Commitment Boundary
Where pre-bind material becomes accountable commit
The commitment boundary — also capture-mode crossing — is where pre-bind material becomes a commit capture in tier one. Pre-bind means off-log derive, or tier-one assert, measure, or formalise still awaiting bind at this step. After the crossing: a permanent fact in the record — attributed to an authority, timestamped, referencing the evidence assert that froze what informed the bind, with policy version attached. Full capture-mode vocabulary: Four Capture Modes. Introduction: The Moment of Commitment.
Automated path: pre-bind is frozen as ReasoningAsserted (captureForce: assert); the commit references it by event id. Human path: HumanReviewAsserted (different shape); commit may reference both. Assert events may live on separate topics; they remain tier-one events, not blobs.
Atomicity (L0–L3) is a separate facet — how far informing material sits from substrate structurally. It does not define the boundary. See Why Atomicity Matters.
Every consequential crossing shares the same structure: evidence assert (automated or human), authority, policy/threshold, moment, then commit event referencing the assert. Reversal is always forward through new commit events; never silent rewrite of what was committed.
A commit does not cross into another commit. Sequential binds are separate crossings; prior commits appear as event refs inside evidence asserts. Commit?commit without a fresh authority act is second-hand commitment or rubber-stamp approval. Relay is measure then commit — two crossings.
The operational pattern commitment boundary describes how software and organisations implement this crossing. Rubber-stamp approval is boundary theatre — checkboxes without evidence, three-second approvals, workflows that auto-execute without genuine review. Strengthening quality at the boundary (Strengthening the Commitment Boundary) means blind review and stress testing. Legitimacy — certification, authorization, democratic bind (When Social Stability Matters More Than Quality). Meritocracy — overlap of both — is Meritocracy — The Sweet Spot.