lardon3d/docs/architecture/resource_boundary.md

Lardon3D Resource Boundary — No New Resource Subsystem

Status

ACCEPTED — architecture decision for the post-Gate C documentation freeze.

Current gates: Gate A PASS, Gate B PASS / FROZEN, Gate C PASS. Project Database: v16.

This record is normative for the current architecture. It does not introduce an implementation, a public API, a persistence format or a roadmap commitment.

Context

Lardon3D contains a Resource Governor and persistent stores for images, features, matches, geometric results, tracks and Sparse SfM data. The term “resource” in the Governor denotes an execution budget, not a loadable runtime object.

The repository does not define a generic Resource System, generic artifact resolver, runtime cache, resource handle or runtime dependency graph.

Current system

1. Persistent identity and metadata

Project Database v16 owns logical identities and relations. SQLite IDs identify projects, ScanSets, images, assets, Feature Sets, results, tracks and Sparse SfM records. SHA-256 values identify published file contents. Metadata stores sizes, states, provenance and project-relative artifact paths.

Logical identity and physical content identity are distinct: two logical images or Feature Sets may share one immutable physical asset.

2. Artifact resolution and validation

Resolution is specialized by each store. Readers derive project-relative paths, validate content-addressed layouts, verify sizes and SHA-256 values, then validate file formats and metadata. Feature, Match and Sparse SfM readers are bounded and do not constitute a generic Resource System.

External import sources are persisted as provenance. After a successful import, the managed asset is canonical and no longer depends on the source path. A moved project does not make an absolute external source portable.

3. Runtime residency and ownership

Tasks and processing backends own their working buffers. Readers and temporary objects have explicit local lifetimes. Vulkan ORB has its own bounded backend state. There is no shared runtime resource cache, generic loaded-object handle, generic unload operation or generic dependency lifetime.

4. Resource governance

The Resource Governor owns policy decisions for RAM, GPU, CPU and IO budgets. It consumes immutable task estimates, samples system pressure, chooses bounded lots and creates opaque transient reservations. A task must hold an active reservation before executing its callback and releases it exactly once.

The Governor does not own persistent IDs, resolve paths, validate file formats, load application objects, cache data or manage semantic dependencies.

Problem statement

No current or clearly-next requirement demonstrates the need for a generic runtime Resource System or a cross-store artifact resolver. Existing stores already provide the identity, path and validation behavior required by their contracts, while the Governor already provides resource admission.

Adding another layer now would invent ownership, syntax, persistence and lifetime rules without a consumer and could contaminate frozen Gate B persistence.

Four-layer model

identity / metadata
        ↓
specialized artifact resolution and validation
        ↓
task-owned runtime buffers and lifetimes
        ↓
Governor admission, reservation and bounded execution

The layers remain separate. No layer is promoted into a generic Resource System by this decision.

Resource Governor boundary

The Governor remains resource-type agnostic. It answers whether an operation fits current budgets; it does not answer what an asset is or where it lives. Tasks create estimates, request reservations, execute bounded work and release reservations. The Governor owns only policy, budgets, pressure, lots and reservations.

Project DB v16 boundary

Project DB v16 remains unchanged and frozen. It already stores the current logical IDs, content hashes, sizes, states, relations and artifact paths needed by implemented stores. No resource table, handle table, cache table, dependency table, schema field or migration is required by this decision.

No Project DB v17, bundle redesign, Track Model change, Track Builder change or persistence API redesign is part of this scope.

Options considered

A. Governor evolution

Rejected for the current ticket. The Governor is already the correct owner of budgets, estimates, pressure, lots and reservations. Extending it toward identity or artifact ownership would violate the current boundary.

B. Internal artifact resolver

Deferred as a possible future refactoring, not a current subsystem. It may be reconsidered if concrete duplication appears in path resolution, canonicalization, artifact validation or moved-project handling.

C. Generic Resource System

Rejected for the current ticket. No demonstrated requirement needs shared runtime residency, cache eviction, explicit unload, stable handles, stale-handle protection, runtime dependency graphs, asynchronous loading, streaming or CPU/GPU dual residency.

D. No new subsystem

Accepted. Existing stores and the Governor cover current requirements while preserving independent ownership and bounded execution.

Decision

NO_NEW_SUBSYSTEM

The repository must not add a generic Resource System, generic artifact resolver or Governor asset integration as part of the current architecture.

Rationale

• Existing persistent identities are sufficient.
• Existing stores already validate their own artifacts.
• Existing task and backend ownership is explicit and bounded.
• Existing Governor policy is sufficient for resource admission.
• No new public syntax or ABI is required.
• Gate B v16 remains untouched.
• The decision is reversible if a concrete future requirement appears.

Current scope

• Preserve the four-layer separation above.
• Continue using specialized readers and stores.
• Keep the Governor policy-oriented and independent of asset identity.
• Treat Gate A, Gate B and Gate C as closed at their verified boundaries.
• Correct factual documentation drift without turning future designs into current contracts.

Explicit non-goals

• Resource manager or generic loader.
• Global runtime cache or eviction policy.
• Generic resource handles or stale-handle protection.
• Generic dependency graph or cycle management.
• Streaming or asynchronous resource loading.
• CPU/GPU dual-residency manager.
• Project DB v17 or schema migration.
• Bundle redesign.
• Governor integration with persistent asset identity.
• BA, new orchestration, Task Runtime redesign or renderer redesign.

Syntax impact

No new syntax is required. Do not introduce resource://, asset://, UUID, manifest or handle syntax without a later concrete requirement and decision. Existing SQLite, Feature File, Match File, checkpoint and specialized path contracts remain authoritative in their own domains.

Persistence impact

None. Project DB remains v16. Existing IDs, hashes, metadata and relative paths are not renamed, generalized or duplicated.

Memory / resource impact

None beyond existing task estimates and Governor reservations. No new cache or resident object ownership is introduced. Existing bounded readers and backend buffers remain responsible for their own memory.

Concurrency impact

None. No new shared mutable state, worker, callback, lock or lifetime protocol is introduced. Existing Governor mutex/condition ownership remains unchanged.

Security impact

No new path-resolution surface is introduced. Existing specialized validation, content hashing, bounded input handling and protected file opening remain in force. No generic external-file access is added.

Testing requirements for future changes

Future store changes must retain their own path, hash, size, format, publication and corruption tests. Future Governor changes must retain admission, reservation, pressure, bounds and concurrency tests.

Only if a future requirement creates a shared resolver or runtime residency layer should new syntax, ownership, lifetime, cache, dependency and resource scale tests be designed.

Future extension triggers

A resolver may be reconsidered only after concrete cross-store duplication in:

• path resolution;
• canonicalization;
• artifact validation; or
• moved-project handling.

A generic Resource System may be reconsidered only after multiple real requirements emerge among:

• shared runtime residency;
• cache and eviction;
• explicit unload;
• stable handles and stale-handle protection;
• runtime dependency graphs;
• asynchronous loading;
• streaming;
• CPU/GPU dual residency; or
• invalidation.

These are trigger conditions, not current requirements or roadmap commitments.

Gate B freeze proof

• No schema or persistence code is changed by this decision.
• No new persistent identity is introduced.
• No Track Model or Track Builder contract is changed.
• No bundle or migration is introduced.
• Governor ownership remains limited to execution budgets.
• Project DB remains v16.

Therefore Gate B remains PASS / FROZEN.

Open questions

None block the current decision. Future viewer, dense reconstruction, artifact reconciliation or GPU residency requirements must be evaluated independently when their implementations become concrete. Future questions do not create current implementation requirements.