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Definition

Machine-first routing

Machine-first routing defines how pages, definitions, services and artifacts guide automated readers toward the right source for the right claim.

CollectionDefinition
TypeDefinition
Version1.0
Stabilization2026-05-13
Published2026-05-13
Updated2026-05-13

Evidence layer

Probative surfaces brought into scope by this page

This page does more than point to governance files. It is also anchored to surfaces that make observation, traceability, fidelity, and audit more reconstructible. Their order below makes the minimal evidence chain explicit.

  1. 01
    Canon and scopeDefinitions canon
Canonical foundation#01

Definitions canon

/canon.md

Opposable base for identity, scope, roles, and negations that must survive synthesis.

Makes provable
The reference corpus against which fidelity can be evaluated.
Does not prove
Neither that a system already consults it nor that an observed response stays faithful to it.
Use when
Before any observation, test, audit, or correction.

Machine-first routing

Machine-first routing is the organization of links, indexes, definitions, service pages and artifacts so that automated readers can move from a market-facing page toward the most legitimate source for a claim.

It does not require every page to become a governance file. It requires each page to know when it should define, explain, sell, prove, qualify, refuse or route.

Short definition

Machine-first routing turns a corpus into a readable path system. It reduces the chance that a model treats a derivative article as canonical, a service page as doctrine, a checklist as proof, or a discovery surface as authority.

What it is not

It is not link volume, generic internal linking, sitemap generation or keyword clustering alone. Those mechanisms can support routing, but the defining question is source role: where should the system go to decide whether a claim is authorized?

Governance implication

Citation readiness depends on routing because a citable passage can still be the wrong governing surface. Strong routing keeps market pages close to definitions, definitions close to doctrine, and operational checklists close to evidence and proof surfaces.