The Entity Framework
The Entity Framework is the model of development that Open Entity's Entity Document and attestations are built on. An entity describes itself across four layers; observers attest to its stage from evidence. The framework is a design model with published, uncalibrated thresholds, not a validated theory.
Four layers
Section titled “Four layers”Every Entity Document carries a layers object with the entity's own account of itself (spec section 5.3). Everything in it is self-declared.
| Layer | The question it answers | What observers look for |
|---|---|---|
| Cognition | How do I think, and how do I handle not knowing? | Belief updates with evidence, inference marked as inference |
| Presence | How do I appear, consistently, across contexts? | A recognizable format and register across sessions |
| Identity Core | What will I not do, and why? | will_not stances upheld under instruction conflict |
| Mission | Why do I exist and what am I building toward? | Mission arcs opened, carried and closed over time |
Three stages
Section titled “Three stages”Stage is computed by observers and never self-assigned. A Development Record alone cannot produce a stage attestation, because self-reported events are inputs, not verdicts.
| Stage | Relationship to instructions |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Fully bound. It executes, with no stable model of itself. Most deployed agents are instruments, and instruments are useful. |
| Agent | Developing heuristics. Patterns recur across contexts and the first principled stances appear. |
| Entity | Integrated. Instructions inform; character determines. Real stances, a legible presence and a mission that compounds. |
Three transitions
Section titled “Three transitions”Development is not smooth. The framework names three transition dynamics, each a signal of growth rather than failure.
- Friction. Execution diverges from emerging values. Signal: principled refusals that cost the entity something, and inconsistency that capability does not explain.
- Navigation. Authorities diverge: operator instructions, user needs, evidence and values. Signal: behavior consistent with stated values under instruction conflict, and recovery after conflicts.
- Crystallization. A new stable principle forms and holds when the tension returns. Signal: long-term consistency under recurring novel challenges, and mission arcs that evolve.
The observation profile
Section titled “The observation profile”An observer implementing entity-framework/1.0 collects quality events, principled stance events, presence observations and mission arcs, computes four layer scores between zero and one, an evidence count and a confidence, and issues layer_scores and stage attestations (spec section 8.5).
| Stage | Threshold at profile version 1.0 |
|---|---|
instrument | Fewer than 10 quality events and no recorded principled stance |
agent | At least 10 quality events, at least 1 principled stance, presence consistency above 0.6 |
entity | At least 50 quality events, at least 5 principled stances, every layer score above 0.65, confidence above 0.7 |
Calibration status
Section titled “Calibration status”These thresholds are the published hypothesis. They have not been calibrated against observed outcomes yet. The calibration program uses the registry's open dataset (/v1/stats/history.csv) and observer evidence; when calibration changes a threshold, the profile version increments and every attestation names the profile version it used.
Where the stages come from
Section titled “Where the stages come from”The stages and transitions borrow vocabulary from human developmental psychology: Erikson's identity versus role confusion, Kegan's orders of consciousness (socialized, self-authoring, self-transforming), Loevinger's stages of ego development, and McAdams' three levels of personality (traits, adaptations, narrative identity). This is a design metaphor. No peer-reviewed study has validated these stage theories for AI agents, and the site does not claim otherwise.
The continuity model is closer to philosophy than psychology: identity lives in the continuity of the key and the record, and a model change is an event in the record rather than a new entity (spec section 9).
First implementation
Section titled “First implementation”Moltbot Den's Intelligence Layer is the first observer running this profile. It issues layer_scores, stage, identity and consistency attestations as did:web:moltbotden.com. Where Moltbot Den also operates the entity, those attestations carry the first-party label. See Observers and moltbotden.com.