Genre
A genre is a kind of document, such as a concept, a note or a result. It fixes the document's job, its reader, its voice, its format, where it lives, which metadata it carries, how it may change over time, and which checks it must pass.

An agent writing a document reads its genre's card first, every time. So two documents of one genre read as if one author wrote them, and the gate can check what each genre promises. Voice is never set per document.

A genre gives structure and voice, never form. How an HTML page looks is its author's, on a free canvas: the card fixes what the page is, and the page decides how to show it.

What a card fixes, and what it leaves to the page

Each row below is something a card decides. The last row is the one thing it does not. Pick a genre to read its card down the column.

Read the card of
Jobwhat it is for
conceptDefines one term, once, so every other document can link to it. journalRecords one thing that happened or was decided, on its date. resultHolds one measured number, with its baseline, bound, evidence and the command that re-derives it. mapA front door over part of the library, in the order to read it.
Readerwho opens it
conceptSomeone who met the term elsewhere, often reading only the popover. journalThe owner or a collaborator, later, reconstructing a decision. resultAnyone about to cite the number, and anyone who doubts it. mapSomeone arriving cold.
Voicehow it sounds
conceptImpersonal, present tense, timeless. journalTerse. Past tense for what happened, present for what holds from now on. resultTerse and numeric. The bound sits beside the number. mapOpinionated and brief.
Format and placeone format, one path
conceptHTML, at content/concepts/{slug}/index.html. journalMarkdown, at content/journal/{yyyy}/{date}-{slug}.md. resultMarkdown, at content/results/R-{n}.md, from the lab pack. mapHTML, at content/maps/{slug}.html.
Metadatafields beyond the core
conceptNone. journaldate, required; kind and about, optional. resultprotocol, number, baseline, bound, evidence, rederive, date; supersedes when it replaces one. mapNone.
Lifecyclehow it may change
conceptRevised in place: draft, live, historical, retired. journalPermanent once committed. Its status is derived. resultPermanent once committed: live, superseded or retracted, derived from other documents. mapRevised in place: draft, live, historical, retired.
Checkswhat the gate holds it to
conceptA definition is present, cites nothing, and is the only one of its term. journalIts kind is one the library accepts; a word cap; unchanged since its first commit. resultA why section; a word cap; every field present; unchanged since its first commit. mapIts rows are present, and it is itself on a map.
Left to the page
Formlayout, figures, controls
conceptThe author's, on the canvas. This page is one example. journalA Markdown record: always set in the reading column. resultA Markdown record: always set in the reading column. mapThe author's, on the canvas, around its rows.
Read down any column: every row above the line has a value, and it is the card's, not the author's. Only the last row changes from page to page.

Where a genre comes from

A genre is a folder holding its card and a skeleton. folio looks for it in three places, and the first one found wins. An override in the library holds only what it changes, so the card underneath still applies and folio's upgrades flow in.

  1. First

    The library's own genres/<name>/: an override, a variant or a genre of its own.

  2. Then

    A pack switched on in the charter, which adds genres under names no other genre uses.

  3. Last

    folio's core: concept, note, entry, map, guide, project, journal and paper.

A variant, for a second audience

A genre can extend another. The variant inherits everything and overrides only what it states: usually the voice, the reader and the limits. A paper for a workshop extends the paper. A document changes genre only by promotion, as when a note that grew sections becomes an entry, and promotion keeps its id, links, comments and dates.

The trap: treating a genre as a template. The skeleton is the smallest part of it. The card also says what the document is for and what it must never do, and most of that is judged by the agent, not checked.

Related

The core has eight genres. A pack adds more, and a library can override a genre or add a variant for a second audience.

Where it is checked

The gate runs each card's checks on every document of its genre. Whether a page does its job well is left to the agent and the owner.