Seednote

Atlas

The proposed explorer of federated spaces

The proposed explorer of federated Semantic Spaces.

RSM ID Learning Center2 min read

Atlas is the proposed explorer of federated Semantic Spaces. It uses canonical RIDs to reconcile references and to navigate relationships that cross from one space into another. It may aggregate descriptions and search results from many sources, but it must keep track of where each came from: Atlas preserves authority and provenance rather than treating what it aggregates as its own canonical knowledge.

That rule is what makes an explorer trustworthy. Atlas may rank results by relevance however it likes, but identity is decided by the RID, not by similarity. Two records that look alike remain two records until an authorized decision says otherwise.

Example

A reader finds the Wellzai paper 451.7K4M9Q2X8D5P0R6T through Atlas. The paper declares that it extends the RSM concept of Formation, 451.5VJC3VFV46EVR73V. Atlas follows that relationship into the RSM space and shows the concept from its authoritative source, attributed to RSM — without Wellzai ever holding a copy.

A common misconception

“Atlas is a central database of everything.” It is an exploration layer, not a source of canonical knowledge. Its results are views over other spaces, each still owned and governed by its own space; nothing about RSM ID requires a global content database.

Atlas reads spaces operated by Locus, depends on federation, and must preserve provenance. Why similar descriptions do not merge is explored in a Fieldnote.

In the specification

Atlas responsibilities: Document 08 §10.3. Federation query: §10.5. Worked example: §13.2.