COS v0.2 Draft ChaptersSingle pageJSON Schema

Context Object Specification v0.2

Version: 0.2
Release Status: Draft
Short Name: COS v0.2

1. Purpose

This catalog is the canonical table of contents for Context Object Specification v0.2.

The files listed here define the current v0.2 specification set.

COS v0.2 has not been publicly released. This directory MAY be revised freely until the first release package is published.

1.1 Requirement language

The key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, NOT RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119 and RFC 8174, when and only when they appear in all capitals.

1.2 Conformance authority

Chapter 200 defines the canonical exchange shape. Normative prose is authoritative for semantics; the JSON Schema is normative for structural validation. The Pipeline and Plugin parts define a reference runtime architecture and are not required for exchange-format conformance.

The normative Conformance chapter defines independent implementation classes. Security and Privacy Considerations apply to all conforming implementations.

2. Reading Order

Implementers SHOULD read the specification in this order:

  1. Part I — Foundation
  2. Part II — Core Model
  3. Part III — Pipeline
  4. Part IV — Plugin
  5. Part V — Adoption Evolution

3. Catalog

Part I — Foundation

Chapter Title Status File
100 Core Philosophy Normative Core Philosophy
110 Vision Informative Vision
120 Problem Statement Informative Problem Statement
130 Terminology Normative Terminology
140 Design Principles Normative Design Principles

Part II — Core Model

Chapter Title Status File
200 Context Object Normative Context Object
210 Selection Normative Selection
220 Document Informative — Supporting Document
225 Context Normative Context
230 Hierarchy Informative — Supporting Hierarchy
235 Association Informative — Supporting Association
240 Semantic Informative — Supporting Semantic
250 Recommendation Informative — Optional Recommendation
260 Metadata Informative — Supporting Metadata
270 Extension Normative Extension

Part III — Pipeline

Chapter Title Status File
300 Pipeline Normative — Runtime Profile Pipeline
310 Pipeline Stages Normative — Runtime Profile Pipeline Stages
320 Lifecycle Normative — Runtime Profile Lifecycle

Part IV — Plugin

Chapter Title Status File
400 Plugin Specification Normative — Plugin Profile Plugin Specification
410 Adapter Normative — Adapter Profile Adapter
420 Compatibility Normative — Plugin/Adapter Profiles Compatibility

Part V — Adoption Evolution

Chapter Title Status File
500 Examples Informative Examples
510 Best Practices Informative Best Practices
520 Future Work Informative Future Work

4. Specification layers

The Core Exchange Format consists of Conformance, Security, Chapters 100, 130-140, and Chapters 200, 210, 225, and 270.

Chapters 220, 230, 235, 240, 250, and 260 provide supporting or optional models. They do not add required top-level fields.

Part III is the normative Runtime Profile only for implementations claiming Runtime conformance. Part IV is the normative Plugin/Adapter Profile only for implementations claiming those classes.

Informative chapters provide motivation, examples, best practices, and future direction. They do not define additional protocol requirements.

5. Draft Policy

COS v0.2 is the working baseline for the first reference implementation.

Until the first public release, changes SHOULD prioritize:

The specification SHOULD NOT preserve unused fields or structures only for historical compatibility before release.