Ocean-Atlas

Purpose

This directory contains the foundational architecture, standards, governance, and templates that define how Ocean-Atlas works as a knowledge platform.

These documents establish how Ocean knowledge is:

• structured;
• identified;
• classified;
• written;
• related;
• governed;
• validated.

They form the foundation for all knowledge maintained in Ocean-Atlas.

Foundation

The standards are organized from foundational architecture to concrete rules and operational governance.

Document	Purpose
001-knowledge-architecture.md	Defines the foundational architecture and long-term knowledge model of Ocean-Atlas.
010-metadata-schema.md	Defines the metadata model for knowledge items.
020-identity-and-relationships.md	Defines stable identities, references, and typed relationships between knowledge.
030-content-standards.md	Defines standards for writing, structuring, naming, linking, code, diagrams, and other content.
100-governance.md	Defines ownership, contribution, review, lifecycle, deprecation, supersession, and archival.
110-validation-rules.md	Defines structural and repository-wide validation rules.
120-knowledge-standards.md	Provides the governing entry point that brings the Ocean-Atlas standards together.
130-branching-strategy.md	Defines the repository branching and pull-request strategy.

Knowledge Templates

Standard templates for creating Ocean-Atlas knowledge are maintained under:

atlas/templates/

The templates cover the major knowledge types, including:

• Concept;
• Reference;
• Guide;
• Tutorial;
• Pattern;
• Example;
• Architecture;
• ADR;
• RFC;
• Troubleshooting;
• Migration Guide;
• Glossary Entry.

See atlas/templates/index.md for the complete template catalog and usage guidance.

Standards Model

The relationship between the foundational documents is:

Knowledge Architecture
        │
        ▼
Knowledge Standards
        │
        ├── Metadata Schema
        ├── Identity & Relationships
        ├── Content Standards
        ├── Knowledge Templates
        ├── Governance
        └── Validation Rules

The Knowledge Architecture defines the foundation.

The Knowledge Standards translate that architecture into common rules.

The specialized standards and templates define how those rules are applied to actual Ocean knowledge.

Evolution

The Atlas standards are expected to evolve as real Ocean knowledge is added and the platform gains capabilities such as:

Knowledge → Graph → Search → RAG → Assistant

When real usage reveals a gap or recurring problem, the relevant governing standard or template should be improved rather than introducing isolated conventions in individual knowledge items.