Story: Improve cybernetics documentation
Table of Contents
This page documents a story in Sprint 18. It captures the goal, current status, acceptance criteria, and the tasks that compose it.
Goal
Deliver three bundled documentation improvements to the cybernetics meta-layer:
- A standalone cybernetics summary page (
doc/meta/cybernetics.org) that explains what cybernetics is and replaces the bare Wikipedia link currently used in several docs. - Expand Cybernetic Levels (
doc/meta/cybernetic_levels.org) with a section on how ORE Studio's approach connects to and diverges from Beer's Viable System Model, including known limitations. - A new Viable System Model knowledge page
(
doc/meta/viable_system_model.org) introducing Beer's VSM, linked from Cybernetic Levels and the cybernetics summary.
The three pages form a coherent reading path: cybernetics (concept) → VSM (the model) → Cybernetic Levels (how we apply it in ORE Studio).
Status
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| State | DONE |
| Parent sprint | Sprint 18 |
| Now | Nothing. |
| Waiting on | — |
| Next | — |
| Last touched | 2026-05-29 |
Acceptance
[ ]doc/meta/cybernetics.orgcreated as a v2 knowledge doc; covers what cybernetics is, key ideas (feedback, regulation, variety), Stafford Beer's contribution, and how it informs ORE Studio.[ ]doc/meta/viable_system_model.orgcreated as a v2 knowledge doc; introduces the five VSM systems and the 3* audit channel; links to Cybernetic Levels.[ ]doc/meta/cybernetic_levels.orgexpanded: new section explains where ORE Studio's mapping aligns with and departs from canonical VSM, and lists known limitations.[ ]Existing Wikipedia cybernetics links in the repo replaced with in-repo id-links where a suitable page now exists.[ ]doc/meta/meta.orgindex updated to list both new pages.
Tasks
| Task | State | Start | End | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improve cybernetics documentation | DONE | 2026-05-28 | 2026-05-29 | Create cybernetics.org, viable_system_model.org; expand cybernetic_levels.org |
| Spike: capture promotion runbook and compass support | DONE | 2026-05-28 | 2026-05-29 | Runbook + compass evaluate for promoting a capture to a story (UUID inheritance, content population, cleanup) |
Decisions
Out of scope
- Deeper changes to the ORE Studio execution model or agile process.
- A full academic treatment of VSM.