JellyLabs Foundation Charter

Status: Foundational
Version: v1
Scope: Orientation and intent
Audience: Maintainers, contributors, readers, future stewards

1. Purpose

The JellyLabs Foundation exists to enable AI-assisted work that remains human-governed, deterministic at convergence, and trustworthy at publication.

This charter describes the intent behind the foundation—not its mechanics.

Protocols define how the system operates; this charter defines why it exists and how it should be stewarded.

2. Core Commitment

Human authority is never delegated to tools.

AI systems may assist with:

  • exploration,
  • planning,
  • critique,
  • and synthesis,

but responsibility for decisions, acceptance, and publication always rests with humans.

This commitment is absolute.

3. The Shape of the System

The foundation is intentionally structured as a sequence of governed stages:

  1. Decide what may exist
  2. Develop work deterministically toward convergence
  3. Publish only curated, canonical artifacts
  4. Explain outcomes without redefining authority
  5. Evolve deliberately without drift

Each stage answers a different kind of uncertainty and is governed separately to prevent category errors.

4. Exploration vs. Canon

The foundation draws a hard boundary between:

  • exploration, which is private, provisional, and free-form, and
  • canon, which is public, stable, and governed.

Exploration is encouraged. Canon is earned.

No artifact becomes canonical by accident, convenience, or repetition.

5. Safety Philosophy

Safety in this system is defined as preserving authority, clarity, and trust over time.

The foundation prioritizes:

  • preventing accidental canonization,
  • preventing authority confusion,
  • preventing silent drift,
  • and containing failures when governance breaks down.

It does not attempt to solve all risks—only those that threaten the system’s integrity.

6. Limits and Honesty

This foundation makes no claim to:

  • universal applicability,
  • speed optimization,
  • complete reproducibility of internal process,
  • or immunity from misuse.

Its strength lies in explicit limits, not total control.

Where the system is insufficient, human judgment is expected to intervene openly.

7. Stewardship Over Ownership

The foundation is designed to outlive its initial authors.

Stewardship responsibilities include:

  • maintaining clarity of authority,
  • resisting unnecessary formalization,
  • sunsetting artifacts intentionally,
  • and favoring explicit decisions over implicit norms.

The goal is continuity of intent, not preservation of form.

8. How to Read This System

For readers and adopters:

  • Specifications are authoritative.
  • Documentation is explanatory.
  • Examples illustrate, but do not define.
  • Decisions are traceable.
  • Silence does not imply approval.

Understanding is a prerequisite for use.

9. Closing Statement

This foundation is intentionally boring in the right ways.

It exists to make AI-assisted work:

  • creative during exploration,
  • disciplined during convergence,
  • and trustworthy at publication.

If future changes preserve that balance, the foundation is succeeding.

If they do not, the foundation should be questioned—even if the change is popular.