Deployable Artifact Standard
How guideStone becomes a self-leveling benchmark and portable science — the six-layer artifact model from entry point to plain-text documentation.
From Repository to Portable Science
guideStone certifies that a binary produces reproducible results. The Deployable Artifact Standard extends this to portability: the certified binary, its reference data, its integrity manifest, and its documentation travel as a self-contained object — USB drive, tarball, or OCI container.
Six Layers
| Layer | Purpose | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Entry point | One-command access | CHECKSUMS, detection script, platform fallback |
| 2. Binary layout | Multi-arch binaries | x86_64 static + GPU, aarch64 static |
| 3. Container fallback | Non-Linux access | OCI container image, Windows launcher |
| 4. Integrity | Trust without trust | SHA-256 manifest, CRC payloads, Merkle when provenance trio wired |
| 5. Self-knowledge | Where has this been? | liveSpore.json — tracks every machine visited |
| 6. Documentation | Human-readable context | Reference papers, tolerance derivations, plain-text README |
Self-Leveling Benchmark
The validation IS the benchmark. When ./hotspring validate runs on unknown hardware:
- Detect CPU architecture (x86_64, aarch64)
- Probe GPU adapters (Vulkan, fallback to CPU)
- Run physics checks (59 checks in the first artifact)
- Report pass/fail, wall time, throughput, GPU utilization
The consumer gets two answers from one command: Is the physics correct? and How fast is this machine? No installation, no configuration, no dependency resolution.
Cross-Platform Matrix
| Platform | Method | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|
| Linux x86_64 | Native binary | None (static musl) |
| Linux aarch64 | Native binary | None (static musl) |
| HPC / Slurm | srun ./hotspring validate | None |
| Windows | hotspring.bat (WSL2 -> Docker fallback) | WSL2 or Docker Desktop |
| macOS | OCI container | Docker or Podman |
| CI/CD | Container image | Any OCI runtime |
liveSpore.json — Self-Knowledge
Each artifact carries a liveSpore.json that records every machine it has visited:
{
"artifact": "hotSpring-guideStone-v0.7.0",
"created": "2026-04-10T00:00:00Z",
"visits": [
{
"hostname_hash": "a3f2...",
"arch": "x86_64",
"gpu": "NVIDIA RTX 3090",
"checks_passed": 59,
"checks_total": 59,
"wall_time_seconds": 42.3,
"timestamp": "2026-04-11T14:30:00Z"
}
]
}
The artifact knows where it has been and what it found. A PI reviewing cross-substrate validation does not need to ask “has anyone tested this on AMD?” — they check liveSpore.json.
Relationship to Other Standards
| Standard | What It Certifies | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| ecoBin | Binary structure | Structure axis |
| fieldMouse | Deployment surface | Deployment axis |
| guideStone | Output verification | Verification axis |
| Deployable Artifact | Portable delivery | Combines all three |
The Deployable Artifact Standard is the intersection: a structurally compliant binary ( ecoBin), verified by guideStone, packaged for any deployment surface ( fieldMouse).
Evolution Targets
| Target | Status |
|---|---|
| ARM GPU acceleration | Planned (Jetson, Apple Silicon) |
| genomeBin manifest | Planned (full composition artifact) |
| BearDog signing | Planned (cryptographic attestation of artifact integrity) |
| helixVision artifact | Planned (genomics self-leveling benchmark) |
| Multi-artifact deploy graphs | Planned (compositions of compositions) |
The artifact is the conversation. Not a pitch deck. Not a publication. Not a “contact us for a demo.” A self-contained, self-verifying, self-benchmarking object that runs the science on any machine and answers its own questions. Plug it in, run one command, read the results.