---
title: Relation to Passepartout's Existing Architecture
type: reference
tags: :passepartout:architecture:
---

:PROPERTIES:
:CREATED:  [2026-05-11 Mon]
:ID:       9d2255b0-e6c9-479e-9e93-4f871a2193fe
:END:
* Relation to Passepartout's Existing Architecture

The neurosymbolic engine is an extension of the existing probabilistic-deterministic split, not a replacement for it. The current architecture divides cognition into LLM-driven proposals and Lisp-driven verification. The symbolic engine deepens the verification side from "is this action safe?" to "is this claim supported?" — the same architectural pattern applied to a broader domain.

The self-repair criterion (a file belongs in core only if, when corrupted, the agent cannot fix it without human help) applies to every component of the symbolic engine. Screamer, VivaceGraph, the fact store, the archivist — all are skills, loaded at runtime, hot-reloadable, and recoverable from corruption. A corrupted symbolic engine degrades reasoning capability but does not kill the agent. The eight existing core ASDF files are unchanged.

The symbolic engine is not v1.0.0 alone. It is the layer that sits between the existing gate stack (which it makes explicit as facts) and the existing skill system (which it extends with deduction, contradiction detection, and provenance tracking). It grows within the current architecture without replacing any existing component.

See also:
- =ROADMAP.org= — the concrete phased implementation plan (neurosymbolic phases at v0.10.0 through v0.36.0)
- =ARCHITECTURE.org= — the current pipeline architecture
- =docs/DESIGN_DECISIONS.org#validation= — Whitehead analysis (now integrated into this document)
- =notes/passepartout-symbolic-engine-exploration.org= — the original architecture exploration
- =notes/competitive-landscape.org= — 55-system competitive survey
