Maturity Ladder
Capabilities exist at three maturity levels; the ladder is the structural mechanism by which experimental patterns mature into trusted infrastructure.
The Three Levels
Capabilities exist at three maturity levels. The ladder is the structural mechanism by which experimental patterns mature into trusted infrastructure.
| Level | Name | Status | Adoption Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | Experimental | Active development, 1-2 cells | Owner cells only (opt-in for others) |
| L2 | Proven | Stable, in catalog, named maintainer | Any cell |
| L3 | Golden Path | Organization's recommended approach | Default recommendation |
The ladder — promotion up, demotion down, retirement out:
L1 — Experimental
An agent in active development, used by one or two cells. Behavior may change without notice; no backward-compatibility guarantees. Any cell can create an L1 capability with no formal review, declaring at least Surfaces 1-6. L1 capabilities cannot be invoked by non-owner cells without opt-in, are excluded from automated promotion, and have no SLA. Most L1 capabilities never leave L1 — that is fine; L1 is the experimental zone.
L2 — Proven
An agent that has demonstrated stable behavior across multiple cells with a named maintainer. Promotion from L1 to L2 requires:
- Named maintainer commitment, with team backup
- Full agent contract declared (all 9 surfaces)
- Used successfully in at least 3 distinct cells
- At least 90 days of trace data
- Success rate typically above 80%
- Confidence calibration within ±15% of actual outcomes
- Code review by an adopting cell (not just the author's team)
- Documentation and an evaluation suite
L2 capabilities are in the public catalog; any cell can adopt them. Breaking changes require a minimum 90-day migration window.
L3 — Golden Path
The organization's recommended approach for its problem domain. Promotion from L2 to L3 requires adoption by a majority of relevant cells, one year of stable L2 operation, documented integration patterns and migration guides, and kernel maintainer sponsorship with consensus. Breaking changes require a minimum 180-day window; deprecating an L3 capability is a major organizational event requiring 12+ month migration.
Demotion and Retirement
Capabilities can move down the ladder or be retired: L3 → L2 when adoption drops or a successor supersedes it; L2 → L1 when the maintainer leaves unreplaced or SLAs are repeatedly missed; retirement when deprecated and removed from the catalog (trace history retained for audit).
Why Three Levels
Two levels conflate 'shipped and stable' with 'recommended for everyone.' Four or more create bureaucracy without signal. Three capture the meaningful distinctions: L1 is permissionless (encourages experimentation), L2 requires evidence of working (prove it before sharing), L3 requires evidence of generalization (demonstrate the pattern works for many). See Capability Lifecycle Economics for what happens after promotion.