node flow
Nodes are primarily constituted by their semantic flows: evolvable datasets about their node's data, metadata, configuration, or referent. They exist through time, independent of any specific version or realization, and can evolve semi-independently.
There are five types of node flows.
- metadata flow (required)
- operational config flow (optional)
- inheritable config flow (optional)
- reference flow (optional)
- payload flow (for payload nodes)
Relationship to snapshots
As DatasetSeries, node flows are realized through mesh-resource.node-component.flow-snapshot (Private) datasets, which are temporal slices of the flow. To borrow a phrase from the PROV model, we say that a snapshot is a specialization of the node flow.
Relationship pattern:
Every node flow has at least two concrete snapshots: default snapshot and mesh-resource.node-component.flow-shot.working (Private).
The node flow is a DatasetSeries and may have multiple mesh-resource.node-component.flow-snapshot.version (Private)s.
Ontology Example
- node flow: "My ontology definitions" (persistent concept)
- flow snapshots: v1, v2, current version, working draft of working version (specific realizations)
/my-ontology/
└── _payload/ ← node flow (ontology definitions)
├── _default/ ← flow snapshot
├── _working/ ← flow snapshot
├── 2025-11-24_0142_07_v1/ ← flow snapshot
└── 2025-11-24_0142_08_v2/ ← flow snapshot
In this example:
Each _default/, _working/, and snapshot folder contains flow snapshot realizations
Persistent Identity
node flows provide conceptual continuity by:
- Maintaining meaning across versions and changes
- Preserving references from external sources
- Enabling evolution while keeping identity stable
- Supporting versioning without losing conceptual coherence
Children
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