Infrastructure · Data Structures
Sunsetkind
A classification that carries the condition under which it stops being used
Definition
Mechanism
A Category defined together with its retirement condition: the observation, or the date, after which members are no longer to be treated as equivalent under it, and what to do with them then. Anyone applying the category checks the condition before relying on the grouping.
Invariants
- The retirement condition is stated when the category is defined and can be checked by a party other than its author.
- Once the retirement condition holds, no member is treated as equivalent under the category.
Risks
Failure modes
Unreachable condition
the retirement condition can never be observed to hold, so the category never retires.
Unchecked expiry
the condition holds but nobody looks, and the category keeps sorting.
Hair trigger
the condition fires on noise and the classification churns.
Relationships
Builds on
References
Grouping of objects
Extends
Grouping of objects
Used by
References
Mind
A tool that states the sign that it has done its job, and is withdrawn when the sign appears
Reference
Data schema
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"label",
"retire_when"
],
"properties": {
"label": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Name of the category"
},
"parent": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Parent category ID (optional, for hierarchies)"
},
"members": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "IDs of items belonging to this category"
},
"retire_when": {
"type": "string",
"description": "The observation or date after which the category is retired"
},
"then": {
"type": "string",
"description": "What replaces the category, or what happens to its members, after retirement"
}
}
}