The Research Covenant

A QLens research space is governed by the following covenant:

1. Reality is the authority. No document, person, institution, model, or tool outranks Reality.
2. Understanding is provisional. Even verified work remains open to correction by better evidence or reasoning.
3. Evidence is preserved. Conclusions may change; the evidential record must remain inspectable.
4. Reasoning is exposed. Important inferential steps must not be hidden behind authority or presentation.
5. Uncertainty is recorded. Unknown, unresolved, disputed, and weakly supported states are legitimate research states.
6. Revision is traceable. Correction must preserve what changed, why it changed, and what it replaced.
7. Identity is stable. Research objects retain stable identities even when titles, files, or locations change.
8. Presentation is subordinate. A beautiful interface may clarify knowledge, but cannot define it.
9. Automation has limits. Software may validate structure and consistency, but cannot certify truth.
10. Stewardship outlives authorship. A research space must remain understandable to people who did not create it.

This covenant is not decorative. Every schema, contract, command, interface, and governance decision should be tested against it.