[sic] publishing imprint

A complete spec for a physical product — not a web application. Three macros: catalogue (cards and collections), assembly (selection, colour, collation), and fulfillment (order, print partner, reader utility).

This spec demonstrates Catenator on a system where every order produces a unique output. The randomisation rule includes a reproducibility constraint — given the same order ID, the same selection must be produced. This satisfies the traceability -ility without sacrificing uniqueness.

# Catenator spec — [sic] publishing imprint
# Section 9.2 — Complete spec worked example
# Catenator standard documentation

spec:
  version: "1.0.0"
  authored: "2026-06-18"
  status: ground-truth
  standard-version: "1.0.0"
  vocabulary-version: "3.0.0"

system:
  name: sic-publishing
  display-name: "[sic]"
  display-name-source: authored
  specimen: publishing-imprint
  attachments:
    - ref: sic-brief.md
      role: source
      notes: "The governing brief for the [sic] imprint."

# ── What [sic] is ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# [sic] is a satirical publishing imprint.
# It produces card-format definitions of business jargon.
# Every order produces a unique book — assembled from the catalogue
# at the time of order. No two orders are identical.

macros:

  # ── CATALOGUE ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  - name: catalogue
    display-name: "Catalogue"
    display-name-source: authored
    source: "The library of cards. Each card is a satirical definition of one term. The catalogue grows. Books are assembled from whatever is in the catalogue at the time of order."
    mesos:

      - name: catalogue.card
        display-name: "Card"
        display-name-source: authored
        source: "A card is the atomic unit of [sic]. One term. One definition."
        micros:
          - name: card-structure
            display-name: "Card structure"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "A card has a term, a satirical definition, a domain tag, and a visual treatment. The term is a piece of business jargon. The definition satirises its use without explaining it. The domain tag places it in a category."
          - name: card-visual
            display-name: "Card visual treatment"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "Each card has a typographic layout designed in the authoring tool and exported as a vector file. The visual treatment is authored once. Colour is applied at assembly time, not at design time."
          - name: card-domain
            display-name: "Domain tag"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "Each card belongs to one domain: strategy, operations, talent, finance, technology, or culture. Domain tags govern which cards appear together in a themed book."

      - name: catalogue.collection
        display-name: "Collection"
        display-name-source: authored
        source: "Cards are grouped into collections. A collection is a curated subset of the catalogue around a theme."
        micros:
          - name: collection-structure
            display-name: "Collection structure"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "A collection has a name, a set of domain tags it draws from, a minimum and maximum card count, and an ordering rule. Collections are defined by the author. They are not generated."
          - name: collection-rule
            display-name: "Collection completeness rule"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: rule
            definition: "A collection cannot be assembled if the catalogue contains fewer cards in the required domains than the collection's minimum card count. The system must reject the assembly, not produce a short book."

  # ── ASSEMBLY ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  - name: assembly
    display-name: "Assembly"
    display-name-source: authored
    source: "Every order produces a unique book. The assembly pipeline selects cards, applies colour, collates pages, and produces a print-ready file. No two orders are identical."
    mesos:

      - name: assembly.selection
        display-name: "Card selection"
        display-name-source: authored
        source: "Cards are selected from the catalogue at the time of order. Selection is governed by the collection definition and a randomisation rule."
        micros:
          - name: selection-process
            display-name: "Selection process"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: process
            definition: "Given a collection definition: draw the required number of cards from the eligible domain tags. Apply the randomisation rule. Check that the result satisfies the minimum count. If not, reject and report — do not assemble a short book."
          - name: randomisation-rule
            display-name: "Randomisation rule"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: rule
            definition: "Card selection within a domain is random. The random seed is the order ID. Given the same order ID and the same catalogue state, the selection must be reproducible. This ensures a rejected order can be reprocessed identically."
          - name: uniqueness-rule
            display-name: "Uniqueness rule"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: rule
            definition: "No two orders in the same calendar month may produce the same card sequence. If a sequence collision is detected, a new random seed is applied. Uniqueness is per order, per month — not per all-time."

      - name: assembly.colour
        display-name: "Colour application"
        display-name-source: authored
        source: "Colour is not part of the card design. It is applied at assembly time. Each order receives a colour assignment."
        micros:
          - name: colour-assignment
            display-name: "Colour assignment"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: operation
            definition: "Each order is assigned a colour palette from the authorised palette set. The assignment is deterministic from the order ID — the same order always produces the same colour. Colour assignment happens before collation."
          - name: colour-substitution
            display-name: "Colour substitution"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: operation
            definition: "The assembly pipeline replaces the placeholder colour in each card's vector file with the assigned palette colour. Substitution is applied to all cards in the order before collation begins."
          - name: palette-set
            display-name: "Authorised palette set"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "The palette set is a curated list of colour assignments authored by the imprint. New palettes are added by the author only. The pipeline cannot generate palettes — it selects from the authorised set."

      - name: assembly.collation
        display-name: "Collation and output"
        display-name-source: authored
        source: "Selected, coloured cards are assembled into a document and rendered to a print-ready file."
        micros:
          - name: collation-process
            display-name: "Collation process"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: process
            definition: "Cards are ordered per the collection's ordering rule (alphabetical, domain-grouped, or random). Front matter and back matter are prepended and appended. The assembled document is passed to the rendering engine."
          - name: rendering
            display-name: "Print-ready rendering"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: operation
            definition: "The collated document is rendered to a PDF file meeting the print specifications: page dimensions, bleed, colour profile, and resolution as required by the fulfillment partner."
          - name: output-validation
            display-name: "Output validation"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: rule
            definition: "The rendered PDF must be validated against the print specification before being passed to fulfillment. A PDF that fails validation must not be submitted. The order is held and the failure reported."

  # ── FULFILLMENT ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  - name: fulfillment
    display-name: "Fulfillment"
    display-name-source: authored
    source: "The order is processed, the assembled file is submitted to the print partner, and the book is delivered to the reader."
    mesos:

      - name: fulfillment.order
        display-name: "Order"
        display-name-source: authored
        micros:
          - name: order-model
            display-name: "Order"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "An order has an identifier, a collection selection, a delivery address, a status, and a reference to the assembled output file. The order identifier is the seed for all randomisation in the assembly stage."
          - name: order-states
            display-name: "Order states"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: model
            definition: "An order moves through: received, assembling, validation-failed, assembled, submitted, fulfilled, failed. Only assembled orders may be submitted. Failed orders must not be retried automatically."

      - name: fulfillment.print-partner
        display-name: "Print partner integration"
        display-name-source: authored
        micros:
          - name: submission
            display-name: "File submission"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: integration
            definition: "The validated PDF and the order record are submitted to the print partner. The print partner returns a confirmation and a tracking reference. The tracking reference is stored against the order."
          - name: submission-failure
            display-name: "Submission failure"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: risk
            definition: "If the print partner rejects the submission, the order status is set to failed and the rejection reason is recorded. The order is not retried automatically. Manual review is required before resubmission."

      - name: fulfillment.utility
        display-name: "Reader utility"
        display-name-source: authored
        micros:
          - name: reader-utility
            display-name: "Reader utility"
            display-name-source: authored
            descriptor: utility
            definition: "The reader receives a book that is unique to their order — assembled from the catalogue at the time they ordered, in a colour assigned to their order, in a sequence no other reader this month has received. The book is a physical object. It is not reprinted."