Make the marketThe cross-system protocolMakes data move

Spine

The protocol that lets data trade without leaving home.

StatusSpec
FIG · Two systems exchange a record across a gate; data stays home.

Spine is the cross-system protocol: the layer that makes data from any participating system discoverable, queryable, and exchangeable, without the data ever leaving the system that owns it. It is the gate between systems and the plumbing of the market.

The mechanics are continuous with what happens inside a single app. The same three modules (Store, Query, Channels) govern sharing within an app (where Frame implements them) and across apps (where Spine extends them over system boundaries). The principles do not change at the boundary; only the scope does. That is what keeps custody intact end-to-end: querying across the ecosystem is the same sovereignty model as sharing inside one app.

Spine is deliberately designed for participants that were never built on Frame. A government registry, an NGO database, or a traceability platform can publish to or subscribe from Spine. Anyone can build a protocol; Spine is worth using because of the supply already flowing through it.

Where it sits. Stands on the shared conventions at cross-system scope. Sibling to Scribe; independent of Frame and Forge.

01What it does
01
Discover across boundaries
Query a place, a company, or a person and get every available source, whichever system holds it.
02
Data stays at source
Buyers pay for permissioned access on the owner’s terms; the records themselves never change hands.
03
Open to any system
Frame-built or not, a participant joins by speaking Spine, not by rebuilding on our stack.
02How it works
FIG · Sharing works the same inside one app and across the whole market, only the boundary moves
  1. 01Store
    Where data + permissions live

    Own and acquired data, and the gateway from an app’s custom subjects to canonical DAAC subjects.

  2. 02Query
    Discover across boundaries

    Ask which systems hold data on a subject; identification and lineage return, content never moves.

  3. 03Channels
    Permissioned exchange

    Signed, lineage-bearing assertions; sharing settings travel, and can only be tightened downstream.

Frame runs these inside an app; Spine extends the same contracts across systems. Data stays at source, Spine holds metadata, routes and permissions, never the records.

03How it connects
FIG · Spine-compatibility is what puts a system in the ecosystem, Frame-built or not
Feeds inHands onConsoleobservespublishconformedplug-in · SDKFrame appscapture the fieldScribetoolNon-Frame systemsexternalpriced access →DemandexternalSpineThe cross-system protocolMakes data moveStands onShared conventions, identity · schema · provenance · sharing rules
Spine, the subject hereCopper edges, what it hands on to the marketDashed leads, tooling that watches, never steers
04What it’s for
FIG · The exchange stage, gate the encounter, never the data
SpineDiscover across boundariesone query, every sourcePermissioned exchangedata stays at sourceOpen to any systemFrame-built or notIntelligencethe demand-side payoffpriced access →· Risk management· Impact measurement· Due diligence· Opportunity assessment
05What it reports
Indicative telemetry
Not built yet, these are the signals it’s designed to answer for
Born wired · awaiting first run
Participating originsindicative

registered, key-holding systems in the ecosystem

Discovery queries servedindicative

one query, every source

Sources returned per queryindicative

the direct expression of cross-boundary reach

Records stay at sourcereal

true by design, Spine holds metadata only

Permissioned grantsindicative

each exchange appends one signed licensing entry

Metrics are deferred to a later version; v0 emits structured logs only. “Records stay at source” is architectural, not a counter. No live figures exist, none are shown.

06Where it does the work
Follow the thread
FrameThe framework tools are built onForgeThe agentic build environmentCrawlCrawls the public webScribeRenders any source into schema-conforming records
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