Specification

Role of the specification series#

The specification section is the canonical written layer of UAI-1. Read it when you need the public contract, the semantic boundary of the standard, and the meaning that the machine-readable artifacts are expected to preserve.

How the current public record fits together#

1. UAI-1 defines the common envelope, profile semantics, support boundary, and conformance expectations.
2. Schemas and the field registry turn that contract into machine-checkable structure and public keyed-to-keyless order.
3. AI Memory explains durable project memory for AI systems and the live starter bundle shared with Project Handoff.
4. Project Handoff explains the draft AGENTS.md, readme.human, and .uai repository context layer for moving project state between AI models, agents, teams, and companies.
5. Agent File Handoff explains the AGENTS.md-triggered drop-folder intake pattern for files supplied by humans, other AI systems, and adjacent tools.
6. Registry publishes the six current profile identifiers, their compatible pairings, and their schema/example links.
7. Examples show request, response, capability, error, conformance, and async task-status records in working form.
8. The Validator applies both structural validation and policy checks so the same public record can drive review and release gating.
9. Implementations, Governance, and the Changelog explain what is currently supported and how changes become public truth.

Current published profile family#

• uai.intent.request.v1 starts an explicit piece of work against a declared subject.
• uai.intent.response.v1 closes that work or acknowledges it while preserving the same envelope.
• uai.capability.statement.v1 publishes supported operations, profiles, endpoints, and security schemes.
• uai.error.v1 gives failures a typed, path-aware public shape.
• uai.conformance.result.v1 carries validator evidence in the same standards family.
• uai.task.status.v1 keeps long-running async work visible instead of collapsing into private workflow state.

How to read the boundary correctly#

• Use UAI-1 as the public exchange and release-record layer, not as a demand to replace every local tool bus, runtime protocol, or trust stack.
• Use adjacent orchestration or tool protocols for local execution concerns, then map the externally reviewable record back into UAI-1 when public interoperability matters.
• Use credential, signing, and transport systems as companion layers that are declared in the envelope rather than hard-coded as one mandatory stack.

Machine-readable discovery#

Automation should resolve the public record through the discovery manifest and standards catalog rather than scraping page text. The discovery surface names the current routes, counts, and well-known entry points for the release.

Next step#

Continue to UAI-1 for the normative contract, then move through Schemas, Registry, Examples, and the Validator in that order.