# 00-GENESIS

The **northern star**. What HAL is, the environment it runs in, and what changes when it
works. Every research effort and design decision is checked against this folder.

| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| [`mission.md`](mission.md) | Vision, mission, and the values that decide arguments |
| [`context.md`](context.md) | The environment — conditions, not aspirations |
| [`effect.md`](effect.md) | What is different when the work is done |
| [`how-we-build.md`](how-we-build.md) | Rules that hold across the mesh, each one earned |

## Rules

- Markdown only.
- **Stable by nature.** Changes here reflect a genuine shift in intent, not iteration.
- Research and design must be traceable back to what is written here.

## Note on `VISION.md`

The repository root carries `VISION.md`, an architecture overview predating this folder.
It is a useful description of *how* the mesh works and should be folded into
[`02-DESIGN`](../02-DESIGN/), not here — GENESIS answers *why*.

It has also drifted: it lists "Symlinks, not copies" as a key design principle, while the
operating rules forbid creating symlinks at all after one caused production data loss.
A founding document contradicting a hard rule is precisely the failure this folder exists
to prevent.