The open standard for institutional decision memory.
Current version: v2.0.0 — introduces the ODS Core + Profiles architecture. Finance-domain fields are now in ODS-Finance/v1 profile; the core specification is domain-agnostic. v1.1.0 records remain valid; see CHANGELOG.md for the migration path. v1.0 is deprecated and must not be implemented.
ODS defines the schema, governance, and verification model for organizations to capture, audit, and learn from their decisions over time.
It is the missing infrastructure layer between data warehouses (which record what happened) and audit logs (which record system events) — ODS records the decisions themselves.
Organizations make thousands of consequential decisions every year — credit approvals, treatment plans, policy choices, capital allocations, supply-chain pivots.
Most are never captured in a structured, verifiable, auditable way.
The cost is real:
- Institutional amnesia. Why was this approved last year? No one remembers.
- Accountability gaps. When outcomes diverge, the reasoning is lost.
- Regulatory exposure. Auditors and regulators increasingly demand decision trails.
- Learning failure. AI and ML systems cannot improve without outcome-linked decision records.
ODS addresses this gap with a single, open, neutral specification.
| Layer | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Schema | A seven-layer decision record (identity, context, action, cognition, outcomes, counterfactuals, governance) |
| Conformance Levels | Three tiers — Basic, Standard, Full — for graduated adoption |
| Validator | An executable schema validator (validator/validate.py) |
| Governance | RFC process, versioning policy, and stability guarantees |
| Reference Implementation | ORPI Decision Vault™ — first Full-conformance implementation |
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SPECIFICATION.md | Complete v2.0.0 technical specification |
| PROFILES.md | Profile registry, authoring bar, and conformance rules |
| CONFORMANCE.md | Two-axis conformance levels and verification |
| IMPLEMENTATION.md | Developer guide with code examples |
| RATIONALE.md | Why ODS exists and how it transforms governance |
| GOVERNANCE.md | Project governance model |
| VERSIONING.md | Versioning and stability policy |
| COMPATIBILITY.md | Backward compatibility commitments |
| ROADMAP.md | Phased ecosystem evolution |
| CONTRIBUTING.md | How to contribute |
| CHANGELOG.md | Version history |
ODS records every decision in a seven-layer schema:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. IDENTITY — who, when, what version │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. CONTEXT — state of the world │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. ACTION — what was decided │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4. COGNITION — rationale and confidence │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5. OUTCOMES — what actually happened │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 6. COUNTERFACTUALS — what else was considered │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 7. GOVERNANCE — audit trail, compliance │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Records are append-only and cryptographically verifiable. See SPECIFICATION.md for the full data model.
ODS defines three tiers so organizations can adopt incrementally:
- Basic — minimum viable decision logging with structural integrity
- Standard — institutional-grade auditability with verifiable history
- Full — meta-learning capability with counterfactuals and outcome tracking
Full details in CONFORMANCE.md.
pip install jsonschema jcs
python validator/validate.py examples/core_only_decision.json
python validator/validate.py examples/finance_decision.jsonExpected output:
✓ ODS VALID: DECISION record compliant with core schema v2.0.0
✓ ODS VALID: DECISION record compliant with core schema v2.0.0 [ODS-Finance/v1]
{
"_schema_version": "2.0.0",
"record_type": "DECISION",
"record_id": "7a3f1c2e-0001-4000-a000-000000000001",
"timestamp_utc": "2026-05-09T10:00:00.000000+00:00",
"identity": {
"model_version": "v1.0.0",
"policy_hash": "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"
},
"cognition": {
"confidence": 1.0,
"rationale": "Policy attestation logged for Q2 2026 governance review."
},
"governance": {
"audit_trail": [{"timestamp_utc": "2026-05-09T10:00:00+00:00", "event": "DECISION_CREATED", "actor": "GOVERNANCE_SYSTEM", "metadata": {}}]
}
}{
"_schema_version": "2.0.0",
"record_type": "DECISION",
"record_id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
"timestamp_utc": "2026-05-09T14:23:45.123456+00:00",
"profile": "ODS-Finance/v1",
"identity": { "model_version": "v2.1.0", "policy_hash": "189bff6265300365c5ff0d775393db04714f1476ef063bc99a215c9e46a16971" },
"context": { "regime_state": "NORMAL", "volatility_state": "ELEVATED" },
"action": { "action_type": "BUY", "action_size": 50000.0, "expected_value": 0.08, "risk_posture": 0.62 },
"cognition": { "confidence": 0.78, "rationale": "Momentum signal above threshold in elevated-volatility regime." },
"governance": {
"audit_trail": [{"timestamp_utc": "2026-05-09T14:23:45+00:00", "event": "DECISION_CREATED", "actor": "ALPHA_ENGINE_v2.1", "metadata": {}}],
"compliance": { "policy_violations": [], "approvals": ["AUTO_APPROVED"], "risk_limit_checks": ["VAR_LIMIT_PASSED"] }
}
}See examples/ for complete records.
| Sector | Decisions ODS Captures |
|---|---|
| Financial services | Trading, credit, risk, capital allocation |
| Healthcare | Treatment plans, resource allocation, clinical trials |
| Supply chain | Sourcing, inventory, logistics, supplier selection |
| Government | Policy decisions, budget allocation, infrastructure |
| Energy | Grid management, infrastructure investment |
| Defense | Strategic and operational planning |
Any sector where a decision has consequences — and someone, eventually, will need to know why.
The first Full-conformance implementation is ORPI Decision Vault™ by ORPI Systems.
- 1,786 decisions logged and verified in production
- Append-only storage with SHA-256 chain verification
- Complete meta-learning framework (DPI, CFR, Learning Velocity)
- Real-time governance and compliance reporting
For implementation partnerships, contact ORPI Systems.
Infrastructure that compounds in value belongs to no one and everyone.
Open standards have won every major infrastructure category:
- TCP/IP over proprietary networking
- HTTP and HTML over walled gardens
- SQL over proprietary query languages
- Linux over proprietary Unix
Decision memory infrastructure follows the same trajectory. Standardization is what makes interoperability, auditability, and ecosystem development possible.
ODS is licensed Apache 2.0. Use it commercially, modify it, build on it.
ODS is maintained through an open RFC process. Proposed changes go through structured review before acceptance into the specification.
See:
- GOVERNANCE.md for governance model
- CONTRIBUTING.md for how to participate
- rfcs/ for active and accepted proposals
The Technical Committee makes final decisions on RFC acceptance, major versions, and conformance certification standards.
v2.0.0 (current) — ODS Core + Profiles architecture; ODS-Finance/v1 first authored profile; domain-agnostic core v2.1 (planned) — CORRECTION/ANNOTATION record types, empirically validated DPI weights, ODS-Healthcare/v1 RFC v2.x (roadmap) — causal inference integration, cross-organizational benchmarking, AI explainability alignment
Full plan in ROADMAP.md.
- Issues: GitHub Issues
- Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- RFCs: rfcs/
Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.
Decision memory is infrastructure that compounds.
🏛️ ODS Foundation — 2026