Open Standards for Federated Semantic Systems
A common semantic foundation for AI, organizations, software, devices and digital ecosystems —
so that independent universes of meaning can understand one another without giving up their sovereignty.
Why · Stack · Core Ideas · Standards · Repository · Existing Standards · Roadmap · Ecosystem · Start Here
📋 Status: Working Draft — see STATUS.md. Not yet to be cited as a finalized standard. Machine-readable index:
spec-index.yaml.
Every organization builds its own models. Every AI system creates its own context. Every product invents its own ontology.
Today we integrate data. Tomorrow we must federate meaning.
Meta-Universe is an open family of standards that lets independent semantic universes exchange knowledge while preserving Identity, Context, Ownership, Trust, Traceability and Autonomy.
It is not another ontology, database or platform. It is the constitutional, architectural and federation layer above existing semantic standards.
Why aren't existing tools enough?
| Approach | What it gives | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| Graph DB | flexible storage of nodes & edges | no sovereignty, no contracts, no projection of meaning |
| Ontology (RDF/OWL) | shared vocabularies | no federation lifecycle, trust model or disclosure control |
| API (REST/GraphQL/gRPC) | data transport | answers how to transfer data, not how to agree on meaning |
| MDM / Data Catalog | a single source of record | centralization; one owner of truth |
Meta-Universe answers a different question: how can two sovereign universes safely agree on a shared understanding of knowledge?
flowchart TB
APP[Applications]
DMM[Domain Meta-Models<br/>Employee · AISMM · ELMM · ...]
MUFP[MUFP — Meta-Universe Federation Protocol]
MMAS[MMAS — Meta-Model Architecture Standard]
MUC[MUC — Meta-Universe Constitution]
APP --> DMM --> MUFP --> MMAS --> MUC
classDef base fill:#1a1a2e,color:#fff,stroke:#888;
class MUC,MMAS,MUFP base;
Applications
▲
Domain Meta-Models (Employee, AISMM, ELMM, ...)
▲
MUFP — Meta-Universe Federation Protocol
▲
MMAS — Meta-Model Architecture Standard
▲
MUC — Meta-Universe Constitution
Each layer depends only on the layers below it. Lower layers never depend on higher ones.
| Principle | In one line |
|---|---|
| 🌍 Reality First | Models describe reality rather than replace it. |
| 🆔 Universal Identity | Every Meta-Object has one stable, global identity. |
| 🪞 Projection | Each universe sees its own context-specific projection — never the raw object. |
| 🌐 Federation | Universes exchange projections, not ownership. |
| 🤝 Knowledge Contracts | Knowledge is disclosed through explicit, purpose-bound contracts. |
| 🛡️ Trust | Trust is established, never assumed — and never confused with security. |
| 📜 Traceability | Every significant fact can be traced to its origin and its lineage. |
| 🔗 Semantic Interoperability | Schemas are shared before data is exchanged. |
See the full Manifesto and the seventeen Principles.
| Standard | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|
| MUC — Meta-Universe Constitution | The fundamental laws and invariants (21 articles, 6 chapters) | 🟧 Working Draft |
| MMAS — Meta-Model Architecture Standard | How to build, version, validate and package a meta-model | 🟧 Working Draft |
| MUFP — Meta-Universe Federation Protocol | How sovereign universes discover, trust and exchange knowledge | 🟧 Working Draft |
| Core Concepts — 04-core-concepts | The shared semantic vocabulary (Object, Relationship, Event, Contract, Projection, …) | 🟧 Working Draft |
Document status legend: 🟥 Planned · 🟧 Working Draft · 🟦 Draft · 🟩 Frozen / Stable
flowchart LR
O["Object<br/><i>what exists</i>"]
R["Relationship<br/><i>how it connects</i>"]
E["Event<br/><i>how it changes</i>"]
C["Contract<br/><i>on what terms</i>"]
P["Projection<br/><i>how it appears</i>"]
O --- R --- E --- C --- P
A single Meta-Object (a Semantic Point of Truth) is connected by Relationships, evolves through Events, is governed by Contracts, and is seen through context-specific Projections — all interpreted within a Context.
The repository is organized by semantics, not by file type — each folder answers a question.
00-foundation/ Why the standard exists (Vision, Principles, Terminology, Glossary, FAQ)
01-constitution/ Which laws it obeys (MUC, Governance, Change-Process, Conformance, Definitions)
02-architecture/ How meta-models are built (MMAS, Versioning, Validation, Packaging, ...)
03-federation/ How universes interact (MUFP, Trust, Identity Binding, Mapping, ...)
04-core-concepts/ The fundamental concepts (Universe, Object, Event, Projection, Context, ...)
05-reference-architecture/ How to apply it (Architecture, Stack, Patterns, Anti-Patterns, Diagrams)
06-ecosystem/ How it lives in the world (Registry, Compatibility, Certification, Roadmap)
07-guides/ How to start (Getting-Started, Federation-Guide, AI-Agent-Guide, ...)
examples/ How it looks in practice
LICENSE Apache-2.0
Meta-Universe unifies rather than replaces. It is a layer that lets these standards coexist and federate.
| Existing standard | Meta-Universe relationship |
|---|---|
| OData | imported & projected as business entities |
| RDF / OWL | imported as semantic graphs; federated, not centralized |
| Schema.org | imported as public web vocabulary |
| OpenAPI | described as a projection / service contract |
| BPMN | imported as process semantics |
| FHIR | imported as a domain (healthcare) meta-model |
| ArchiMate | imported as enterprise-architecture semantics |
External standards are imported as versioned Semantic Packages, aligned through Semantic Mappings, and composed via Meta-Model Composition — the rule for when a concept is a field, a nested model, or a reference — using the Connector Catalogue as the shared set of joints between the 1180 catalogued standards.
| Version | Theme |
|---|---|
| v1.0 / v1.1 | First conceptual model (Universe → Dimension → Galaxy → Object → Projection) |
| v2.0 (current) | Full standards family: MUC + MMAS + MUFP + Core Concepts + Reference Architecture + Ecosystem + Guides |
| Future | Candidate standards — SVF, MMQS, SMS, MUDL, Semantic Package Registry; reference meta-models; tooling & SDKs |
See the detailed Roadmap and the consolidated Candidate Future Standards.
Meta-Universe is designed as a family of repositories:
| Repository | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Meta-Universe (this repo) | The ISO-like open standard: MUC, MMAS, MUFP, Core Concepts |
| meta-universe-reference-models (planned) | Full reference meta-models (Employee, Organization, Product, AI Agent, …) |
| software-meta-model | A domain meta-model built on these standards |
| product-landscape-meta-model | The federation layer above AISMM: a whole product landscape as one model |
| meta-orchestrator-state | A polity modelled as one Dimension (Axiacracy / MOS): the largest known application |
| software-agents-contracts | Contract → Protocol → Deliverable specification for AI agents |
Compatible domain meta-models include AISMM, the Employee Meta-Model, the Enterprise Landscape Meta-Model and the Product Landscape Meta-Model.
Two in-depth case studies document how these concepts behave in real systems: The Orkestron Ecosystem (a production ecosystem of meta-models and federated projections) and Axiacracy / Meta-Orchestrator State (a whole state as a large meta-universe).
Vision → Principles → Terminology → Glossary → Constitution → MMAS → MUFP → Core Concepts → Reference Architecture → Guides
- Vision — why Meta-Universe exists (+ the Manifesto)
- Principles — the seventeen architectural values
- Terminology & Glossary — the language
- Constitution (MUC) — the fundamental laws
- MMAS — how to build a meta-model
- MUFP — how to federate
- Core Concepts & Reference Architecture
- Guides — Getting Started, Federation, AI Agents, Migration
New to the project? The FAQ answers the most common first questions.
- Documents are created in dependency order.
- Approved documents become Frozen.
- Frozen documents change only through an explicit Change Request.
- Later documents build on Frozen documents.
This repository is the standard. Around it:
| Repository | What it holds |
|---|---|
| meta-universe | The standard itself, plus the live register of meta-models (search, entries, registration flow) |
| world-models | The example catalogue: 112 vendor-neutral meta-models describing the world of people and events on Earth, each described per the standard with its own bundles and layers |
| fcd | Full Context Development (VC-FCD-001): every change made with full model context, every learning written back |
| processes | The operating palette: 81 processes in 7 families that keep a Universe functioning as the digital reflection of reality, with BPMN 2.0 diagrams and worked bootstrap examples |
The map of the family and the path of a model from publication to use in another Dimension: Vercy-Repositories.
Meta-Universe is an open specification. Contributions, reviews and proposals are welcome — start with CONTRIBUTING.md, the project GOVERNANCE.md, the Code of Conduct and the Security Policy. Changes flow through the Change Process; please read the Principles and the Constitution first — every contribution must remain consistent with both.
Implementers: the Core Profile defines the minimal mandatory subset to be "Meta-Universe Core conformant".
Copyright © Orkestron.AI. Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.
Meta-Universe is a federation of sovereign semantic universes connected through shared standards, contracts and trust.