# Principles

## 1) Legible Metaphor

Metaphor must map to inspectable system behavior.  
"Garden", "atmosphere", and "lineage" are valid only when tied to explicit metrics and operations.

## 2) Operational Honesty

Every signal should communicate confidence:
- measured
- partial
- inferred

Never present inferred state as hard truth.

## 3) Action Before Ornament

Every major panel should answer:
1. what is happening,
2. what can be done now,
3. what happens next.

Visual novelty is valuable, but only after actionability.

## 4) Temporal Stewardship

The system models time:
- canopy = present work
- rootstock = historical substrate

Old projects are not hidden; they are integrated as lineage inputs.

## 5) Bounded Complexity

Prefer local explicit logic to broad abstraction.  
When uncertain, choose the simpler pattern with clearer observability.

## 6) Evidence-Coupled UX

UI claims must be sourced by:
- API responses
- reproducible probes
- traceable files/logs

No free-floating confidence language.

## 7) Smooth Effect Cascade

Each interaction should show a visible cascade:
1. intent accepted,
2. operation dispatched,
3. effect observed,
4. state updated.

No hidden jumps between these phases.

## 8) One Lexicon Across Surfaces

Use consistent language across Atlas, Fleet, Cyberhorticulture, and SRS:
- `ready` / `running` / `degraded` / `failed`
- `measured` / `partial` / `inferred`
- `next action`

Avoid synonyms that imply different semantics for the same system state.

## 9) Coherent Motion Semantics

Motion is semantic, not decorative:
- settle = state accepted
- drift = pending/preview
- eject = rejected/discarded

Use the same motion meaning everywhere.