer has a BufferWorldline and current RopeHead.
• Every edit is an admitted causal ReplaceRange producing rope rewrite/diff/tick evidence unless it is a logical no-op.
• Standard undo and redo are forward causal intents derived from Echo-retained receipts and survive process restart.
• Every save/export creates Echo/Jim anchor or checkpoint evidence without mutating text authority.
• Every product read names basisHeadId and byteRange.
• Gutter, footer, dirty state, and :why are backed by rope facts rather than Git or snapshots.
• Full-snapshot fixture authority is test-only and import-banned from product code.

Goalposts and slices

CR-00 - Seal snapshot escape hatches

Goalpost: make the full-snapshot runtime visibly test-only and prevent product code from using any non-causal text authority.

• Slice: Inventory every product text authority path #216 Slice: Inventory every product text authority path
• Slice: Ban full-snapshot fixture imports from product code #217 Slice: Ban full-snapshot fixture imports from product code
• Slice: Fail installed product construction without graph rope authority #218 Slice: Fail installed product construction without graph rope authority

CR-01 - Echo CausalAnchor integration

Goalpost: use application-requested, Echo-admitted causal anchors as the generic durability primitive behind Jim rope checkpoints.

• Slice: Define Jim-to-Echo CausalAnchor API boundary #219 Slice: Define Jim-to-Echo CausalAnchor API boundary
• Slice: Separate rope checkpoints from Echo anchor admission #220 Slice: Replace Jim-local anchor shim with Echo-admitted anchors
• Slice: Add checkpoint materialization boundary witnesses #221 Slice: Add anchor retention and materialization metadata witnesses

CR-02 - Installed graph rope authority

Goalpost: make installed Jim create, read, replace, and checkpoint through graph-backed rope authority by default.

• Design graph-backed rope runtime authority #206 Design graph-backed rope runtime authority
• Slice: Install graph rope runtime as Jim default text authority #222 Slice: Install graph rope runtime as Jim default text authority
• Slice: Import file bytes into BufferWorldline and initial RopeHead #223 Slice: Import file bytes into BufferWorldline and initial RopeHead
• Slice: Route normal editor edits through replaceRangeAsTick #224 Slice: Route normal editor edits through replaceRangeAsTick
• Slice: Route standard undo and redo through Echo causal history #273 Slice: Route standard undo and redo through Echo causal history
• Slice: Render source text through basis textWindow reads #225 Slice: Render source text through basis textWindow reads
• Slice: Save and export from current RopeHead through causal checkpoint evidence #226 Slice: Save and export from current RopeHead through causal checkpoint evidence

CR-03 - Coordinates and materialization discipline

Goalpost: make UTF-8 byte ranges authoritative and require every materialized string to name its rope head and byte range basis.

• Slice: Add branded coordinate adapters for UTF-8 bytes, UTF-16, and line columns #227 Slice: Add branded coordinate adapters for UTF-8 bytes, UTF-16, and line columns
• Slice: Require basisHeadId and byteRange for every product textWindow read #228 Slice: Require basisHeadId and byteRange for every product textWindow read
• Slice: Separate authoritative line facts from rebuildable line indexes #229 Slice: Separate authoritative line facts from rebuildable line indexes
• Slice: Add materialization cache provenance and invalidation rules #230 Slice: Add materialization cache provenance and invalidation rules

CR-04 - Durability semantics in save, dirty, and footer

Goalpost: express queued intent, admitted causal history, saved file projection, local Git, and remote Git durability as separate states.

• Slice: Model Jim buffer durability ladder in workspace state #231 Slice: Model Jim buffer durability ladder in workspace state
• Slice: Compute dirty state from current RopeHead versus last save anchor #232 Slice: Compute dirty state from current RopeHead versus last save anchor
• Slice: Rework footer durability display around causal rope state #233 Slice: Rework footer durability display around causal rope state
• Slice: Compute +N/-N from causal rewrites since selected anchor #234 Slice: Compute +N/-N from causal rewrites since selected anchor

CR-05 - Causal gutter and modified line markers

Goalpost: compute gutter modified/deleted markers from rope rewrite and diff evidence, never from Git diff.

• Tick receipt gutter for Echo-backed editing #84 Tick receipt gutter for Echo-backed editing
• Slice: Derive modified gutter markers from rewrite and diff facts #235 Slice: Derive modified gutter markers from rewrite and diff facts
• Slice: Render deletion markers between surviving causal lines #236 Slice: Render deletion markers between surviving causal lines
• Slice: Add gutter ancestry basis setting #237 Slice: Add gutter ancestry basis setting
• Slice: Theme causal gutter markers using tokens only #238 Slice: Theme causal gutter markers using tokens only

CR-06 - Runtime-backed why evidence

Goalpost: make :why cite rope head, leaf, blob, rewrite, diff, tick, checkpoint, and anchor evidence from the runtime.

• Design rope fact inspector and range why UI #209 Design rope fact inspector and range why UI
• Slice: Explain range from RopeHead to leaf blob rewrite diff and tick #239 Slice: Explain range from RopeHead to leaf blob rewrite diff and tick
• Slice: Replace transient why toast with anchored evidence panel #240 Slice: Replace transient why toast with anchored evidence panel
• Slice: Add why witnesses for import edit save and generated text #241 Slice: Add why witnesses for import edit save and generated text
• Slice: Connect gutter and footer explainers to why evidence #242 Slice: Connect gutter and footer explainers to why evidence

CR-07 - Retention, balance, and performance witnesses

Goalpost: prove causal rope is not full-snapshot cosplay with retained-byte, subtree-identity, balance, and materialization-budget witnesses.

• Design graph-backed rope compaction policy #207 Design graph-backed rope compaction policy
• Design graph-backed rope rebalancing evidence #208 Design graph-backed rope rebalancing evidence
• Design graph-backed rope retention budget dashboard #210 Design graph-backed rope retention budget dashboard
• Slice: Add big-file retained authoritative bytes witness #243 Slice: Add big-file retained authoritative bytes witness
• Slice: Add untouched subtree identity path-copy witness #244 Slice: Add untouched subtree identity path-copy witness
• Slice: Enforce rope balance and leaf-size invariants #245 Slice: Enforce rope balance and leaf-size invariants
• Slice: Add CRLF and Unicode coordinate stress witnesses #246 Slice: Add CRLF and Unicode coordinate stress witnesses

CR-08 - Delete transitional text authority APIs

Goalpost: delete or quarantine all transitional full-root/snapshot authority APIs so only causal rope remains in product code.

• Design snapshot fixture import migration path #211 Design snapshot fixture import migration path
• Slice: Delete or quarantine HotTextBufferState full-root authority #247 Slice: Delete or quarantine HotTextBufferState full-root authority
• Slice: Move full-snapshot fixture under explicit test fixture namespace #248 Slice: Move full-snapshot fixture under explicit test fixture namespace
• Slice: Delete stale in-memory runtime aliases and generated import paths #249 Slice: Delete stale in-memory runtime aliases and generated import paths

CR-09 - Dogfood cutover and regression net

Goalpost: daily-drive Jim on causal rope, remove the snapshot escape hatch from dev startup, and lock the architecture with tests and docs.

• Slice: Run npm dev without snapshot authority escape hatch #250 Slice: Run npm dev without snapshot authority escape hatch
• Slice: End-to-end causal rope open edit save restart recovery #251 Slice: End-to-end causal rope open edit save restart recovery
• Slice: Large-file causal rope dogfood scenario #252 Slice: Large-file causal rope dogfood scenario
• Slice: External file reload as causal import or rebase event #253 Slice: External file reload as causal import or rebase event
• Slice: Publish causal rope architecture regression suite and docs #254 Slice: Publish causal rope architecture regression suite and docs

Hard no list

• Do not optimize the full-snapshot runtime instead of replacing it.
• Do not compute modified lines from Git diff.
• Do not make save reset causal history.
• Do not call a full-string root a RopeHead.
• Do not accept basis-less materialized reads.
• Do not allow fixture imports into installed product code.
• Do not treat CAS materializations as authority.

[coderabbitai]

🔗 Related PRs

#23 - feat(echo): add Echo release gate witness [closed]
#27 - feat(echo): wire trusted runtime lifecycle into jedit [closed]
#135 - Docs: lock Jim causal roadmap [closed]
#205 - Document graph-backed rope runtime gate [merged]
#261 - Complete CR-00 snapshot escape hatch guard [merged]

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[flyingrobots]

Architecture correction for this roadmap: the causal rope remains Jim-owned
application law, but the final production editor is Jim.edict running as an
Echo-realized active observer. TypeScript command handlers, edit planners,
operation sequencers, and coordinate-derived replaceRangeAsTick requests are
compatibility migration debt, not target authority.

Roadmap slices must converge on #295/#301:

• Jedit/Bijou/native code decodes canonical events, transports artifacts, owns
  raw file/process adapters, and renders disposable projections.
• Jim.edict owns modes, cursor, selection, registers, pending operators,
  command interpretation, observation requests, operation intents, outcomes,
  and state advancement.
• Jim-owned Edict lawpacks own rope facts, ReplaceRange, TextWindow, buffer
  creation, checkpoints, results, and typed obstructions.
• Echo remains generic and must never acquire rope/editor nouns, verbs,
  callbacks, or intrinsics.

Any checklist item that says "route commands through replaceRangeAsTick" should
be read as compatibility work unless it explicitly ends with canonical event
delivery to Jim.edict. Direct generated-client operation conformance is useful
scaffolding but does not satisfy the final production cutover.