The Lifecycle

Every embryo moves through states. The lifecycle is not a progress bar — it is a signal of how alive an idea is, and what kind of engagement it needs. The lifecycle is the method: define, probe, generate paths, then select the simplest. States are not renamed; the stance changes.

States

latent → germinating → growing → mature
                                    ↓
                                 fossil

Latent

The embryo exists but the agent has not yet engaged with it. The seed has been captured. The tension is implicit — present but not yet surfaced.

A latent embryo is waiting. Opening it auto-engages the agent; the first successful turn advances it to germinating.

Germinating

The agent has begun engaging. The first questions have been asked. The embryo is aware of its own tensions.

This is the most fragile state. The idea could grow into something or reveal itself as hollow. The agent's job here is to probe without breaking — to find the genuine tension without exhausting the embryo before it has developed.

Growing

Connections are forming. The embryo has survived initial questioning and is developing shape. Other embryos may be linking to it, or it to them. The agent may propose paths — alternative directions, not the answer — which you can keep as tensions or dismiss.

Mature

The idea has a clearer shape. Remaining work is to close or reopen. The agent asks whether this is the simplest effective form, and may propose fossilization.

A mature embryo is ready to be closed — either because it has been absorbed into something else, or because it has achieved its final form. The transition out of mature is always to fossil, though you can still jump backward to a living state before closing.

Fossil

The embryo has been closed. It is no longer active, but it is not erased. A fossil retains:

• The original seed
• The full lifecycle history
• The reason for closure (always recorded)
• The connections it held at the time of closure

See Fossils & Memory for the full picture.

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Transitions

Who advances an embryo?

• First agent engage on a LATENT embryo sets GERMINATING (logged as STATE_CHANGED initiated by AGENT). The collaborator panel shows state → germinating · first engage. That is the germination trigger in the current lab.
• You can jump to any other living state from the detail page at any time (including backward). There is no adjacency graph.
• The agent does not suggest other lifecycle transitions. Path and fossil proposals are separate HITL notes.

The fossilization transition

Fossilization is terminal. It always requires a reason. It is never silent.

See Fossils & Memory for how fossilization works.

Reverting states

An embryo can move backward in the lifecycle if new tensions emerge. A mature embryo can return to growing. A fossilized embryo cannot be reverted.

Resurrection — ↺ resurrect on a fossil creates a new LATENT embryo with a confirmed RESURRECTS link back to the fossil. The agent may also propose RESURRECTS to a fossil in context.

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What state signals

State	What it means	Agent engagement
Latent	Waiting to name the real problem	DEFINE — recover the problem if the seed is already a solution
Germinating	Being probed	PROBE / INVERT — assumptions, not patches
Growing	Generating paths, not the answer	VARIETY — alternative directions; optional path proposals
Mature	Tension resolved — close or reopen	SIMPLEST — remaining tension, or fossil proposal
Fossil	Path closed, reason kept	No agent input

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Next: The Agent