Tier-One Events Declare Capture Mode
How evidence entered — not only what the business calls it
Every tier-one record carries a capture mode — commit, assert, measure, or formalise — saying how it became evidence, not only what the business calls it.
Tier one is captured evidence — substrate in the permanent log. Domain event type names what the business thinks happened (OrderPlaced, TemperatureRead). Capture mode names the epistemic act: bind, put forward without binding, transduce through an instrument chain, or inscribe symbolic structure.
Without capture mode, consumers treat every append as equally authoritative. Audit cannot distinguish instrument error from authority error; model scores read as decisions; partner payloads read as internal binds. The bytes may be accurate while the epistemic story is false.
The four modes are exhaustive for tier-one honesty: commit, assert, measure, formalise. In most event contracts, captureForce belongs in the static schema alongside the type definition. Full treatment: Four Capture Modes. Substrate limits and capture gaps: Captured Evidence.