ADNA SPEC

VERSION 0.1

OVERVIEW

Artifact DNA (ADNA) is an open format for encoding ideas as self-contained, human-readable, machine-readable knowledge objects. An Artifact carries enough structured intelligence for a capable AI to meaningfully continue the idea — even if the original source disappears.

SCHEMA

{
  "adna": "0.1",
  "id": "uuid-v4",
  "title": "string",
  "essence": "string",
  "genes": [
    {
      "id": "string",
      "label": "string",
      "description": "string"
    }
  ],
  "relationships": [
    {
      "from": "gene-id",
      "to": "gene-id",
      "label": "string"
    }
  ],
  "parents": ["artifact-id"],
  "continuation": ["string"]
}

FIELD DEFINITIONS

adnastring

Schema version. Currently "0.1". Must always be present.

idstring (UUID v4)

Unique identifier for this Artifact. Generated deterministically at creation time.

titlestring

Short, memorable, human-readable name for the Artifact. Should be specific, not generic.

essencestring

The single most important idea that must survive. One clear sentence. If you could only keep one thing, keep this.

genesarray of Gene objects

Minimum set of important ideas, principles, constraints, discoveries, or decisions required to understand and continue the Artifact. Each gene has an id (short, e.g. g1, g2), a label (short name), and a description (what the gene captures). Typically 3–8 genes.

relationshipsarray of Relationship objects

Meaningful connections between genes. Each has from (gene id), to (gene id), and label (how they connect). Should capture non-obvious connections, not just proximity.

parentsarray of strings

IDs of ADNA objects that contributed directly to this Artifact. Empty array for original Artifacts. One parent for evolved Artifacts. Two parents for combined Artifacts.

continuationarray of strings

Promising directions, unanswered questions, or extensions. These are not tasks or to-dos. They are genuine intellectual frontiers that emerge from the Artifact's DNA.

MINIMAL EXAMPLE

{
  "adna": "0.1",
  "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-4789-abcd-ef0123456789",
  "title": "Portable Knowledge Encoding",
  "essence": "Knowledge structures should carry enough
    intelligence to explain themselves without
    the system that created them.",
  "genes": [
    {
      "id": "g1",
      "label": "Self-Describing",
      "description": "The format must be understandable
        by reading the object alone, without
        external documentation."
    },
    {
      "id": "g2",
      "label": "Dual Readability",
      "description": "Must be simultaneously readable
        by humans (visual) and machines (structured
        data)."
    },
    {
      "id": "g3",
      "label": "Survival Independence",
      "description": "The Artifact must survive the
        death of the platform that created it."
    }
  ],
  "relationships": [
    {
      "from": "g1",
      "to": "g3",
      "label": "enables"
    }
  ],
  "parents": [],
  "continuation": [
    "Could gene descriptions themselves be
      structured as mini-ADNA objects?",
    "What is the minimum viable gene set for
      a given domain?"
  ]
}

SVG EMBEDDING

The native Artifact format is SVG. The ADNA JSON is embedded inside the SVG's <metadata> element using a custom <adna> element:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" ...>
  <metadata>
    <adna xmlns="https://artifactdna.com/ns/0.1">
      {"adna":"0.1","id":"...", ...}
    </adna>
  </metadata>
  <!-- visual content -->
</svg>

To read an Artifact: parse the SVG, find the <adna> element inside <metadata>, extract and parse the JSON content. The visual representation is generated deterministically from the JSON data.

PARENT RELATIONSHIPS

Original Artifact: parents: [] — created from raw text, no lineage.

Evolved Artifact: parents: ["parent-id"] — one parent Artifact + new input. Inherits important knowledge from the parent and integrates new information.

Combined Artifact: parents: ["parent-a-id", "parent-b-id"] — two parent Artifacts synthesized. Inherits from both, identifies complementary ideas and contradictions, adds genuine synthesis.

INTERPRETING CONTINUATION

Continuation entries are not tasks. They are intellectual frontiers — promising directions, genuine unanswered questions, or extensions that emerge naturally from the Artifact's knowledge. A continuation item should be specific enough that a capable AI or human could use it as a meaningful starting point for further work.

ADNA is open. No lock-in. No proprietary dependency. If Artifact DNA needs ArtifactDNA.com to survive, we built it wrong.