Standards

What a standard is

A spec describes one item. A standard sets rules for many: how specs are written, what gets tested, what security work needs. In the BLOM method a standard is a document type of its own, the S-Std, with an owner and revisions like any other document.

Each rule in a standard carries two things besides its words: what it applies to, and how binding it is. See Standards in the method.

A standard applies by its own rule

Where a standard is kept doesn't decide what it governs. Harbor keeps its Security standard at the organization, but that doesn't put every rule on every Job. A rule about sign-in governs Jobs that change sign-in, and leaves a wording fix in the invitation email alone. The rule's own words say what it applies to.

BLOM's default standards say so at the top, in an Applies to line. When a task's context is exported, BLOM lists the standards in force where the task is filed: those kept at the organization, and any kept at the team that owns its product, at its product, or at an item on the path down to it. The list decides nothing about which rules apply. Each standard's own text does.

Strength and departures

Each rule has a strength:

Mandatory

It must be met, or covered by an exception from the rule's owner.

Advisory

It should be met. Work can depart from it by recording why, and the rule still shows as unmet.

Informational

Guidance shown with the rules. It's never checked.

A departure is never a pass. It keeps an unmet rule in view, with its reason, instead of hiding it.

In BLOM, the rules live in the standard's text, each with an ID, what it applies to, and a Strength, as BLOM's defaults show. The register lists each standard's rules, and each task records the standard revisions that apply to it. At a gate, each applicable Mandatory or Advisory rule is a requirement with a result of its own, and a rule that no check covers shows as a gap. A departure from an Advisory rule is recorded on the task with its reason, and stays in view.

The standards register

Standards lists your organization's standards by category: Brand, Design library, Engineering architecture, Data, Specification, ADR, Testing, Security, Operations, and PDLC. Each standard shows where it stands:

Select Write a standard in a category to start one. It's saved as draft r1. Open a standard to read any revision, see who saved each one and every approval, and select Edit text to change it. A save after an approval starts the next revision, as a draft, and the revision in force keeps governing until a draft is approved.

An Administrator adds, renames, and retires categories. The PDLC category holds each process's own standard, which is made and approved with the process.

Approve a revision

1. Open the standard

   In Standards, select the standard. Its open draft is marked, such as Draft r3.

2. Read it

   The page opens on the draft's text. To compare, select an earlier revision under Revisions, then r3 again.

3. Approve it

   Select Approve r3, write Why you approve it, and select Approve.

BLOM records your sign-off bound to that exact text, for Adopt. The revision is in force from then on, and the next save starts r4. Earlier revisions stay readable.

The people who approve are listed under the revisions, after Approves for Adopt: the founder, to begin with. Administrators can approve too.

BLOM's default standards

BLOM ships four default standards: the Specification standard, the ADR standard, the Testing standard, and the Security standard. When you create your organization, they're listed under Standards to start with, each ticked, and creating the organization approves the ones you leave ticked.

• A category with a default and no standard offers Use BLOM's default, which makes a draft for you to read and approve.
• A standard whose revision in force holds the default is marked BLOM's default · 1. Once it no longer does, it's marked Changed from BLOM's default.
• Revert to BLOM's default saves the default as your next draft. Every earlier revision stays readable.
• When BLOM has a newer default, the standard shows New default available. Select Read the new default, then Accept to save it as a draft to approve, or Dismiss with your reason.

A default is starting text. Taking it, or accepting a newer one, approves nothing by itself.

Agents' drafts

An agent can draft a new standard, or the next revision of one, with blom_draft_standard. The register shows the draft with who saved it and the person the agent answers to, such as Draft r3 by Codex for Ada Lovelace.

A draft governs nothing until it's approved for Adopt, and no MCP tool approves anything. An agent can also dismiss a newer default that doesn't apply, giving its reason, with blom_dismiss_default_notice. It can't accept one.

Agents read the standards in force with blom_read_primer and blom_read_standards. What BLOM tells your agent covers both.

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