The Canon
The measure every system is checked against.
Our Canon is ten rules under three maxims carved at Delphi. Each rule names something you can buy and something you can measure.
How to read it
One keystone and three maxims.
The rules are grouped under three maxims carved at Delphi. Read in order, they move from understanding the business, to measuring the system, to restraint.
Architecture is decisive. As building gets faster, the design decides the outcome, so it comes first and every other rule rests on it.
Start with how your business actually works: the rules it follows, the records it trusts, and the data it holds.
Nothing ships on faith. Reliability is built and tested, every run leaves evidence, and new models are adopted after checks.
No more model, spend, infrastructure, or autonomy than the work requires. Authority stays with people.
The Canon
Three maxims. Ten rules.
The Greeks carved the maxims of a sound mind at Delphi. We organize our engineering by three of them, and hold every system to ten rules. In Greek, a kanon was the carpenter’s straight rule: the measure the work is checked against.
Gnōthi seauton
Know thyself.
We start with how your business actually works.
Metron ariston
Measure is best.
Nothing ships on faith.
- VReliability is engineered.Built from context, permissions, and automated validation.
- VIEvery workflow teaches the next.Each run records the decision, the correction, the outcome, and the cost.
- VIIBuilt to improve as models improve.New models adopted only after technical, security, licensing, and economic checks.
Mēden agan
Nothing in excess.
No more model, spend, or autonomy than the work requires.
In an engagement
How the Canon is used.
The rules are working checks, applied at set points in every engagement.
- In the designThe Blueprint checks the architecture against each rule, and records how the design meets it.
- In the serviceEach service names the rules it applies, and its page shows how.
- In the acceptance criteriaWhere a rule names a measure, that measure appears in the Acceptance Charter your approver signs.
- In operationReviews after launch return to the same rules: evidence recorded, models checked, authority with people.
The five declarations
What we hold ourselves to.
- We engineer the system around the models.Architecture, logic, data, and validation are what we deliver.
- We optimize for accepted outcomes.Every build is measured against criteria agreed in advance.
- We turn operations into institutional intelligence.Every workflow leaves the business with better data.
- We define where autonomy ends.Authority stays explicit and human.
- We build systems that improve as models improve.Today’s build benefits from tomorrow’s research.
Apply the rule
Check it against your own system.
Questions
Why maxims from Delphi?
The three maxims associated with Delphi are short and practical, and they have outlasted every fashion. That suits a method meant to outlast the current generation of models.
Is the Canon a certification?
No. It is the design standard we hold our own work to. Each rule names a measure, so you can check any system against it, including ours.
Does every service apply every rule?
Each service applies specific rules, named on its page. Across an engagement, the Blueprint checks the design against all ten.
Can we use the Canon without hiring Sophrono?
Yes. Each rule page ends with five yes-or-no questions to ask of your own system. A no marks a place to start.
Where do agents fit in the Canon?
Rules V, VI, and X govern them. Agents work inside agreed permissions, every run is recorded, and a named person approves consequential actions and releases.