
Versioning and Identifier Stability
Effective from MAIS v0.1
Identifier permanence
A MAIS Evidence Primitive identifier, once issued, is permanent.
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An identifier is never reused for a different primitive.
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An identifier is never reassigned to different subject matter.
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An identifier's meaning is never redefined after issue.
A primitive may be deprecated and superseded. When that happens, the original identifier remains permanently bound to its original meaning, is marked deprecated with the date and reason, and carries a pointer to its successor. It is not deleted and it is not recycled.
Why this matters: without identifier permanence, no one can safely cite MAIS in a contract, an audit file, an evidence register or a regulatory submission. A reference made today must still mean the same thing in five years. This policy is the precondition for MAIS being citable, and citability is the whole point of a shared taxonomy.
Version numbering
MAIS uses semantic versioning — MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.
Framework revisions
When an issuing authority revises a framework, MAIS absorbs the change in its versioned data files. Primitive identifiers and assertions are unaffected unless the revision introduces a genuinely new evidentiary condition, in which case a new primitive is added — an existing one is never repurposed.
MAIS content changes when a regulator changes a framework, not because our documentation was imprecise.
Change record
Every release carries a published change record stating what was added, what was clarified, what was corrected, and what was deprecated. Corrections are stated, not silently amended.
Editorial responsibility
Editorial responsibility for MAIS v0.1 rests with Jawaid Ali, PRAECEPTA CYBERSECURITY LLC. Comments are adjudicated publicly, with reasons, and contributors are credited.
