Reactive Research
Reactive Research is a research coordination model in which addressable research objects declare typed semantic relationships, those relationships form a resolvable versioned graph, and changes to graph objects generate explicit downstream revalidation obligations.
The graph makes research relationships, provenance, and the effects of change visible.
Core Model
Research objects are first-class graph nodes.
For example:
flowchart TD
A["repository: specification"] -->|DEFINES| B["research object"]
C["repository: verifier"] -->|IMPLEMENTS| B
Repository-to-repository relationships may be derived as projections of the richer research-object graph.
Typed Relationships
Reactive Research preserves the semantic meaning of relationships rather than collapsing them into one ambiguous dependency list.
Source annotations use the RR namespace:
RR.<RELATION>: <IDENTIFIER>
For example:
RR.DEFINES: SE-210.Definition.4.3
RR.IMPLEMENTS: SE-210.Definition.4.3
The expanded REACTIVE-RESEARCH namespace is also supported.
The authoritative relationship vocabulary and semantics are defined by the Reactive Research specification.
Research Coordination
Conceptually:
flowchart TD
A["authoritative research sources"] --> B["typed declarations"]
B --> C["identifier resolution"]
C --> D["versioned research graph"]
D --> E["change-impact analysis"]
E --> F["explicit downstream obligations"]
An affected downstream result is not automatically invalid.
It means its status relative to a changed upstream research object may need to be established again.
Different relationship types may generate different obligations, such as re-running, re-proving, re-reviewing, or reconsidering downstream work.
Command-Line API
The reactive-research package provides the reference executable
implementation.
See API for command-line usage and annotation syntax.
Structured Research
Reactive Research is intended for structured research relationships generally.
Science
hypothesis
→ experimental design
→ dataset
→ analysis
→ evidence
→ claim
Law
constitution / statute / regulation
→ case
→ holding
→ interpretation
→ legal claim
→ decision
Policy
evidence
→ assumptions
→ policy analysis
→ recommendation
→ decision
→ evaluation
Engineering
requirement
→ design
→ implementation
→ verification
→ evidence
→ assurance claim
The graph does not decide what is true or what decision should be made.
It makes dependencies, provenance, and the effects of change visible.
Structural Explainability Integration
Reactive Research originated within the Structural Explainability research ecosystem but is intended to remain usable independently.
Within Structural Explainability, Reactive Research can compose declarations from existing repository manifests, reference artifacts, formal contracts, source annotations, and other compatible authoritative surfaces.
Existing tools remain authoritative for the surfaces they own.
Reactive Research resolves and composes those declarations into a broader research graph rather than redefining them.
Project Family
Reactive Research consists of:
- reactive-research-spec - normative model;
- reactive-research-registry - resolvable graph and snapshots; and
- reactive-research - executable tooling.