Thread

01

In plain English

What it is

A way to keep shared facts consistent across project documents, reports and presentations.

How it works

You would link a fact to the documents that use it. When it changes, Thread would suggest updates to working drafts while preserving the copies people already approved.

Why it matters

To keep current documents consistent while retaining an honest record of earlier decisions.

02

The working model

A shared number needs a unit, a scope and a publication boundary. Matching digits do not establish shared meaning.

The boundary that matters Only registered references enter this update. Published snapshots and unconfirmed semantic matches remain separate.

03

How it fits together

A person acts, the system checks, a result follows — and one other path, for when the check does not pass. This describes proposed responsibilities and decisions, not deployed infrastructure.

%% Director-friendly architecture. Maturity and limits are recorded in accDescr.
flowchart TB
  accTitle: How Project Thread works
  accDescr: A project editor changes a registered fact. Signal identifies the linked drafts and checks the value, unit and reporting period. It proposes changes for the editor to approve, then updates the selected drafts. Already approved reports retain the facts that their audience originally saw. Unknown references and mismatched units remain unresolved. This is a proposed concept.
  A(["Project editor<br/>Changes a shared fact"])
  B("Reference map<br/>Linked drafts and reports")
  C{"Same meaning<br/>and editable draft?"}
  D(["Project editor<br/>Approves the update preview"])
  E("Linked drafts updated<br/>One consistent fact")
  X("Published reports preserved<br/>Conflicts need review")
  A --> B
  B --> C
  C -->|Ready to update| D
  D -->|Selected drafts| E
  C -->|Published or conflicting| X
  classDef human fill:#faf7f2,stroke:#bf8c53,color:#24211c;
  classDef work fill:#ffffff,stroke:#a3a5ad,color:#25262a;
  classDef decision fill:#f3efff,stroke:#967bcb,color:#30244c;
  classDef result fill:#f0f6ff,stroke:#7b9dca,color:#1d365b;
  classDef exception fill:#fff5ec,stroke:#ce9b63,color:#64431e;
  class A,D human;
  class B work;
  class C decision;
  class E result;
  class X exception;

04

The case study

A shared fact needs identity, meaning, and publication boundaries—not just find and replace.

Responsibilities

Fact identity

Value, unit, period, and revision define the fact.

Reference map

Track where drafts use each registered fact.

Update preview

Propose draft changes while preserving published snapshots.

The boundary

Thread proposes changes to registered references. It cannot guarantee that every unstructured mention of a number is the same business fact.

The trade-off

Explicit references are more reliable than inference but require authoring support. Suggested matches can help discovery without silently becoming authoritative links.

When it fails

Evidence Design proposal · local demonstration uses synthetic data

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