Sub-circle Reference (circle-ref)

Category: foundation | Form: | Symbol: Cr

Reference tile pointing to a nested child circle

A system-managed pointer tile representing a child circle nested inside this circle. Created automatically by the add_subcircle op — not user-creatable. Double-click on the canvas navigates into the child circle (circle switch). The tile shows the child circle’s name and type; it does not expose the child’s internal state.

Guide

System element — not user-creatable. Created by add_subcircle on the parent circle.

Purpose

A circle-ref is a reference tile that lives in a parent circle’s element table and points to a nested child circle. It is the mechanism by which the parent’s canvas, tree, and library can see and navigate to child circles.

Without a reference tile, a child circle is invisible to its parent’s element listings — the child’s own circle_{uuid}.elements self-row exists, but there is no corresponding row in the parent’s circle_{parent_uuid}.elements table. The circle-ref tile closes this gap.

Key design invariants

Invariant	Rationale
Fresh UUID — the tile’s elements.id is a new UUID, not the child’s circle_id	Avoids element_registry PK collision and non-deterministic circle_id fighting in element_registry_sync_element
Pointer semantics — child’s UUID in spec.child_circle_id	The tile references the child; it is not the child
Immutable spec — no mutation ops	Created at add_subcircle time; lifecycle ops in Phase E
Not exported — export_bundle skips element_type=circle-ref	Reference tiles are foreign-circle pointers; the child exports itself

Canvas behaviour

• The portal canvas renders circle-ref tiles as portal tiles with the child’s display_name
• Double-click = circle switch: navigate to /{child_name}, rebind the session — NOT in-canvas descent
• The “airtight circles” invariant is preserved: a parent sees the child only as a static metadata tile, never its contents or live activity

Filtering

GET /api/{circle}/{slug}/ops/children?type=circle-ref   # only sub-circle tiles
GET /api/{circle}/{slug}/ops/children?type=python       # only Python functions

Spec fields

Field	Type	Immutable	Description
child_circle_id	UUID	Yes	The referenced child circle
child_circle_name	string	Yes	Slug cached at creation time
child_display_name	string	No (cached)	Display name cached at creation
encryption	standard|independent	Yes	Key hierarchy mode

Stale pointer handling

When a parent circle is deleted (orphaned via ON DELETE SET NULL), the circle-ref tile becomes a stale pointer. The resolve op returns exists: false in this case. Phase E adds an explicit cleanup/reparent op.

Relationships

• Uses: circle

Capabilities

• subcircle-pointer: Acts as the parent-canvas representation of a nested child circle. Provides drill-into-circle navigation affordance without exposing child-circle contents.

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
child_circle_id	string	—	UUID of the child circle this tile references. Authoritative source: public.circles.id. When the child is deleted (and orphaned via the ON DELETE SET NULL policy), this id may reference a stale/deleted circle. Callers should tolerate a 404 when resolving this id.
child_circle_name	string	—	Slug (globally unique name) of the child circle at creation time. Cached here so the parent canvas can render the tile name without a cross-schema join. Not updated on child rename (names are immutable).
child_display_name	string	—	Display name of the child circle at creation time. Cached for canvas rendering without a cross-schema join. May drift if the child updates its display_name; treat as an approximate label.
encryption	string	—	Key hierarchy mode chosen at add_subcircle time. ‘standard’: child CDEK is wrapped under the parent’s CDEK (parent can decrypt child data). ‘independent’: child CDEK is sovereign (parent has no cryptographic access to child-encrypted data). This field is immutable after creation.

Operations

activity

Get /ops/activity | Auth: Read

Get activity events for this element

Scope depends on element capabilities: individual elements query by element_id, project-form elements with activity-scope-members include member activities, circle-level elements with activity-scope-all query the entire circle. Gracefully returns empty list if activities table is missing (old circles).

attachments

Get /ops/attachments | Auth: Read

List all modifiers and resources attached to this element

Returns both modifiers (policy enforcement) and resources (data injection) with is_modifier flag to distinguish. Items in the generated MODIFIER_TYPES list are modifiers; everything else is a resource. Includes cascade_policy and version pin info.

batch_stats

Get /ops/batch_stats | Auth: Read

Get per-element statistics for all children of this element

Returns per-child stats plus an aggregate. Most meaningful on compound or manifest form elements (repositories, circles, projects); atoms have no children so the result is an empty children array with a zeroed aggregate. Uses efficient GROUP BY SQL. Weighted averages for eval scores.

compose

Post /ops/compose | Auth: Execute

Batch add and remove modifiers on this element in a single call

Declarative composition: add modifiers by ref path (slug or path@version) and remove by attachment ID, all in one atomic call on the target element. Each ‘add’ entry resolves the source element, validates topology, attaches with optional priority and cascade policy. Each ‘remove’ entry deletes the attachment row. Returns a summary of what was added and removed. Example: compose({ add: [{ref: “my-prompt”}, {ref: “rate-limit/api@v2”, priority: 50}], remove: [{attachment_id: “uuid”}] })

context

Get /ops/context | Auth: Read

Get connected elements (graph traversal)

Graph traversal showing all connected elements with their relationship type (contains, contained_by, references, referenced_by, attaches, etc.). Use ?depth=N to control traversal depth (default 1) and ?types=actor,data to filter by element types.

create

Post /ops/create | Auth: Write

Create child element

POST to the parent path — element_type goes in the request body, NOT the URL. Both element_type and slug are required and must be non-empty. Name is derived from slug if omitted. Writes to both Git and PostgreSQL. All elements are stored flat under the circle — no intermediate library wrapper rows.

delete

Delete /ops/delete | Auth: Admin

Delete element (soft delete)

Soft delete — sets state to ‘deleted’ but retains the record. Cannot delete elements that have children (has_no_bond precondition) or active runs. Requires admin auth and confirmation.

disable

Post /ops/disable | Auth: Admin

Disable element (hides and prevents use)

Idempotent — safe to call on already-disabled elements. Optionally pass a reason string. Disabled elements cannot be invoked or executed. Inverse of enable.

enable

Post /ops/enable | Auth: Admin

Enable element (makes usable and visible)

Idempotent — safe to call on already-enabled elements. Transitions element to ready/enabled state. Cannot enable deleted elements. Inverse of disable.

export_bundle

Get /ops/export/bundle | Auth: Read

Export element as downloadable git bundle

On non-root-namespace elements, returns a binary git bundle. On root-namespace (circle) elements, dispatch hands off to the circle’s own export_bundle op, which returns a multi-element JSON envelope with one base64 bundle per child element — this is intentional, not an error.

get

Get /ops/get | Auth: Read

Get element details

Element is already resolved by the routing layer — this returns the cached element, not a fresh DB query. Use the path /api/{circle}/{slug} to address elements.

import_bundle

Post /ops/import/bundle | Auth: Write

Import git bundle into element

Accepts a base64-encoded git bundle in the JSON bundle_base64 field. Use overwrite=true to replace existing elements with same slug (default skips duplicates). Imported elements get new UUIDs. Returns counts of imported/skipped elements and any errors.

intention

Get /ops/intention | Auth: Read

Get element intention with full inheritance chain

Returns three levels: direct (this element’s intention), inherited (from category and root), and resolved (final merged intention). Useful for understanding an element’s purpose in context of its hierarchy.

promote

Post /ops/promote | Auth: Admin

Promote element configuration to a target environment

Only for manifest-form elements (projects). Environments advance: dev → demo → live. dev→demo requires member+ role, demo→live requires admin. Freezes member versions at promotion time (creates snapshot). Persists environment config to spec.environments.

readme

Get /ops/readme | Auth: Read

Get element README.md content

Reads README.md from the element’s git repository. Returns empty content (not an error) if no README exists. Always returns markdown format.

readme_update

Post /ops/readme_update | Auth: Write

Update element README.md content

Creates or overwrites README.md in the element’s git repo. Commits to the draft branch. Content must be provided as a markdown string.

remove-modifier

Post /ops/remove-modifier | Auth: Execute

Remove an attached modifier from this element by attachment ID

Removes a modifier/resource attachment by its row ID. The ID comes from the attachments or context API. This is the reverse of attach — called on the target element, not the source.

resolve

Get /ops/resolve | Auth: Read

Resolve the sub-circle pointer to retrieve child circle metadata

Returns the child circle’s public metadata (name, display_name, circle_type, encryption mode, created_at) without entering the child’s schema. Use this to render the canvas tile’s detail panel. To actually enter the child circle, navigate to /api/{child_circle_name} with a fresh auth context.

restore

Post /ops/restore | Auth: Admin

Restore element to a specific version

Automatically snapshots the current state before restoring (creates a ‘Before restore to vN’ version entry). Writes restored spec to git as .triform/spec.yaml. Git failures warn but don’t fail the operation — DB state is authoritative. Cannot restore deleted elements.

schema

Get /ops/schema | Auth: Read

Get element input/output schema (MCP tools/list compatible)

Returns type-level port schemas from the TypeRegistry — not instance-specific overrides. Includes direction (input/output), required flag, and JSON schema per port. Useful for understanding what data an element accepts and produces.

source

Get /ops/source | Auth: Read

Get any file’s content from the element’s git repository

Reads an arbitrary file from the element’s CAS-backed git tree by its relative path. Same store as readme, just generalized. Path safety: rejects .. traversal, leading /, and null bytes. Use this to view main.py for action elements, asset files for SPAs, etc. Returns empty content (not an error) if the file doesn’t exist.

source_branches

Get /ops/source/branches | Auth: Read

List Source branches for this element

Returns the standard draft/demo/live Source branches, their current commits, and promotion relationships. Use GET /api/{element_path}/ops/source/branches.

source_promote

Post /ops/source/promote | Auth: Write

Promote Source branch forward

Promotes draft to demo or demo to live through the generated element op path. Direct Git pushes to demo/live are blocked by Source policy.

source_repair

Post /ops/source/repair | Auth: Write

Inspect or repair the element Source index

Runs Source repair through the element operation path. Defaults to dry_run=true; set dry_run=false only after reviewing a dry-run report.

source_status

Get /ops/source/status | Auth: Read

Get Source control status for this element

Returns the branch-aware clone URL, checkout commands, current draft commit, child source-link count, portable export summary, Source health, warnings, and auth hints for the addressed element. Use the element-first path: GET /api/{element_path}/ops/source/status.

source_validate

Post /ops/source/validate | Auth: Read

Validate Source branch contents

Validates a Source branch before accepting local Git workflow changes or promotion. Defaults to branch=draft and rejects runtime data, generated output, secret material, and unreadable CAS refs.

stats

Get /ops/stats | Auth: Read

Get aggregate statistics for this element

Health status is computed: error if errors_per_day > 5 or success_rate < 0.8, warning if errors_per_day > 0 or success_rate < 0.95. Firing alerts escalate health to error/warning. Default period is ‘day’. Returns runs_per_day, success_rate, avg_duration_ms, and more.

tree

Get /ops/tree | Auth: Read

Get the element’s position in the graph — ancestors, children, references, and subtree statistics

Uses per-circle ElementGraph cache for O(1) lookups. Returns ancestors (containment chain), children (direct), members (references), referenced_by (reverse refs), attachments, and subtree stats. Default depth is 3, max is 10. Pass ?include_metadata=true for name/state on each node.

update

Patch /ops/update | Auth: Write

Update element

Partial update — send only the fields you want to change. spec, name, and intention are all independently optional. spec MUST be a JSON object when present; deep-merged into the existing spec by default. Empty {"spec":{}} preserves existing spec content but still records a new version (no-op for content, not for version state). To clear/replace the entire spec wholesale send {"spec":{...},"deep":false}. List-typed spec fields use replace semantics (the patch list replaces the existing list, no array merging). Coordinates Git + DB writes. Slug cannot be changed after creation.

update_meta

Patch /ops/update_meta | Auth: Write

Update element metadata (lightweight merge — does NOT bump version or snapshot spec)

Shallow JSONB merge into element.meta. Top-level keys in the provided value replace existing meta values; other keys are preserved. Used for UI metadata like canvas positions, panel state, viewer preferences. Wire-shape op_name is update_meta (distinct from update) so SSE subscribers + the cache auto-invalidator can distinguish lightweight metadata changes from spec edits without inspecting the payload. The MutatingElementStore wrapper stamps this op_name on the lifecycle event emitted by update_element_meta storage calls.

version

Get /ops/version | Auth: Read

Get current version or full history

Returns current version by default. Pass ?history=true for full version history (up to ?limit=N, default 50). Versions are backed by the element_versions table. Every spec update creates a new version entry.

Error Codes

Code	Class	Retryable	Description
CIRCLE_REF_STALE	validation	no	The child circle referenced by this tile no longer exists (it was deleted and orphaned). The reference tile may be cleaned up or left as a tombstone depending on the parent circle’s cleanup policy.