Snapshot and Lineage Schema
Reference for version, snapshot, and lineage context used to support reproducibility-oriented reading of generated outputs.
Snapshot and lineage metadata provide the reproducibility context around a generated output.
They answer the question: "What versioned context produced this artifact, and how should that artifact be interpreted later?"
What snapshot context covers
Snapshot-oriented metadata may include context such as:
- engine or ruleset version
- generation timestamp or generation context
- artifact lineage information
- identifiers needed to reconnect an output with its audit metadata
What lineage means
Lineage should be read as provenance continuity. It helps distinguish:
- the current artifact from older related outputs
- the generation context used for a specific export
- re-generated outputs from earlier computation states
Why this matters
Without snapshot and lineage context, a figure can be visually identical while still being difficult to interpret reproducibly.
With snapshot and lineage metadata, the system can preserve a clearer record of:
- which computational rules were in effect
- which generation surface produced the output
- whether the output belongs to a later or earlier artifact history
Important limit
Lineage metadata improves reproducibility, but it does not remove the need for version-aware interpretation.
If a future release changes computational behavior, lineage helps record which context produced the earlier result. It does not make all versions equivalent.
For release-facing version expectations, see Ruleset Versioning.