Reference
The normative references for the aDNA standard. Start with the specification — when in doubt, it is authoritative — then the rationale, governance, and craft docs that support it.
The specification
Standard v2.5Agentic DNA (aDNA) — A knowledge architecture standard for AI-native projects.
Read the specification →Rationale & guides
Why aDNA is shaped the way it is, and how to read, adopt, and set it up.
Design Rationale
This document explains why aDNA is designed the way it is — the companion to the aDNA Universal Standard, which defines what to do.
Reading Guide
The aDNA Universal Standard is ~1,500 lines. You don't need all of them. This guide maps three reading paths by what you're trying to do, provides a…
Agent-First Guide
This guide is for developers who want to use aDNA with Claude Code (or another AI coding agent) from the terminal, without installing Obsidian. If you…
Migration Guide
This guide is for developers who already have a project and want to add aDNA to it. If you're starting fresh, use the Quick Start instead — clone the…
Tool Setup
Every aDNA setup needs three things: Git, a text editor that reads Markdown and YAML, and Python 3.8+ for the validation tooling.
Governance & quality
How decisions get made and how conformance is measured.
Governance Model
The aDNA standard is stewarded today by a Founding Architect, and is progressively decentralizing toward steward-led, public governance.
Quality Rubric
Systematic quality evaluation framework for context library objects. Provides a 6-axis quantitative rubric that gates all context files — any file…
Craft
The house style for writing and visual identity across aDNA surfaces.
Writing Guidelines
Canonical clarity and conciseness guidelines for aDNA prose surfaces — checklist, voice precedents, conciseness contract, and validation gate.
Visual Identity v3
Canonical visual identity for aDNA.network — the Science-Stanley Ghibli-pixel / Tokyo Night register: color, type, spacing, imagery, icons, diagrams.
Resources
Vocabulary and operational guides that support the specification.