ontology.run

The hosted app platform for deploying Alpha Ontology apps.

ontology.run is the hosted Meta-Effects environment: the place where an authored Alpha Ontology bundle becomes a running application with storage, services, generated interfaces, agent tools, and operational history.

It is not a separate language. Forma is the DSL-builder and runtime platform. Alpha Ontology is the prebuilt operational ontology stack. Canonical IR is the compiled contract. Runtime SDK defines how that contract executes. ontology.run packages those pieces as a hosted app platform.

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markdown + Alpha forms  -> Forma elaboration  -> Canonical IR  -> ontology.run deployment  -> hosted app, APIs, views, agents, facts, history

What Gets Deployed#

An Alpha Ontology app should be deployable from source-controlled files:

entity, fact, query, policy, command, effect, actor, and projection definitions
views, forms, queues, dashboards, and review surfaces
runtime handlers and generated service contracts
seed data, fixtures, package manifests, and deployment metadata
agent tool schemas derived from the same operational model

The source remains the review surface. The hosted app is the running system produced from it.

Platform Responsibilities#

ontology.run should handle the operational work around the runtime:

load and validate Alpha Ontology packages
compile source through Forma into Canonical IR
install runtime definitions and generated interfaces
provision a Fact Store for durable assertions and history
expose APIs, UI projections, and agent tools from the same model
run commands, policies, effects, tasks, and background work
preserve provenance from source to IR to runtime state
support deploy, diff, rollback, replay, and audit workflows

This makes it closer to a hosted application platform than a database, static site host, or workflow engine. The app is defined by the ontology; the platform keeps it alive.

Deployment Model#

The intended workflow should feel like deploying infrastructure or an app:

bash

forma run ./staffingforma typecheckforma deploy ontology-run

Local development gives authors fast feedback on source, diagnostics, generated UI, editor metadata, and test fixtures. Deployment packages the compiled result, validates the Canonical IR, checks runtime compatibility, and applies the approved changes to the hosted environment.

Why Hosted Matters#

Alpha Ontology apps are operational systems. They need durable state, identity, permissions, background execution, observability, generated interfaces, and safe agent access. Those concerns are too heavy for source files alone and too domain-specific for a generic app host to infer.

ontology.run gives the Meta-Effects stack an opinionated deployment target:

authors write and review concise source
teams deploy a coherent operational model
operators use generated interfaces backed by facts and policies
agents act through explicit tools instead of reverse-engineering an app
auditors can trace behavior back to source and history

Relationship To Open Ontology#

Open Ontology is the reusable module layer: shared Alpha packages for common operational patterns. ontology.run is where those packages can be composed with a team's own source and deployed as a hosted app.

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Open Ontology modules  + team-specific Alpha source  -> Canonical IR  -> ontology.run  -> running operational app

That distinction matters. Open Ontology supplies reusable source. ontology.run supplies the hosted runtime environment.

Summary#

ontology.run is the hosted deployment surface for Meta-Effects.

Use Forma to define language packages, Alpha Ontology as the default operational language, Canonical IR as the compiled contract, Runtime SDK for execution semantics, Fact Store for durable memory, and ontology.run to deploy the resulting app.