reference Updated 2026-10-06
Link Metadata
The field dictionary — everything a link between the vault's entities can carry.
What a link carries
The link is the primitive the whole vault is built on: an asset linked to a component, a playbook linked to a requirement, a primitive linked to what earned it. Every link can carry the metadata below. This page is the dictionary; for how each field behaves during matching, see Requirements.
Scope
| Field | Values | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Level | asset-level or component-level | Whether the link sits directly on the asset or nested inside a parent component. See Scopes and Levels. |
| Parent | a component | For scoped links: the exact parent the child was observed in. Scoped matching requires the exact parent. |
Assignment
| Field | Values | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | individual, category, category + tag | What the link points at. Categories and combos resolve live as the library grows. |
| Tag combo | a #tag | For category links: the tag members must also carry. |
| Evaluation | Any, All | For category links: one member is enough, or every member is required (and grows with the category). |
| Requirement | Required, Optional | Playbook links only. Required is a hard gate; optional tunes confidence. |
Observation data
| Field | Applies to | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoints | asset links | Where the capability was observed. Each endpoint is a separate instance; Global means no endpoint was recorded. |
| Version | technology links | The version observed, e.g. 18.2.0. Playbook constraints check it; how strictly depends on the engine mode. |
| State polarity | stateful quirks | Present or Absent — what was actually observed about the behavior. |
| Quirk impact | playbook quirk links | Enabling or Mitigating — the role this quirk plays in this playbook. |
Earned capabilities
| Field | Means |
|---|---|
| Source | manual (you recorded it) or yield (a playbook granted it on success) |
| Yielded by | For earned links: the playbook whose success granted the capability |
| Yield on success | Playbook links: mark this capability as an output of the playbook |
| Prompt for endpoint | Yield configuration: ask which endpoint the capability was demonstrated on when it's granted |
| Co-location | Playbook links: count this requirement only where its endpoints meet the required primitive's endpoints |
Why the dictionary matters
Two reasons the same fields keep showing up across the docs:
- Every observation is structured the same way. A component on an asset, a requirement on a playbook, a primitive earned through a chain — same primitive, same metadata. Learn the fields once.
- The engine reads only these fields. If you can't express it as metadata, the engine can't act on it — which is why the authoring discipline matters more than prose in a playbook body.
What's next
- Requirements — how each field behaves during matching.
- Notespaces and Links — where links live.