The specification
The standard
OPFiles is defined by a written specification; this page tells you how to read it, and links the canonical specification and quickstart.
Read it
Read the specification
The canonical specification and quickstart are the Markdown source in the repository. This page links them directly, so what you read is always the canonical source rather than a hand-copied duplicate that could fall out of step.
Coverage
How to read the specification
The specification is a draft. It defines:
Store layout and naming Pointer and discovery model Git-repository and migration rules Release triad and its gates Record model and status grammar Views and the closed transform vocabulary Enforcement posture Rotation and archive Import The genericization boundary The conformance vocabulary Residual-coverage disclosures
Conformance
Conformance language
Conformance language follows common standards practice; statements without these keywords are descriptive.
MUST
An absolute requirement.
SHOULD
A strong recommendation, departed from only for a recorded reason.
MAY
Genuinely optional.
Draft status
Draft status and self-asserted conformance
The specification is a working draft and the reference tooling lands verb by verb. Until the validation tooling covers a given claim, conformance to that claim is self-asserted, and a report says so: an unqualified "conformant" claim is never emitted, by tooling or by prose. See the disclosure page for what the standard and its tooling do and do not establish.