Action state
EXTEND · HOLD · RETRACT
What the governed process is permitted to do next. HOLD is a deliberate unresolved posture.
Machine implementation
Cognitive Basin / BasinLab
What if memory changes the shape of the next available action rather than merely adding another line to a log?
Boundary: this is a governed architecture for persistent state and replay. It does not establish consciousness.
A topological view of machine state
Repeated routes can deepen. Contradictions can leave scars. Recovery can create a new path without pretending the contradiction never happened. A HOLD region keeps unresolved work visible until evidence changes.
Two namespaces, kept separate
Evidence posture
SUPPORTED · UNRESOLVED · CONTRADICTED
How the current record bears on a proposition. These labels do not name actions.
Natural Math uses EXTEND / SENSE / RESTRICT for a different purpose. SENSE is a local operation; HOLD is not another name for it.
What BasinLab makes auditable
Persistent state
Changes survive beyond a single request.
Governance
Rules constrain which local action is available.
Contradiction and recovery
Corrections supersede without erasing prior evidence.
Replay
A reviewer can inspect how the present basin was shaped.
Canonical public comparison page
The canonical public page comparing learnable novelty, weighting, Basin updates, and host-bounded action is Persistent Observer. This Basin page stays focused on the governed implementation surface rather than the whole stack.
Build surface
The public platform repository contains the implementation surface. Architectural language here remains subordinate to runnable behavior and recorded tests.