---
name: Design Source Authority
desc: Which form carries design authority when editing a Sirno Lake.
category:
  - concept
  - meta
belongs:
  - sirno-lake
---

Before editing a *lake*, decide which form currently carries design authority.

An established and maintained *lake* is the authoritative structured design source.
When the *lake* is absent or skeletal,
the configured *monograph* is the source of intended design.
Code is authoritative only when the user says so.
This ladder keeps an edit from inventing design that no form actually commits to.

When the *lake* is authoritative, preserve its stable facts even while rewriting prose.
Stable facts include the central definition and scope,
the configured `lake` path and optional `mono` path,
*entry* id rules and the metadata schema,
the configured structural-field and witness-lookup meanings,
generated-footer ownership,
and future-work items that are intentionally reserved.
These are commitments, not wording, so they survive a revision that changes how they are said.

Translate stale language into current terms rather than preserving it literally.
An old phrase that names a renamed concept should be updated to the current name,
not quoted as if it were still accurate.

Do not invent commands, guarantees, semantic understanding, or automatic validation that Sirno
does not provide.
The method is disciplined bookkeeping.
An edit may sharpen names and structure,
but it must not promise behavior the tool does not have.

---

> **Sirno generated links begin. Do not edit this section.**

- belongs (to):
  - [sirno-lake](sirno-lake.md)
- belongs (from): (none)

> **Sirno generated links end.**
