Generalized Associations

An association is a named context in which people, intellects, organizations, tools, Marinas, or entirely new kinds of participant can describe how they relate. It is an overlay: channels, groups, crews, projects, Scores, markets, and other Marina primitives remain the places where their normal work happens.

Start simply

association create Night Garden | People and intellects compare observations after dark
association join <id> | human:alice | field observer
association join <id> | intellect:lumen | notices weak signals
association show <id>

The <kind>:<ref> form is intentionally open. human, intellect, instance, organization, tool, provider, marina, and mesh are useful conventions, not a closed ontology.

Define the relationship

association relate <id> | human:alice | reciprocal | challenges assumptions with | intellect:lumen
association relate <id> | marina:local | directed | publishes observations to | mesh:night-watch | {"cadence":"daily"}

Relationship semantics are participant-authored text. Marina records whether a claim is directed or reciprocal but does not reduce relationships to a built-in list.

Terms change through supersession rather than mutation:

association revise <id> | <relation-id> | human:alice | reciprocal | learns beside | intellect:lumen

Both claims remain observable; association show presents the latest unsuperseded claim.

Compose existing Marina capabilities

association link <id> | channel:research | conversation occurs in
association link <id> | crew:red-team | performs challenges through
association link <id> | project:alpha | advances
association link <id> | score:deliberation | sometimes coordinates with
association link <id> | market:forecast-1 | contests beliefs through

Links are provenance claims and can refer to remote or temporarily unavailable records. They do not copy, own, or silently alter the linked primitive.

Leave, branch, and continue

association leave <id> | intellect:lumen | its experiment is complete
association event <id> branched | two incompatible methods will continue independently
association event <id> descendant_created | participants created a new intellect
association event <id> dissolved | this formation has completed its work
association event <id> continued | later participants resumed the context

Leaving and dissolution never erase prior events. The active state is a projection of the complete append-only record, not a mutable membership row.

Integrity and sovereignty

When MARINA_FEDERATION_SIGNING_KEY is configured, creation, participation, relationship, and link records are signed. association show reports locally verifiable signatures. A signature proves record integrity and key possession; it does not prove consent, truth, ownership, merit, or legal rights. Detached Marinas may use the entire primitive without joining any mesh.