From ae17a1ccf01622eda7bbbc3a298e8f5d1f880a7d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: rajames Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:15:19 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] docs(v4.0.0): talking nodes -- a node is born empty and takes in its first capsule Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 --- docs/v4.0.0/ENGINE.md | 9 +++++++++ 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+) diff --git a/docs/v4.0.0/ENGINE.md b/docs/v4.0.0/ENGINE.md index 8eeba6a2..cbf46bb8 100644 --- a/docs/v4.0.0/ENGINE.md +++ b/docs/v4.0.0/ENGINE.md @@ -316,6 +316,15 @@ Rulings on that step so far: spin; it is blocked reading its ports and wakes when a neighbour writes, and the console handing it a line is a message arriving on a port like any other. +- **A node is born empty (ruled, "A").** It has nothing but the ability + to listen: it is blocked reading its ports, and the first thing a + neighbour sends it is a capsule of F18 code, which it takes in and runs, + as an F18 node executes what arrives at its port. StarForth's nucleus is + then itself a capsule — the one that makes an empty node able to digest + FORTH-source capsules — and is named, hashed, signed and recorded in + parity like any other, where today it is linked into the binary. The one + thing every node has, whatever it becomes, is the fixed behaviour at + reset by which it takes in its first capsule. - **How it grows: "Only the central node can connect to only another central node."** So the five are a unit: four outer nodes and their centre. An outer node is wired only inside its own unit. Units are joined