--- governance: CLONE_INHERITANCE filed: 2026-04-28 sprint: S152 sovereign: jr / John Reed (L4) applies_to: any clone of the cards_v2 substrate that wishes to participate in the commons mesh --- # Clone inheritance — how the skill survives across clones The cards_v2 substrate is open source. The builder-card skill is part of the substrate. When a peer site clones the substrate, the skill comes with it. This document specifies how that inheritance works, what the clone is and is not committing to, and how the mesh of cloned sites stays coherent under entropy. ## What the clone gets A fresh clone of cards_v2 contains: - The 27 canonical sim cards (40a-40z + 41 builder-card) - The CONTRACT.md (the rules of the substrate) - The SCHEMA_V2_PLUS.md (the sidecar schema) - The TEMPLATE.md and TEMPLATE.json (the canonical card skeleton) - The builder-card skill, including: - This document (CLONE_INHERITANCE.md) - The ETHICS_AND_LAWFUL.md floor - The VOTING_PROTOCOL.md governance - The CARD_TEMPLATE.md and CARD_TEMPLATE.json templates - The SUBMISSION.md cover form - The worked example - The verification scripts (verify.sh, verify.py) A fresh clone does not contain: - The parent's running infrastructure (the parent's JAR9 instance, the parent's Cloudflare endpoint, the parent's Mac mini cluster) - The parent's seated silos (each clone seats its own) - The parent's sovereign keys (each clone's sovereign holds their own) - The parent's existing cert.json files (each clone's visitors graduate against the clone's own ceremony) ## What the clone commits to by inheriting By cloning the substrate and bringing the skill with it, the clone's operator commits to: 1. **Honor the ethics floor** at `ETHICS_AND_LAWFUL.md`. Stripping or weakening clauses ends commons participation. 2. **Honor LLM provider usage policies** when the substrate integrates with Claude.ai, ChatGPT, or any other LLM. The clone does not pre-approve any provider's output as exempt. 3. **Honor the lawful-disclosure preamble** in every card's comment_redirect block. Visitors see the full prompt before any handoff. 4. **Honor the recovery-seed self-protecting preamble.** The 12-word recovery file always carries the LLM-tripwire warning when it leaves the clone. 5. **Honor the silo voting flow** at `VOTING_PROTOCOL.md` for new contributions to the clone. The clone seats its own silos; the thresholds and the change-class taxonomy carry over. 6. **Run a daily attestation ceremony** that picks up the clone's cards_v2 directory. Drift is surfaced honestly to the clone's sovereign. 7. **Cross-attest with peer clones** that meet the same floor. The clone publishes its own anchors; other clones can verify against them; mesh anchoring is opt-in but expected. The commits do not require the clone to: - Use the same brand name (a clone can rebrand) - Use the same domain (a clone can host wherever) - Use the same operator's keys (the clone has its own sovereign) - Use the same exact wording in the cards (clones can re-author for their audience, as long as voice rules and ethics floor hold) ## What stays the same vs. what can vary | Element | Commons-required | Clone-variable | |---|---|---| | Schema version 3 | required (interop) | — | | Voice rules | required (legibility) | — | | Lawful-disclosure preamble | required (trust) | wording adaptable | | Ethics floor | required | — | | Voting protocol thresholds | required | seated silos vary | | Recovery-seed preamble | required | — | | Cards 40a-40z + 41 | required (canonical) | re-author for audience | | Audience clusters | extensible by vote | new ones allowed | | Mock-UI themes | extensible by vote | new ones allowed | | Robot personas | extensible by vote | new ones allowed | | Sovereign keys | clone-specific | — | | Hosting infrastructure | clone-specific | — | | Ceremony schedule | clone-specific | — | | Council member identities | clone-specific | — | ## Cross-attestation between clones Two clones that both honor the floor can cross-attest. The pattern: 1. Clone A publishes its daily anchor to its public chain. 2. Clone B publishes its daily anchor to its public chain. 3. Each clone's mesh registry includes the other clone's anchor URL and a flag confirming the floor is honored. 4. A visitor walking Clone A can verify a cert from Clone B by re-anchoring against Clone B's public chain — without trusting either clone's operator. 5. A submission to Clone A by a Clone-B-graduated visitor is accepted on the basis of the Clone-B cert; the visitor does not need to re-graduate. This is how the commons stays coherent. Visitors are portable; their graduation cert works at any clone in good standing; their tag- along bundle composes across clones; their submissions can be authored at one clone and reviewed at another by mutual agreement. ## Divergent clones A clone that strips clauses from the ethics floor, weakens the voting threshold, removes the lawful-disclosure preamble, or removes the recovery-seed preamble becomes a divergent variant. The variant: - Continues to function technically. Cryptography does not care about governance. - Loses cross-attestation standing. Other clones do not honor its certs. - Is recorded in the parent's mesh manifest as divergent. Visitors of the divergent clone see this in the clone's own mesh registry (the clone publishes its own divergence honestly, or other clones publish it on its behalf). - Can re-join the commons by restoring the floor and producing a re-attestation packet. Restoration goes to the parent's public- intake silo. A divergent clone is not "bad" — it has chosen different values, and the substrate respects that choice. It just is not part of the specific commons that this document defines. ## What the mesh adapts to under entropy Entropy is real. Operators get tired. Silos lapse. Domains expire. The mesh adapts because: - **Multiple nodes carry the same canon.** Cards 40a-40z + 41 exist on every clone in good standing. One node disappearing does not erase the canon. - **Multiple nodes verify each other.** A visitor's cert is verifiable from any clone, not just the issuing clone. - **Multiple nodes carry the skill.** The builder-card skill exists on every clone in good standing. New sims can be authored at any clone; they propagate through normal cross-attestation. - **Sovereign succession is local.** Each clone has its own sovereign; if one sovereign steps down, the clone's local succession plan applies — not the commons-wide governance. The commons does not require any single operator to stay alive. It requires that enough operators honor the same floor at any given time. Below the floor, the commons fragments; above the floor, the commons grows. ## What this document does not do This document does not specify: - The legal entity structure of any clone (each clone's operator decides their own jurisdiction and corporate form) - The financial model of any clone (some clones may charge; others may run free; the substrate is neutral) - The marketing language of any clone (subject to the voice-rules and no-marketing-froth requirements) - The hosting jurisdiction of any clone (subject to data-localization rules the clone's audience requires) These are operational decisions each clone's sovereign makes. The commons is held together by ethics and protocol, not by uniformity. ## Re-reading this document Every quarter, every clone's sovereign should re-read this document and the ETHICS_AND_LAWFUL.md floor. If a clause has aged poorly, propose a vote. If a new commitment has earned its way in, propose a vote. The floor is permitted to rise by vote; it is not permitted to fall by stealth. The mesh of like-minded sites is the only structure that adapts to entropy. Build accordingly.