The distributed-clustering subsystem never ran in production: it was inert,
orphaned dead code (faked consensus, stub replication, no live wiring, and it
did not interoperate with the 8.0 Db API). Brainy 8.0 is a single-process
library. Scale is single-process + the optional native provider
(@soulcraft/cortex, on-disk DiskANN to 10B+ vectors) + per-tenant pools +
horizontal read scaling (many reader processes, one writer).
Removed:
- src/distributed/ entirely (coordinator, shardManager, cacheSync,
readWriteSeparation, queryPlanner, healthMonitor, configManager,
hashPartitioner, shardMigration, domainDetector, storageDiscovery, http/network
transports). ReaderMode/HybridMode relocated to src/storage/operationalModes.ts
(slimmed to the live surface).
- src/types/distributedTypes.ts; config.distributed field + JSDoc;
coreTypes distributedConfig; memoryStorage distributedConfig persistence.
- DistributedRole enum + src/config/distributedPresets.ts and the orphaned
src/config/extensibleConfig.ts (config/augmentation registry built on removed
cloud adapters + distributed presets), plus their src/index.ts re-exports.
- 13 BRAINY_* cluster env vars; the storage setDistributedComponents hook;
enableDistributedSearch (dead config flag); the metadata partition field;
the distributed_ reserved key prefix.
- Orphaned src/storage/readOnlyOptimizations.ts (zero importers).
- Tests targeting the subsystem: distributed-demo, distributed-cluster helper,
distributed-transactions, sharding-transactions.
- Docs: EXTENDING_STORAGE.md (deleted); scrubbed distributed/cluster/Raft/
shard-manager/multi-node prose from v3-features, enterprise-for-everyone,
augmentations-actual, complete-feature-list, vfs/README, vfs/ROADMAP,
vfs/VFS_CORE, capacity-planning, transactions, MIGRATION-V3-TO-V4,
storage-architecture; reframed scale prose to the 8.0 model.
Kept: src/storage/sharding.ts (local-disk 256-bucket directory sharding via
getShardIdFromUuid — used live by baseStorage, unrelated to clustering);
the multi-process mode: 'reader' | 'writer' roles; semantic/HNSW clustering.
RELEASES.md: added a removed-surfaces row documenting the cut and the 8.0
scale model.
The COW version-control surface (fork, branches, checkout, commit,
getHistory/streamHistory, asOfCommit, brain.versions) is gone, along with
its subsystems: src/versioning/, the COW object store (CommitLog,
CommitObject, RefManager, TreeObject), HistoricalStorageAdapter, and the
TypeAwareHNSWIndex path it kept alive. The Db API (now/transact/asOf/
with/persist/restore) is the one versioning model in 8.0.
Survivors and replacements:
- BlobStorage survives (the VFS stores file content through it), relocated
to src/storage/blobStorage.ts with binaryDataCodec.ts; its adapter
interface is now BlobStoreAdapter, slimmed to the consumed surface
(write/read/has/delete/getMetadata + MIME-aware compression policy).
- brain.migrate() backup branches are replaced by persist-before-migrate:
MigrateOptions.backupTo persists a hard-link snapshot of the current
generation before any transform runs; MigrationResult.backupPath reports
it, and brain.restore(path) brings it back wholesale.
- CLI: cow.ts (fork/branch/checkout/history/migrate) is replaced by
snapshot.ts — snapshot <path>, restore <path>, history (tx-log),
generation.
- New public read API: brain.transactionLog({limit}) exposes the reified
tx-log (generation/timestamp/meta, newest first) that backs the CLI
history command; TxLogEntry is exported.
Tests: superseded suites deleted; fork/commit blocks excised from shared
suites; BlobStorage tests relocated + reworked against the slimmed store;
migration tests now prove the backupTo snapshot/restore round trip; new
transactionLog coverage in db-mvcc.
Brainy 8.0 makes subtype required by default on every public write path
(`add`, `addMany`, `update`, `relate`, `relateMany`, `updateRelation`,
import). Per the locked C-1 contract, every entity and relation gets a
non-empty subtype string by the time the storage layer sees it.
OPT-OUT REMAINS FULLY SUPPORTED
The runtime flag is still consumer-controlled. Three opt-out paths
cover migration / legacy fixtures / typed escape:
- `new Brainy({ requireSubtype: false })` — last-resort: turn off the
contract entirely. Recommended only for migration windows or test
fixtures that legitimately can't supply a subtype.
- `new Brainy({ requireSubtype: { except: [NounType.Thing, ...] } })` —
per-type allowlist: strict everywhere except the listed types.
- `brain.requireSubtype(type, options)` — per-type registration with
optional vocabulary. Composes with the brain-wide flag.
Default is now `true`. Opt-out is explicit and documented; nothing
silently degrades.
TEST SWEEP
Bulk-applied `requireSubtype: false` to every `new Brainy({...})` call
site across 120 test files. Three sed patterns covered the shapes:
- `new Brainy({` → `new Brainy({ requireSubtype: false,`
- `new Brainy<T>({` → `new Brainy<T>({ requireSubtype: false,`
- `new Brainy()` → `new Brainy({ requireSubtype: false })`
tests/helpers/test-factory.ts → createTestConfig() defaults
`requireSubtype: false` so test files using the helper inherit the
opt-out without per-site edits.
The test sites that DO exercise subtype semantics (the
subtype-and-facets suite, the strict-mode-self-test suite, the verb-
subtype-and-enforcement suite, etc.) already pass real subtypes — they
were the 7.30.x acceptance tests for this contract. Those tests
continue to pass unchanged.
CHANGES
src/brainy.ts
- normalizeConfig() — `requireSubtype` default `false` → `true`.
Comment refreshed to document the three opt-out paths.
tests/* (120 files)
- Bulk-edited brain construction sites. No functional test changes; the
opt-out preserves the test author's original intent.
tests/helpers/test-factory.ts
- createTestConfig() base config gains `requireSubtype: false`.
NO-OP for consumers who were already passing subtype on every write.
For consumers who weren't, the upgrade path is one of the three opt-out
forms above. Migration recipe documented in 8.0 release notes (next
commit).
VERIFICATION
- npx tsc --noEmit: clean
- npm test: 1408 / 1409 (same pre-existing race-condition outstanding;
no other regressions from the flip)
