Service Definition
Describe a persistent provider-accountable service outcome, intended consumers and qualified contextual bindings.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 12 layers · 12 findings · 48 questions
Identity and classification Proposed service-definition context for identity and classification.
Stable service identity
Context for stable service identity within the service definition boundary.
Stable service identity
A persistent service definition is identified independently of its name, catalogue listing, commercial offer and delivery instances. Provider reassignment requires an explicit continuity decision. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which master namespace and identifier distinguish this service from similarly named services? identity
- Which versioned service categories apply without equating the service with a product, activity or endpoint? classification
- Which identity criteria separate a revision of this service from a new service? definition
- Which evidence supports each legacy alias or external identity assertion? provenance
Expected outcome and consumer scope
Context for expected outcome and consumer scope within the service definition boundary.
Expected outcome and consumer scope
The definition expresses a provider-accountable outcome and intended consumers. Desired outcomes, output types and exclusions are distinct; a description is not proof that any instance achieved the outcome. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- What consumer need and expected outcome define the service? definition
- Which consumer roles are intended, and how do beneficiary and purchaser differ? relationship
- Which input and output types are described without importing individual delivery records? composition
- Which outcomes or use conditions are expressly outside the service promise? constraint
Accountability and realization Proposed service-definition context for accountability and realization.
Accountable provider and participating roles
Context for accountable provider and participating roles within the service definition boundary.
Accountable provider and participating roles
The local record binds provider and participant roles to external identities. Accountability, realization, brokerage and catalogue maintenance must not be collapsed into a single owner field. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which party is accountable for this definition and its declared consumer outcome? ownership
- Which parties realize or arrange access to the service without replacing its accountable provider? relationship
- What evidence authorizes a steward to approve or revise this definition? authority
- When does each provider-role assignment apply to a definition revision? temporal
Capability and dependency references
Context for capability and dependency references within the service definition boundary.
Capability and dependency references
Describe the realization assumptions through external capability, workflow and related-service references. A dependency edge is a qualified assertion, not a command to execute another service. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which capabilities and workflow definitions may realize the declared outcome? composition
- Which related services are required, optional, alternative or merely similar? relationship
- Which realization limits make this definition unsuitable for a given context? constraint
- How are unresolved targets, dependency cycles and incompatible revisions reported? validation
Access and applicability Proposed service-definition context for access and applicability.
Channels and supported context
Context for channels and supported context within the service definition boundary.
Channels and supported context
Describe routes to the service, supported areas, languages and accessibility context. Catalogue visibility, declared hours and actual reachability remain separate facts. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which service areas are supported independently of provider location and user eligibility? spatial
- Which channel or endpoint references provide a route to this service? access
- Which language and accessibility provisions or assisted alternatives are declared? requirement
- Which schedule and validity references qualify the advertised channels? temporal
Rule and offering references
Context for rule and offering references within the service definition boundary.
Rule and offering references
The definition may point to governing conditions and externally mastered offers. Consumer eligibility, transaction terms, entitlement and actual screening decisions retain their own masters. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which rule and evidence-type references describe the conditions for using this service? requirement
- Which offer, contract or subscription definitions refer to this service revision? relationship
- Where are exceptions, disputes or requests for human assistance routed? exception
- Which source prevails when a catalogue summary conflicts with a governing condition? authority
Definition lifecycle and continuity Proposed service-definition context for definition lifecycle and continuity.
Definition state and effective time
Context for definition state and effective time within the service definition boundary.
Definition state and effective time
Definition lifecycle is local and descriptive: an adopter may distinguish draft, approved, deprecated and retired. These states never imply offer availability, runtime health, legal entitlement or case completion. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which definition state and controlled state vocabulary apply to this revision? state
- What are the effective interval and recording time of this definition revision? temporal
- Which approval evidence supports the current definition state? authority
- How is a withdrawn approval or conflicting effective interval made visible? exception
Revision and retirement continuity
Context for revision and retirement continuity within the service definition boundary.
Revision and retirement continuity
Service revisions preserve a traceable meaning and references. Local retirement withdraws a definition from new local use under policy; it cannot terminate external obligations or erase independently mastered evidence. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which changes require a new immutable revision or a distinct service identity? lifecycle
- Which predecessor or successor service is linked without asserting equivalence? relationship
- What impact references and accountable sign-off are needed before retiring the definition? process
- Which policy governs local history, payload disposal and minimal tombstones after retirement? retention
Quality and evidence bindings Proposed service-definition context for quality and evidence bindings.
Service quality objective bindings
Context for service quality objective bindings within the service definition boundary.
Service quality objective bindings
Bind the service revision and consumer context to external quality objectives. Estimates, aspirational targets and contractual commitments need explicit qualification; target evaluation and remedies stay external. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which quality dimensions matter to the intended consumers of this service? quality
- Which external objective or commitment revisions apply to which service scope? relationship
- Is each advertised level an estimate, aspiration or authorized commitment? classification
- Which external evaluation and contract references own breach findings and remedies? constraint
Recognition and observation context
Context for recognition and observation context within the service definition boundary.
Recognition and observation context
Recognition uses identity and attributed evidence, not names or marketing alone. Service-level assertions can cite observations while keeping their subject, method, result and time externally mastered. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which evidence distinguishes the described service from a similarly named offering or endpoint? evidence
- Which observation references identify the subject, property, method and relevant time of a quality claim? measurement
- Who asserted each service-specific evidence link and when was it reviewed? provenance
- How are stale, missing or contradictory observations shown without becoming a pass or failure? exception
Governed description and interoperability Proposed service-definition context for governed description and interoperability.
Profile mappings and semantic loss
Context for profile mappings and semantic loss within the service definition boundary.
Profile mappings and semantic loss
Mappings are explicit projections. Generic service, public-service and data-service vocabularies cover different populations; a mapping records unsupported fields and must not assert conformance by resemblance. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which versioned external vocabulary and target profile are selected for this projection? interoperability
- What evidence justifies using a public-service or data-service specialization here? classification
- Which fields, cardinalities or meanings are lost or transformed in the mapping? validation
- How does a projected catalogue entry retain the master service identity and revision? identity
Controlled description views
Context for controlled description views within the service definition boundary.
Controlled description views
Public and restricted descriptions are purpose-bound projections of the definition. A service catalogue must not silently expose consumer data, internal dependencies, credentials or restricted evidence. This is a proposed local design derived from the cited concerns, not a claim that a source prescribes this exact structure.
- Which definition fields or linked metadata are sensitive even when the service name is public? privacy
- Which recipient, purpose and authority permit each description view? access
- Which evidence links require redaction or omission before local export? security
- What review evidence accompanies a published or locally exported description? validation
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- entity
- Navigation path
- NAV.ACT.SRV
- Domain
- ACT.SRV
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- servicedefinitionact.srv
- Also called
- K4, Service
What it is Filled
One service definition with stable identity across revisions. It specifies what outcome is intended and the context in which consumers may use it. It is neither an offer nor a request, delivery episode, runtime deployment or assurance evaluator. The generic root supports public, commercial, internal, digital and non-digital services through profiles.
In scope
- Service identity, classification, outcome scope and provider accountability
- Definition-specific channel, condition, realization, quality and evidence bindings
- Definition revisions, descriptive states, continuity and controlled catalogue projections
Out of scope
- Commercial offer, subscription, entitlement, price, billing and contract lifecycles
- Request intake, eligibility decisions, delivery execution, case resolution and acceptance
- Workflow and organization master lifecycles; endpoint exposure and runtime health
- Measurement creation, SLO evaluation, breach determination and remedy enforcement
- Public-service legal entitlement and sector-specific operational procedures
Why it exists Filled
Describe a persistent provider-accountable service outcome, intended consumers and qualified contextual bindings.
Distinguishing features Derived, awaiting review
- Unlike WM-ORG-001: Bind accountable and realization-provider organization identities. Organization creation, ownership and lifecycle remain external.
- Unlike WM-ACT-003: Pin a realization workflow definition; do not run workflows or own execution state.
- Unlike WM-ECO-022: Link subscriptions that cite the service. Entitlement, consumption periods, renewal and billing remain external.
- Unlike WM-ACT-021: Link request or case masters by service revision. Intake, resolution, acceptance and closure remain case-owned.
- Unlike WM-SFT-016: Bind service scope to SLO policy and evaluation references. Target evaluation, error budgets and breach lifecycle remain SLO-owned.
- Unlike WM-MAT-008: Reference quality observations. Observation identity, value, unit, method, uncertainty and time remain observation-owned.
- Unlike WM-PER-001: Optional individual provider identity; do not require every provider to be an organization or copy personal records.
- Unlike WM-ACT-001: Reference required capabilities without claiming they are exercised or currently available.
- Unlike WM-ECO-006: Reference applicable agreements; contractual obligations, enforceability, credits and remedies remain contract-owned.
- Unlike WM-SFT-003: Reference a technical interaction contract only when the service has such an interface; business outcome identity is distinct.
- Unlike WM-SFT-018: Reference digital endpoints where applicable; locator assignment, exposure and reachability lifecycle remain endpoint-owned.
- Unlike WM-POL-018: Public-service specialization requires its own legal and institutional profile; generic service identity does not confer public authority.
- Unlike Adopting offering master: Pin an external offer identifier and revision. Pricing, sale availability, transaction terms and acceptance are not service-definition lifecycle.
- Unlike K4 legacy Service card and unreviewed supplement: Reconcile the standing description, but externalize offer terms, requests, delivery episodes, quality observations and breach evaluation. Reject one-request-to-one-delivery cardinality as a generic invariant. Legacy conformance labels and wildcard imports are not inherited.
Note: Derived from boundary notes against neighbouring models.
What robots and AI may and may not do Derived, awaiting review
Must not
- Never cascade deletion to referenced masters or interpret it as cancellation of obligations.
- Deny mutation and sensitive disclosure unless the adopting policy authorizes the actor, purpose and revision.
May
- Register a local draft definition: Propose a stable definition record after identity and scope checks. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Revise a local definition: Apply an authorized change while preserving revision continuity. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Bind a qualified external reference: Attach a verified or explicitly unresolved link with local purpose and version. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Validate definition coherence: Perform proposed local completeness and boundary checks, not operational certification. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Prepare a controlled local description view: Render an authorized catalogue projection with provenance and semantic loss notes. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Retire a local definition: Record an authorized local retirement and successor reference. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
Note: Derived from functions, policies, CRUD and access rules; prohibitions were not authored for agents as such.
Moral aspects Derived, awaiting review
- Do not copy consumer personal data, credentials or restricted operational details into a generic service catalogue.
- History is not a mandate to retain personal data forever.
Note: Sentences mentioning harm, privacy, consent or similar, collected from the specification.
Owners Filled
Steward
Identify the accountable provider role, definition steward and authoritative service namespace without embedding a company name as model owner.
Roles
- Accountable provider
- Approves the declared outcome and responsibility scope.
- Definition steward
- Maintains identity, revisions and qualified bindings under delegated authority.
- Profile reviewer
- Reviews applicability, mapping loss and required instance constraints.
- Evidence reviewer
- Checks reference provenance and limits without silently recomputing external results.
- Access and records custodian
- Authorizes views and implements adopted retention and disposal decisions.
- Consumer representative
- Challenges unclear scope and inaccessible routes without access to unrelated personal records.
Links to other meta-models Filled
references
- WM-ORG-001 - Bind accountable and realization-provider organization identities. Organization creation, ownership and lifecycle remain external.
- WM-ACT-003 - Pin a realization workflow definition; do not run workflows or own execution state.
- WM-ECO-022 - Link subscriptions that cite the service. Entitlement, consumption periods, renewal and billing remain external.
- WM-ACT-021 - Link request or case masters by service revision. Intake, resolution, acceptance and closure remain case-owned.
- WM-SFT-016 - Bind service scope to SLO policy and evaluation references. Target evaluation, error budgets and breach lifecycle remain SLO-owned.
- WM-MAT-008 - Reference quality observations. Observation identity, value, unit, method, uncertainty and time remain observation-owned.
- WM-PER-001 - Optional individual provider identity; do not require every provider to be an organization or copy personal records.
- WM-ACT-001 - Reference required capabilities without claiming they are exercised or currently available.
- WM-ECO-006 - Reference applicable agreements; contractual obligations, enforceability, credits and remedies remain contract-owned.
- WM-SFT-003 - Reference a technical interaction contract only when the service has such an interface; business outcome identity is distinct.
- WM-SFT-018 - Reference digital endpoints where applicable; locator assignment, exposure and reachability lifecycle remain endpoint-owned.
- Adopting offering master - Pin an external offer identifier and revision. Pricing, sale availability, transaction terms and acceptance are not service-definition lifecycle.
aligned
- WM-POL-018 - Public-service specialization requires its own legal and institutional profile; generic service identity does not confer public authority.
- https://schema.org/Service - Conceptual service-description projection; no schema conformance claim or required commercial offer.
- https://semiceu.github.io/CPSV-AP/releases/3.2.0/ - Public-service profile mapping only, with explicit cardinality and authority review.
- https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-3/ - Data-service projection only where the service actually provides data access or processing; not a universal service type.
- https://www.w3.org/TR/prov-o/ - Provenance alignment for description and reference revisions, not an authority or truth certificate.
neighbor
- WM-ORG-001 - Bind accountable and realization-provider organization identities. Organization creation, ownership and lifecycle remain external.
- WM-ACT-003 - Pin a realization workflow definition; do not run workflows or own execution state.
- WM-ECO-022 - Link subscriptions that cite the service. Entitlement, consumption periods, renewal and billing remain external.
- WM-ACT-021 - Link request or case masters by service revision. Intake, resolution, acceptance and closure remain case-owned.
- WM-SFT-016 - Bind service scope to SLO policy and evaluation references. Target evaluation, error budgets and breach lifecycle remain SLO-owned.
- WM-MAT-008 - Reference quality observations. Observation identity, value, unit, method, uncertainty and time remain observation-owned.
- WM-PER-001 - Optional individual provider identity; do not require every provider to be an organization or copy personal records.
- WM-ACT-001 - Reference required capabilities without claiming they are exercised or currently available.
- WM-ECO-006 - Reference applicable agreements; contractual obligations, enforceability, credits and remedies remain contract-owned.
- WM-SFT-003 - Reference a technical interaction contract only when the service has such an interface; business outcome identity is distinct.
- WM-SFT-018 - Reference digital endpoints where applicable; locator assignment, exposure and reachability lifecycle remain endpoint-owned.
- WM-POL-018 - Public-service specialization requires its own legal and institutional profile; generic service identity does not confer public authority.
- Adopting offering master - Pin an external offer identifier and revision. Pricing, sale availability, transaction terms and acceptance are not service-definition lifecycle.
- K4 legacy Service card and unreviewed supplement - Reconcile the standing description, but externalize offer terms, requests, delivery episodes, quality observations and breach evaluation. Reject one-request-to-one-delivery cardinality as a generic invariant. Legacy conformance labels and wildcard imports are not inherited.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Incomplete
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Authoritative master-system identifier in its namespace
- Governed global identifier or IRI
- Dimension-assigned UUID or ULID
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Institutional or informational subject: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Register a local draft definition: Propose a stable definition record after identity and scope checks. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Revise a local definition: Apply an authorized change while preserving revision continuity. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Bind a qualified external reference: Attach a verified or explicitly unresolved link with local purpose and version. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Validate definition coherence: Perform proposed local completeness and boundary checks, not operational certification. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Prepare a controlled local description view: Render an authorized catalogue projection with provenance and semantic loss notes. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
- Retire a local definition: Record an authorized local retirement and successor reference. Proposed operation only; no runtime implementation is claimed.
Hazards and failure modes optional Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Standards and interfaces required Derived, awaiting review
- Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) - Version 3
- PROV-O: The PROV Ontology
- RFC 3339: Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps
Context of use required Filled
- CPSV-AP and UK guidance are bounded public-service examples, not universal obligations.
- OASIS SOA and DCAT provide technical perspectives; offline and internal services do not require digital endpoints or a commercial offer.
Sources Filled
- Service - Schema.org community
- Offer - Schema.org community
- Reference Model for Service Oriented Architecture 1.0 - OASIS
- Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile - European Commission SEMIC
- Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) - Version 3 - World Wide Web Consortium
- Service Standard - UK Government Digital Service
- PROV-O: The PROV Ontology - World Wide Web Consortium
- RFC 3339: Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps - Internet Engineering Task Force
- Semantic Sensor Network Ontology - World Wide Web Consortium
Open questions
- Run the prepared source checker outside the sandbox, then separately verify source versions, errata, claim support and applicability.
- Develop executable profiles and adversarial fixtures for provider transfer, service retirement with active obligations, missing quality evidence and lossy catalogue mappings.
- Restore independent external review and qualified adoption review before any canonical or publishable-draft promotion.
- Executable nested schemas, state vocabulary, profile-specific cardinality and reference-resolution fixtures.
- Complete sector coverage, legal applicability, service quality frameworks and specialist accessibility conformance.
- Pinned production mappings, authorized migrations of existing instances and independent external review.
Machine files
Provenance
world-models research · reviewable-draft
Built from: models/wm-act-004-service-definition/spec.yaml