Concept
Libraries of cognition
How judgment travels as sealed, evaluated packages—not prompt collections.
Cover for Libraries of cognition7 concepts in this section.
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Illustration for Packages, not promptsShip contracts, not prose
10 minPackages, not prompts
A library packages contracts, evaluation artifacts, versioning, and substitution rules, not shared prompt text.
Illustration for Sealed, evaluated, and searchableFindable, bounded packages
11 minSealed, evaluated, and searchable
Library entries must be discoverable without opening every package, search metadata and contracts, not raw prompts or chain-of-thought.
Illustration for Substitution rulesSwap without rewriting callers
10 minSubstitution rules
Safe library swaps require identical contracts, comparable evaluation evidence, and explicit rollback paths, not silent behaviour change under the same name.
Illustration for Inspect before you callSee before you invoke
10 minInspect before you call
Callers must read contract, authority, evaluation history, and applicability from a library entry before invoking it, without executing judgment.
Illustration for Do not rediscover known workPublish once, adopt many times
10 minDo not rediscover known work
When judgment already exists as an evaluated library package, rewriting it in prompts splits eval history, raises cost, and breaks encapsulation.
Illustration for Skill library versus cognitive unit libraryTwo inventories, two cuts
10 minSkill library versus cognitive unit library
Cognitive unit libraries publish bounded judgments. skill libraries publish responsibility-sized procedures, different versioning, evaluation, and substitution semantics.
Illustration for Sharing judgment through librariesPublish judgment once
10 minSharing judgment through libraries
Libraries institutionalize shared judgment, leadership decisions become reusable packages with evaluation and authority, not ad hoc copy-paste across teams.