Sigma Stratum Documentation - License Notice
This document is part of the Sigma Runtime Standard (SRS) and the
Sigma Stratum Documentation Set (SRD).It is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
(CC BY-NC 4.0).The license for this specific document is authoritative.
For the full framework, see/legal/IP-Policy.
This SRD document explains the public SRS/SRIP specification layer. It does not
license or disclose proprietary Sigma Runtime implementation assets unless
explicitly marked.
The SRIPs discussed here are public draft architecture proposals. This page does
not claim that the corresponding runtime behavior is implemented, enabled, or
production-conformant.
Long-running agents do not only answer prompts.
Over time, they also:
The public Sigma Runtime Standard needs vocabulary for external contact without
turning the runtime into a workflow engine, tool framework, or planner.
SRIP-24 and SRIP-25 form a connected explanatory block:
| SRIP | Plain-language question | Short answer |
|---|---|---|
| SRIP-24 EIL | Where does a stabilized runtime trajectory meet external reality? | At a governed environment boundary. |
| SRIP-25 IEM | What crosses that boundary? | Interaction events: observations entering runtime and effects leaving runtime. |
Short version:
EIL explains governed external contact.
IEM explains the semantic unit of that contact.
Once a runtime has a stabilized trajectory, it may need to interact with
something outside itself:
SRIP-24 defines the Environment Interface Layer (EIL) as the public draft
architecture boundary for that contact.
The simplest rule is:
Behavior governs cognition.
EIL governs contact.
This distinction matters because external contact can change more than text.
It can change memory, trigger costs, notify humans, write files, call systems,
or create evidence that future runtime cycles inherit.
EIL keeps several things from collapsing into each other:
| Distinction | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Observation vs truth | Reading something does not make it true. |
| Observation vs authority | Receiving input does not grant permission. |
| Capability vs permission | A tool being available does not mean it should be used. |
| Retrieval vs current fact | Retrieved material may be old, scoped, partial, or contested. |
| Task success vs governance success | An action can complete while the evidence or authority path becomes questionable. |
EIL is therefore not a tool framework.
It is the boundary layer that asks whether external contact is allowed,
bounded, evidenced, scoped, and contestable.
SRIP-25 defines the Interaction Event Model (IEM).
If EIL is the boundary, IEM is the public semantic model for what crosses the
boundary.
An interaction event is a bounded, attributable, evidence-bearing contact
between runtime and environment.
It is not:
It is a public semantic unit.
Observation events move from environment to runtime.
Examples:
Observation can influence understanding.
Observation does not directly authorize behavior, memory persistence, external
action, or truth claims.
Effect events move from runtime to environment.
Examples:
Effect can change external reality.
Effects require stronger governance than observations.
Instead of asking only:
Which tool was called?
IEM asks:
Which interaction event occurred?
What was its direction?
What was its source and target?
What authority applied?
What evidence remains?
What effect class was involved?
Can it be audited, replayed, contested, or bounded?
This shifts the public architecture from tool-centric execution toward
event-centric governance.
One way to read the block is:
Contact with the external world
-> SRIP-24 EIL
-> governed boundary review
Unit crossing that boundary
-> SRIP-25 IEM
-> interaction event
Another way:
EIL: May the trajectory contact the environment?
IEM: What contact event occurred?
They solve adjacent boundary problems and should not be confused with semantic
evolution layers such as SRIP-23 DGL.
A runtime retrieves a document.
Without EIL/IEM, this may be treated as:
The runtime knows this.
With EIL/IEM, it is more precise:
An observation event occurred.
The target was runtime interpretation.
The source was retrieval.
The material has provenance and scope.
It may be old, partial, private, or contested.
It does not automatically become truth or memory.
If the runtime later writes a summary to memory, that is a different event:
An effect event occurred.
The target was memory state.
The write requires stronger authority and evidence.
| Misreading | Correct reading |
|---|---|
| EIL is a tool framework. | EIL is a boundary layer for governed external contact. |
| IEM is an event bus or schema. | IEM is a public semantic model for interaction events. |
| Observation means truth. | Observation means material entered the runtime boundary. |
| Capability means permission. | Capability only means an action surface exists. |
| Task success means governance success. | Governance success requires authority, scope, and evidence continuity. |
SRIP-24 and SRIP-25 are public draft architecture proposals.
This SRD page provides explanatory synchronization for readers. It does not
claim runtime implementation, production enablement, conformance, certification,
or release alignment beyond the public draft status of the linked SRIPs.