KCC Overview
Kernel · Capabilities · Cells. A reference shape for AI-native platforms — small invariant core, sharp shared capabilities, autonomous delivery cells.
The three layers
The Kernel is the smallest set of invariants the platform cannot live without: identity, the Agent Contract, the Inspector Pipeline, and the two meta-agents — Butler and Token Guard. Everything else is negotiable.
Capabilities are sharp, named units of shared function — promoted along the Capability Maturity Ladder from L1 Experimental, through L2 Proven, to L3 Golden Path. Promotion is mechanical, not political.
Cells are autonomous delivery units that consume Capabilities through the Agent Contract. A Cell owns its outcome; the Kernel owns the rules of engagement.
Why this shape
Most platform efforts fail by inverting the load. They put policy in the Cells and accident in the Kernel. KCC reverses that: the Kernel is small enough to defend, Capabilities are sharp enough to compose, and Cells are free enough to ship.
A Kernel you cannot fit in a single diagram is not a Kernel — it is an accumulation.