3cfaa1e1d3
Phase 1 delivers the complete durability and storage layer:
- WAL with crash recovery: Append-only journal with BLAKE3 checksums,
fsync guarantees, and proper seek-to-EOF on reopen
- Storage engine: sled-backed KVStore with scan_prefix for range queries
- Content-addressed storage: H:{hash}, V:{hash}, E:{hash} key patterns
- Ingestor: Background worker tailing WAL, writing to KV with 8-byte
aligned record headers for rkyv zero-copy deserialization
- Comprehensive tests: 31 tests covering crash recovery, round-trips,
and multi-cycle durability
New crates: stemedb-wal, stemedb-storage, stemedb-ingest
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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| .. | ||
| agile-agent-team.md | ||
| financial-due-diligence.md | ||
| README.md | ||
Episteme Use Cases
Real-world scenarios that demonstrate why Episteme exists and what it enables that traditional databases cannot.
The Postgres Test
Every use case must answer: "Could I build this with Postgres + a clever schema?"
If yes → It's not a compelling use case. If no → Identify which Episteme pillar makes it impossible.
The Four Pillars
| Pillar | What It Enables | Postgres Gap |
|---|---|---|
| First-Class Contradiction | DB holds conflicting facts without forcing resolution | Must pick one value or version-table chaos |
| Invalidation Cascades | Retracted evidence flags all downstream decisions | Recursive CTEs don't scale, app logic drifts |
| Multi-Signature Consensus | Weighted trust via cryptographic co-signatures | Join tables have no cryptographic proof |
| Semantic Decay | Old data fades from hot path but remains auditable | Manual WHERE clauses, inconsistent decay rates |
Use Case Tiers
Tier 1: Production-Ready
| Use Case | Pillars | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Due Diligence | All Four | Draft |
| Agile AI Agent Team | All Four | Draft |
| Life Sciences Evidence Chains | All Four | Planned |
Tier 2: Hello World
| Use Case | Pillars | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Competing News Sources | Contradiction, Decay | Planned |
Tier 3: Dropped (Failed Postgres Test)
| Use Case | Why Dropped |
|---|---|
| Git + CI already does this. Not a database problem. |
Contributing Use Cases
When adding a use case:
- Apply the Postgres Test rigorously
- Lead with the catastrophe (what goes wrong without Episteme)
- Show failing SQL for each feature
- Map to specific pillars
- Include a 5-minute local demo variant
- Be honest about what Postgres CAN do
Template: See financial-due-diligence.md for structure.