Evidence is the unit of trust
CoreCortex separates source truth, derived retrieval units, relationships, storage indexes, and evaluation so each decision remains inspectable.
Corpus
A corpus is the versioned boundary around datasets, transformations, indexes, retrieval policies, and access rules. A configuration revision is immutable after it is applied.
Records, fragments, and relations
| Object | Purpose | Identity |
|---|---|---|
| Record | Canonical normalized source object | Stable within a dataset |
| Fragment | Retrievable unit derived from a record | Reproducible from source + transform revision |
| Relation | Typed connection among records or fragments | Explicit provenance and direction |
Provenance
Every derived item should be traceable to its source, transformation, and configuration revision. That lineage supports citations, deletion propagation, rebuilds, and audit.
Retrieval plans
A retrieval plan is authored policy, not hidden application logic. It selects indexes, filtering rules, fusion or reranking stages, evidence limits, and fallback behavior.
Evaluation as infrastructure
Golden examples live outside the operational database and are versioned as line-delimited records. They test retrieval behavior independently of answer presentation and become the scorecard for storage experiments.