:PROPERTIES:
:CREATED:  [2026-05-31 Sun]
:WEIGHT:  41
:ID:       d5c6e7f8-9a0b-1c2d-3e4f-5a6b7c8d9e0f
:END:
#+title: Distinguishing Features of the Passepartout Architecture
#+filetags: :passepartout:architecture:
#+STATUS: draft

This is a working list of what distinguishes Passepartout's architecture from alternatives. Not final — still being refined.

**1. Neurosymbolic (vs pure neural)**

Not an LLM bolted onto a database. The system fundamentally bridges neural and symbolic representations, not as an integration layer but as a unified semantics. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]] and [[id:0a33bd83-ff3c-4eac-bc97-83eb6702051a][design-decisions.org]] for the full architecture and design reasoning.

**2. Symbolic above neuro (vs other neurosymbolic architectures)**

The Gate is the mechanism: an ACL2-verified deductive layer that is authoritative over the LLM. The LLM proposes actions, facts, and interpretations. The Gate decides. The LLM cannot overrule a verified denial. Most neurosymbolic systems are neural-dominated with symbolic afterthoughts; this inverts that hierarchy. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]] for the gate design.

**3. Org-mode data store + neural index + symbolic index**

One file format for human and machine. The Org file is not a representation of the data — it IS the data. Both indices (neural embeddings for semantic search, symbolic assertions for formal reasoning) are derived views that can be rebuilt from the Org source. No translation layer, no schema migration, no vendor lock-in. See [[id:design-org-unified-ast][design-decisions.org]] for the full analysis.

**4. Wikipedia bootstraps general knowledge, LLM bootstraps specialized domains**

General world knowledge seeds from structured sources (Wikidata, Wikipedia infoboxes) at minimal cost. Specialized domains (regulatory compliance, physics, medicine) are extracted by LLM from prose, then verified by the Gate. The bootstrapping is cheap and incremental, not a 24.5M-assertion Manhattan project. See [[id:0a33bd83-ff3c-4eac-bc97-83eb6702051a][design-decisions.org]] for details on the Wikipedia knowledge seed strategy.

**5. Lisp and homoiconicity — one address space**

Editor, shell, browser, and agent run in the same Lisp image. The Gate is in the evaluation loop itself, not interposed as an OS layer. There is no MMU boundary between components because there are no separate processes. No IPC, no kernel boundary to attack. The system verifies code at the level where code and data share representation. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]] for the full address space argument, and [[id:0a33bd83-ff3c-4eac-bc97-83eb6702051a][design-decisions.org]] for the homoiconicity foundation.

**6. Social protocol**

Communication between instances is provable, not just encrypted. Every message is signed by a self-sovereign DID, tracked in a content-addressed DAG, optionally notarized. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]].

**7. Social network relies on: decentralization, cryptographic ID, payment layer, contracts**

No central server, no platform dependency. Identity is cryptographic, not account-based. Payment and contracts are native to the protocol, not bolt-ons. See the [[id:4a1f23b0-abc2-4def-9876-543210abcdef][social protocol stage]] for the protocol architecture.

**8. Unified social primer: the Note**

A single primitive — the Note — serves as message, document, contract, vote, and identity claim. The social graph is built from Notes referencing Notes. No separate types for posts, transactions, or agreements.

**9. Staged progression 0→7**

Each stage is independently useful and fully functional. Stage 0 (current) runs conventional Linux with Hermes and gbrain. Stage 7 is custom silicon with the full verified stack. The migration is progressive component swap, not a cut-over. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]] and [[id:5e7f1d2a-3b4c-5d6e-7f8a-9b0c1d2e3f4a][_index.org]] for the full roadmap.

**10. Self-modification / hot-reload (the autodidactic loop)**

Because code and data share the same representation in a Lisp address space, the system can modify itself without restarting. The Gate monitors its own performance, proposes improvements, and applies them with verification. The system learns to be more secure, not just patched to fix CVEs. See [[id:1c3ec48b-446c-50d2-b53e-126a81f5143f][architecture.org]] for the 10-step loop process.

**11. Cost inversion (80% symbolic at near-zero marginal cost)**

Symbolic reasoning is typically expensive (knowledge engineering, ontology maintenance). Passepartout inverts this: the LLM generates symbolic assertions cheaply, the Gate verifies them deductively, and the Org source stores them as a human-readable byproduct. The expensive part becomes the verification, which compounds with every use. See [[id:0a33bd83-ff3c-4eac-bc97-83eb6702051a][design-decisions.org]] for the token economics analysis.

**12. Potential revenue streams from Stage 1**

The social protocol (Stage 1) enables paid services before the full stack is built — DID registration, relay node operation, PDS hosting, compute marketplace fees. Revenue starts flowing before the Gate exists as a software layer. See [[id:5e7f1d2a-3b4c-5d6e-7f8a-9b0c1d2e3f4a][_index.org]] for the full TAM analysis.

**13. Dual growth strategies: social + institutional**

Social growth: DID identity propagates through existing social graphs, messaging as the substrate, PDS self-hosted by friends. Institutional growth: compliance appliances sold to regulated industries, verification as a service, enterprise gate configurations. Neither is sufficient alone; both compound each other.
