ICE Observability is the structural observability layer of the ICE ecosystem.
It defines how execution is observed, reconstructed, and audited over time, independently from how execution is implemented.
ICE Observability is not a tool. It is a system-level architectural constraint.
Without observability, execution is unverifiable. Without verification, governance collapses. A system without observability cannot be ICE-compliant.
This project derives its assumptions and constraints from
ICE Foundation v1.0.0.
In particular, it enforces:
- Structural Traceability (Invariant I-001)
- Determinism and Reproducibility (Invariant I-002)
- Governance (Invariant I-003)
ICE Observability does not reinterpret these invariants. It exists to make them provable.
ICE Observability is:
- a canonical observation model
- a system-wide audit surface
- an immutable event substrate
- a bridge between execution and accountability
- a forensic-grade reconstruction layer
It defines how systems are seen, not how they behave.
ICE Observability is not:
- a logging framework
- a metrics dashboard
- an APM tool
- a debugging utility
- a monitoring UI
Those tools may exist downstream.
ICE Observability defines the ground truth they are allowed to observe.
Execution does not observe itself.
Observation is external, passive, and non-authoritative.
ICE Observability never:
- mutates execution state
- influences control flow
- gates capabilities
- introduces side effects
Observation is structurally separated from action.
ICE Observability sits outside execution paths.
It may observe:
- ICE Runtime
- ICE Engine
- ICE AI
- ICE Consciousness
- ICE Studio
- protocols, providers, and adapters
But it never participates in execution.
This separation is non-negotiable.
All observability in ICE is expressed as immutable events.
Properties:
- append-only
- time-ordered
- causally attributable
- serializable
- reconstructable
There is no hidden state. There is no best-effort logging. There is no silent loss of information.
If it cannot be represented as an event, it cannot be governed.
ICE Observability treats the filesystem as a first-class audit medium.
The directory structure reflects:
- causal domains
- execution boundaries
- lifecycle phases
Not implementation details.
This enables:
- offline analysis
- deterministic replay
- forensic inspection
- long-term accountability
The filesystem is part of the specification, not an implementation accident.
Observation events may be routed to multiple sinks:
- local filesystem
- IPC
- HTTP endpoints
- external analysis systems
All sinks are treated uniformly.
No sink may alter events. No sink may reinterpret meaning.
Observation is fan-out, never feedback.
This repository defines:
- the canonical observation event model
- routing and fan-out semantics
- filesystem persistence rules
- minimal validation and debug sinks
It explicitly does not define:
- visualization layers
- dashboards
- alerting systems
- runtime execution logic
Those belong to downstream consumers.
ICE Observability is structural.
If an ICE system cannot:
- reconstruct execution history
- attribute responsibility
- prove causality
- survive post-hoc inspection
then it is not ICE-compliant, regardless of correctness or performance.
ICE Observability is under active research and development.
Architectural boundaries are considered stable. Mechanisms may evolve, constraints will not.
Systems fail quietly when they cannot be observed.
ICE Observability exists to ensure that
nothing important can ever fail silently.
