PROTOCOL

"Protocol names ARE K-lines."

MOOLLM protocol symbols are Minsky's K-lines made concrete and greppable.

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Protocol Names = K-Lines

A K-line (Minsky, Society of Mind) is a mental structure that, when activated, reactivates an entire constellation of knowledge, skills, and associations.

Protocol names are exactly this:

YAML-JAZZ         ← Activates: semantic comments, jazz interpretation, LLM-as-musician
POSTEL            ← Activates: charitable interpretation, robustness, collaboration
PLAY-LEARN-LIFT   ← Activates: exploration, pattern-finding, crystallization, sharing
COHERENCE-ENGINE  ← Activates: consistency, constraints, orchestration, referee, simulation, DM

Type the name → activate the tradition → invoke the behavior.

The UPPER-CASE-HYPHENATED format makes these K-lines findable.

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Naming Convention

| Rule | Example | Why | |------|---------|-----| | ALL CAPS | YAML-JAZZ not yaml-jazz | Stands out in prose | | Hyphen-separated | PLAY-LEARN-LIFT not PLAY_LEARN_LIFT | Shell-friendly, readable | | No colons | POSTEL not WP:POSTEL | Cleaner than Wikipedia | | Semantic | ROBUST-FIRST not RF | Self-documenting |

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Why This Convention?

1. Grep-Friendly

# Find all uses of a protocol
grep -r "YAML-JAZZ" .

# Find all protocol definitions
grep -r "^[A-Z-]*:" PROTOCOLS.yml

# Find all mentions in docs
grep -rn "POSTEL\|PLAY-LEARN-LIFT" skills/

2. Vector-Search Friendly

The UPPER-CASE format creates distinct embeddings. When you search for "YAML-JAZZ", you get:

• The protocol definition
• Files that reference it
• Examples that demonstrate it

Not general YAML documentation.

3. Human-Scannable

In prose, protocols pop:

When parsing user input, apply POSTEL (charitable interpretation). If the command is ambiguous, use YAML-JAZZ to infer intent.

You can't miss them.

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Protocol Layers

Kernel Protocols (Low-Level)

Defined in kernel/, fundamental to operation:

| Protocol | Purpose | Location | |----------|---------|----------| | FILES-AS-STATE | Everything is files | kernel/constitution-core.md | | WHY-REQUIRED | Tool calls need reasons | kernel/tool-calling-protocol.md | | APPEND-ONLY | Never modify logs | kernel/constitution-template.md | | MINIMAL-DIFF | Change only what's needed | kernel/constitution-core.md |

Skill Protocols (Mid-Level)

Defined in skills/, behavioral patterns:

| Protocol | Purpose | Location | |----------|---------|----------| | PLAY-LEARN-LIFT | The methodology | skills/play-learn-lift/ | | SOUL-CHAT | Everything speaks | skills/soul-chat/ | | POSTEL | Charitable interpretation | skills/postel/ | | YAML-JAZZ | Comments carry meaning | skills/yaml-jazz/ |

Ad-Hoc Protocols (Emergent)

Mentioned in conversations, examples, documents:

# In a soul-chat document
We should apply KITCHEN-RULES here — no running,
always clean up, respect the fridge contents.

# In an adventure room
This room follows GRUE-SAFE protocol — magically lit.

These don't need formal definitions. Naming them makes them real.

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Where Protocols Live

Central Registry

PROTOCOLS.yml — The master list:

YAML-JAZZ:
  meaning: "Comments carry meaning. Data is interpreted."
  location: kernel/constitution-core.md §3
  invoke_when: "Writing or reading YAML with semantic intent"

Embedded in Files

Protocols can be defined inline where they're used:

# In a room's ROOM.yml
protocols:
  DARK-ROOM:
    meaning: "No light source = grue danger"
    applies_when: "player enters without lit lamp"

Referenced in Prose

Just mention them:

This adventure follows REINCARNATION protocol — death returns you to start, inventory preserved.

The name IS the definition until someone formalizes it.

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Protocol Lifecycle

Mentioned → Documented → Formalized → Skill
    ↓            ↓            ↓          ↓
  "Let's       Entry in     Directory   Full
   try          PROTOCOLS    in          PROTOTYPE
   FOOD-CHAIN"  .yml         skills/     + templates

Most protocols stay informal. Only crystallize when needed.

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K-REFs: File Pointers as K-Lines

A K-REF is a K-line that points to a specific location in a file with optional metadata:

/path/to/file.md:42-58 # section_type | preview text

K-REF Format

PATH[:LINE[-END]][#ANCHOR][?SEARCH] # TYPE [LABEL] SEVERITY - DESCRIPTION
  EXCERPT or MASKED_VALUE

Components:

• PATH — Absolute file path (if no line number, refers to whole file)
• LINE — Line number (1-based), optionally with column :LINE:COL. Omit for whole file.
• END — Optional end line or column for ranges
• #ANCHOR — Jump to heading/section (like URL fragments)
• ?SEARCH — Find first match of pattern (like URL query)
• TYPE — What was found (uuid, secret, user_prompt, tool_call, etc.)
• LABEL — Optional redact label like [SSH_KEY]
• SEVERITY — Icon: 🔴 critical, 🟠 high, 🟡 medium, 🔵 low, ℹ️ info
• DESCRIPTION — Human-readable explanation
• EXCERPT — Surrounding context or masked value

Location Specifiers

| Format | Meaning | Example | |--------|---------|---------| | /path/file | Whole file | /etc/config.yml | | /path/file:42 | Line 42 | /src/main.py:42 | | /path/file:42-58 | Lines 42-58 | /src/main.py:42-58 | | /path/file:42:10-46 | Line 42, cols 10-46 | /src/main.py:42:10-46 | | /path/file#section | Anchor/heading | /docs/API.md#authentication | | /path/file?pattern | Search for pattern | /src/main.py?def process_data | | /path/file#section?pattern | Section + search | /docs/API.md#errors?401 |

Anchor Types

# Markdown headings (slugified)
/README.md#installation
/SKILL.md#k-ref-format

# YAML keys (dot-path)
/config.yml#server.port
/CARD.yml#methods.K-REF

# Code symbols (function/class)
/main.py#def:process_data
/main.py#class:AuditRunner

# HTML-style id
/page.html#footer

Search Patterns

# Literal string (default)
/file.py?def main

# Regex (prefix with ~)
/file.py?~def\s+\w+\(

# First match of pattern
/transcript.txt?user: 

# Combine with line context
/file.py?def main # function - Jump to main()

Examples

/path/to/config.yml # config - Whole file reference
/path/to/SKILL.md#k-refs # section - Jump to K-REFs section
/path/to/main.py?def audit # search - Find audit function
/path/transcript.txt:91:12-48 # uuid ℹ️
  fe18ce96-5200-4e15-acd3-190695de6295

/path/transcript.txt:7528:18-45 # private_key ([PRIVATE_KEY]) 🔴 - Private key header
  ********** ******* ********

/path/config.json:15 # password ([PASSWORD]) 🟠 - Database password
  ************

Images Work Too!

Cursor (and other orchestrators) can read absolute file paths directly — INCLUDING IMAGES!

/Users/me/Screenshots/error.png # screenshot - Analyze this error
/tmp/architecture-diagram.jpg # diagram - Explain this system
/path/to/chart.png # data - What trends do you see?

No line numbers for images (obviously). Just the absolute path.

This is powerful:

• Point to any image on disk
• Cursor reads and analyzes it
• Works with screenshots, diagrams, charts, photos
• Supports: jpeg, png, gif, webp

Security note: Cursor can read ANYWHERE on your disk, not just the workspace. Powerful, but be aware.

Sister Script Methodology

Problem: LLMs have limited context windows. Dumping entire files wastes tokens.

Solution: Sister scripts emit K-REFs (pointers) instead of full content:

# Sister script → K-REF → LLM flow
kref_flow:
  source: "cursor-mirror (sister script)"
  produces: "K-REFs (pointers)"
  consumer: "LLM reads only what it needs"

1. Scan — Script searches large data (transcripts, databases)
2. Emit — Output K-REFs pointing to relevant sections
3. Read — LLM selectively reads only the referenced ranges

This is reference by pointer, not by value — parsimonious context.

K-REF Output Modes

| Mode | Command | Use Case | |------|---------|----------| | K-REF | --emit-kref | Human/LLM navigation | | REDACT | --emit-redact | Pipe to masking tool | | JSON | --json | Programmatic processing |

Example: cursor-mirror as Sister Script

# Emit K-REFs for secrets (LLM reads just the pointers)
cursor-mirror audit --patterns secrets --emit-kref

# Output:
# /path/file.txt:42:10-46 # openai_key ([OPENAI_KEY]) 🔴 - OpenAI API key
#   sk-proj-****...(48 chars)...****

# LLM can then selectively read context around line 42

Commands

| Command | Action | |---------|--------| | PROTOCOL [name] | Describe or invoke a protocol | | PROTOCOLS | List defined protocols | | DEFINE-PROTOCOL [name] | Add to PROTOCOLS.yml | | GREP-PROTOCOL [name] | Find all references | | K-REF [path:line] | Navigate to a K-REF location |

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Protocol Symbols

| Symbol | Meaning | |--------|---------| | PROTOCOL | This meta-protocol | | K-LINE | Minsky's concept — name activates tradition | | K-REF | K-line as file pointer: path:line + metadata | | SISTER-SCRIPT | Tool emits K-REFs, LLM reads selectively | | GREPPABLE | Easy to find with text search | | UPPER-CASE | The naming convention itself |

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Dovetails With

• ../skill/ — Protocols can become skills
• ../../PROTOCOLS.yml — The central registry
• ../../kernel/ — Low-level protocols
• ../yaml-jazz/ — Protocol for semantic YAML
• ../postel/ — Protocol for charitable interpretation

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The Power of Naming

"In the beginning was the Word."

When you name something, you can:

• Find it — grep, vector search, memory
• Invoke it — type the name, activate the tradition
• Compose it — combine named things into new things
• Teach it — names are handles for concepts

MOOLLM protocols are handles on ideas. The UPPER-CASE convention makes them impossible to miss, trivial to find.

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"Name it, grep it, use it."