Keywords and codenames
The naming rules give you plain, keyword-first functional names. A codename is a different thing: the durable internal identity of a product or major initiative. Confusing the two is the most common naming mistake, so this unit keeps them apart.
Keyword-first, no redundant prefix
The estate names functional artifacts with plain keywords and drops the redundant cogitave- prefix, because the parent org or folder already provides the namespace. This is the decision recorded in ADR-0007: names are keyword-based and plain - bootstrap, core, standards - not cogitave-bootstrap. Where a GitHub org login must be globally unique, the clean-name-to-login mapping lives in estate.yaml so the local name stays simple.
What a codename is
The codename standard defines a codename as a short, evocative, single-word name for a foundational concept, drawn from ancient and root languages. Cogitave calls this lexicon Roots, and it is seeded by the two existing products:
yuva- nest, home, dwelling: the place agents live and run (the Agent OS).namzu- name, naming, designation: what defines an agent (the Agent Kernel).
The family rule keeps a codename a single lowercase token of one to three syllables, with no spaces, hyphen, or number, mapping to a foundational concept whose connotation fits the product. The Roots lexicon is promotion-grade by design - yuva and namzu are already public names too.
Three names, kept distinct
A product can carry three names, bound together in the codename registry:
- Codename - the Roots token; one per product, its durable internal identity.
- Public / marketing name - what customers see, usually the same token.
- Repo name - a plain keyword. It is either the codename, when the product leads with its name (
yuva,namzu), or the descriptive category keyword, when the category is the clearest identifier (browser,editor).
CAUTION
Never concatenate a codename with its category - not yuva-os, duru-browser, or editor-kalem. The registry holds the mapping; the name stays simple. This is the same no-redundant-prefix principle applied to products.
When a codename is allowed
- One codename per product or major externally-distinct initiative, for its lifetime.
- Platform and infrastructure primitives are codename-exempt.
core,bootstrap,standards,agents,infrarun under their descriptive keyword names - they are substrate, not marketed surfaces. - Allocation is gated, not first-come. A name is
proposedonly after a fast knockout check (trademark registers, package and handle availability, internal collision, cross-language safety); it goesactiveonly with founder sign-off and full legal clearance. A retired codename is tombstoned, never reused.