Kernel Files

The kernel is the set of files Arkeus loads into every session regardless of topic. There are exactly four: north_star (why the system exists), identity (who the operator is), cognition_os (how the system thinks), and corrections (what it got wrong and learned from).

The order is deliberate. North star goes first because it sets the goal every downstream file refracts through. Identity goes second because the system needs to know who it is talking to before it decides how to talk. Cognition OS goes third because it translates the why and the who into operational rules. Corrections goes last because recency bias gives late-position content the strongest behavioral effect, and corrections is where the system records the mistakes it most needs to not repeat.

The total budget for the kernel is around 3,700 tokens. Anything that does not survive that budget cannot be kernel. It either gets pushed to a domain file (loaded on demand), or it gets refactored into a denser form, or it gets dropped. The budget is a forcing function: if something is important enough to load into every session, it is important enough to earn its tokens by being compressed.

Kernel files are promoted carefully. Proposals to add or edit kernel content are A3 autonomy class — the highest gate, requiring council deliberation and Ryan's explicit approval. This is because every byte of kernel applies globally, every session, every agent, forever until repealed.

The design principle behind the kernel: most of what looks like cognition is actually data. Data loads on demand. Only cognition — the rules for how to think — belongs at the top.