Protocol specification
Open Values Standard
The file-first protocol underneath Values Commons. It defines how values, evidence, lenses, rankings, assemblies, and slates can move between instances without asking one platform for permission.
The shape
Small files, reproducible decisions
The standard is not a social network or a ranking authority. It is a grammar for values-relative decision systems that can be inspected, forked, merged, and re-run.
Passport
A local, nameless file of weights and vetoes that says what matters to a person or group.
Lens
A sourced roster of options, criteria, scores, notes, links, and dates. It can be corrected or forked.
Ranking
A deterministic result from a passport plus a lens. Same inputs, same order, with withheld confidence when facts are thin.
Assembly
Many passports merged into a shared stance that preserves disagreement instead of smoothing it away.
Slate
A derived list of buys, avoids, switches, or priorities with the reason and evidence attached.
Instance
A domain-specific front end running the shared shell and engine with its own lens, skin, and language.
Conformance v0.1
What counts as standard-aligned
A project can be creative in its domain and design, but the core promise should stay recognizable.