Project scaffold
materials, evidence, claims, methods, deliverables, handoffs, and logs.
Versioned Evidence Lifecycle Architecture
VELA
A portable Codex workflow package for evidence-based research projects: structure, handoffs, evidence ledgers, validation, privacy scans, and machine-readable project state.
Built around engineering-cybernetic loops: objective, state, feedback, validation, correction.
VELA turns engineering-cybernetic control loops into a seven-layer research workflow.
What VELA Adds
Codex gets a bounded project workspace instead of loose conversation state.
Codex rules
AGENTS.md files and command templates keep work scoped and reviewable.
Evidence lifecycle
Collected material, verified evidence, claims, and deliverables stay separate.
Control loop
Objectives, state, feedback signals, validation gates, and corrections are visible in files.
Memory governance
Logs and handoffs become candidate improvements; durable rules require checks, tests, and commits.
Environment Map
VELA is a Codex-installable research workflow environment, not a single prompt template.
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| Seven-layer structure | task boundary, tools/interfaces, context/evidence, research stage, runtime logs, reliability checks, environment governance. |
| Skills | orchestration, literature/evidence, computational social science, writing/export, figures/presentation, runtime helpers, knowledge sync. |
| Plugins | Native Browser, Chrome, Computer Use, GitHub, Superpowers, Zotero, Scite, Google Drive, Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets, and related optional layers. |
| MCP | OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar, paper-search, Chrome DevTools, and CodeGraph are route-scoped helpers; native Browser/Chrome/Computer Use comes first for web and desktop interaction. |
| Automation | doctor, runtime install, validate, privacy scan, envctl route/stack/memory/evolution checks. |
| Memory governance | memory is a candidate signal; thread-level intake, reconciliation reports, durable rules, and evolution backlog require schemas, validators, tests, and versioned commits. |
Current Runtime Updates
Recent public runtime changes keep the workflow closer to the governed research environment while preserving the public package boundary.
Thread memory intake
Finished tasks can leave schema-checked candidates without importing full chat history.
Figure presets
Research figure routes now default to red-blue-rainbow visual constraints for paper and presentation graphics.
Writing gates
Academic writing checks cover argument flow, method continuity, contribution posture, and paragraph rhythm.
Governance cleanup
Memory, CodeGraph, tool interfaces, and source-rule assertions are deduplicated.
Install
Windows
git clone https://github.com/Marcus-AI4SS/VELA.git vela cd vela .\install.ps1 -BootstrapTools
macOS
git clone https://github.com/Marcus-AI4SS/VELA.git vela cd vela sh ./install-macos.sh
Linux / shell
git clone https://github.com/Marcus-AI4SS/VELA.git vela cd vela sh ./install.sh --bootstrap-tools
Use
1. Initialize
vela init my-project creates the project structure and .vela/context.json.
2. Hand off
Create, lint, and render a bounded Codex task.
3. Validate
Run project validation and privacy scan before exporting work.
Optional board integration
VELA can interoperate with HELM through explicit local files, but VELA remains a standalone workflow package.