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Specifications

Audience: advanced (engine contributors, format tooling)

Design and wire-format documents for the ModelVault engine. Application developers should start with Why ModelVault, Quickstart, and Reference.

Normative on-disk specification (1.0.x)

These pages describe the implemented .modelvault file format. Compatibility defines read/write and recovery policy.

Document Contents
Format evolution (1.x) Backwards-compat rules for 1.y releases
On-disk file format Header, superblocks, segment framing, manifest, txn markers, checkpoint, replay order
Catalog encoding Schema segment payloads (collections, fields, constraints, indexes)
Index segment encoding Index segment payloads
Record encoding v1 Primitive record payloads (read compat)
Record encoding v2 RowValue record payloads (default for flat schemas)
Record encoding v3 Multi-segment FieldPath record payloads

Code references: crates/modelvault-core/src/file_format.rs, superblock.rs, segments/, catalog/codec.rs, record/, index.rs.

Architecture & product

Document Contents
Full architecture System shape, components, non-goals
Typed embedded DB vision Product thesis and validation model
Rust crate layout Workspace modules and boundaries

Schema & queries

Document Contents
Schema DSL Field-path invariants; link to catalog wire format
Query planner & execution Planner, indexes, operators

Historical / design-only (not on this site)

Numbered files under docs/ (e.g. 02_on_disk_file_format.md, 04_schema_dsl_spec.md, 06_record_encoding_v1.md) are legacy or exploratory copies. Prefer the specs/ pages above for the published contract.