# docs/ — study and specification index
Normative and study documents for the MNF formats. Every measured claim
points at its producing record; `docs/science.md` maps the underlying
principles (information theory, coding theory, MDL) to the mechanisms.
## Specifications (normative)
- [format.md](format.md) — MNF5/MNF6/MNF7 bitstream specs + freeze stamp;
MNF8 extension described in the crate docs (`src/mnf8.rs`) and
[ADR-002](adr-002-entropy-backends.md).
- [adr-001-color-transform.md](adr-001-color-transform.md) — MNF7 color-domain
residuals decision record.
- [adr-002-entropy-backends.md](adr-002-entropy-backends.md) — MNF8 backend
field + profiles decision record.
- [mnf8-adr-003-tokens.md](mnf8-adr-003-tokens.md) — MNF8 FLAG_TOKENS
(LZ77-2D token payload over the MED plane) decision record.
- [mnf8-adr-004-branch-pred.md](mnf8-adr-004-branch-pred.md) — MNF8
PRED_PLANE / PRED_LEFT branch-predictor flags decision record.
- [mnf8-adr-005-token-near.md](mnf8-adr-005-token-near.md) — token-wire
TAG_NEAR narrow-coordinate matches decision record.
- [mnf8-adr-006-matcher-depth.md](mnf8-adr-006-matcher-depth.md) — token
matcher candidate depth (two-arm pick) decision record.
- [mnf10-genfunc-discovery-probe.md](mnf10-genfunc-discovery-probe.md) —
exact generative-function discovery probe (MNDF10 track opener).
- [mnf8-adr-007-mnf10-genfunc.md](mnf8-adr-007-mnf10-genfunc.md) — MNF10
exact generative records decision record (PROMOTED Track A: shipped
decoder + pick arm; status header in the ADR).
- [mnf10-track-a-promotion.md](mnf10-track-a-promotion.md) — the Track A
promotion record: CLI pick arm, dispatch, verify chain, fuzz diff.
- [mnf10-g3-shared-model.md](mnf10-g3-shared-model.md) — Track B G3:
shared-model competition verdicts (Arm C denied at zstd; wins under a
window-constrained container; fixture generator committed) + the G4
revised gate (identity+sparse vs D8+sparse vs the ACTUAL 1.10.0
portfolio; sparse+template is the mechanism), G5
sparse-representation economics (masks/channel-split DENIED), and
the MNF11 diagnostic + relabel-shipped-stream experiment
(−62,675 B, 17/30) + X369 grid + X1 program-discovery closure.
- [ADR-008](mnf8-adr-008-channel-diff.md) — MNF8 FLAG_CHANNEL_DIFF (bit 6):
the channel-difference residual organization — IMPLEMENTED v1.11.0
(−12.3% corpus / −116,570 B, 23/30 files; pick-measured both
organizations; golden + reject vectors committed).
- [mnf10-autopsy.md](mnf10-autopsy.md) — two-track opener: Bit-Cost
Autopsy instrumentation + hand-off to generative discovery
(docs/mnf10-autopsy-gate.csv carries the per-file walk).
## Measurements (canonical numbers)
- [benchmarks.md](benchmarks.md) — lossless comparison tables (PNG/JXL/WebP
columns), held-out corpus.
- [atlas-eval-v12.md](atlas-eval-v12.md) — encoder arm ablation (MED, atlas,
D8, planar at coder parity).
- [entropy-backends-v13.md](entropy-backends-v13.md) — backend matrix at
frozen-stream parity (zlib/zstd/brotli/xz).
- [subspace-v01.md](subspace-v01.md) — PCA/MDL subspace study (FAIL gate).
- [photo-gate-v122.md](photo-gate-v122.md) — photographic corpus gate.
## Research records (2026-10-27 probe program)
Six geometry-family denials + one engine retention, all measured with
metadata counted and exact reconstruction asserted:
- [riemannian-traversal-probe.md](riemannian-traversal-probe.md) — metric-guided
scan order (DENIED; also the metric-warp predictor postscript).
- [shear-refs-format-probe.md](shear-refs-format-probe.md) — D8+10-shear MNF8
flag candidate implemented and reverted at the 30/30 gate.
- [ternary-residuals-probe.md](ternary-residuals-probe.md) — balanced-ternary
digit splits on prediction residuals (first-cost analysis).
- [research-paper-validation.md](research-paper-validation.md) — published
compression claims vs manifold measurements (per-claim verdicts).
- [mnf8-riemann-conformal-probe.md](mnf8-riemann-conformal-probe.md) — conformal
square→disk guidance (analytic no-op) + anisotropic orientation tiebreak
(single-class candidate).
- [riemann-array-v05-probe.md](riemann-array-v05-probe.md) — shear-wrap torus
prediction (1/W lever; 0/30 corpus wins).
- [periodic-prediction-v06-probe.md](periodic-prediction-v06-probe.md) — periodic
structure prediction (25/30 corpus wins, −8.92%; mechanism split T=1 vs true T;
coefficient hybrid denied).
- [webp-hybrid-probe.md](webp-hybrid-probe.md) — WebP-style predictors on the
MNF8 coder (DENIED) + the fair corpora comparison table.
- [mnf9-engine-ladder-probe.md](mnf9-engine-ladder-probe.md) — the ladder:
LZ77-2D token engine RETAINED rate-aware; matrix-matching arms DENIED.
- [mnf9-token-arm.md](mnf9-token-arm.md) — the retained arm ported to Rust
(`crates/mnf-mans`): real decoder, 30-file corpus gate, 5/30 token wins
reproducing the ladder numbers.
- [mnf9-rans-arm.md](mnf9-rans-arm.md) — mixed run/LZ + contextual rANS
(backend-3 candidate): DENIED as universal, RETAINED behind the
rate-aware pick (screenshot −34%, document −23%); wire-through-rANS DEAD.
- [mnf9-charts-probe.md](mnf9-charts-probe.md) — step-5 candidates:
gradient-orientation tiebreak DENIED (the tie surface does not exist
post-residual); 2D-token column-layout RETAINED as a pick candidate
(−576 B/30-file, text/screen classes); arm F recorded as the pick's
own per-file readout.
- [mnf9-erdos-probe.md](mnf9-erdos-probe.md) — Erdős-offset candidate
generation DENIED (equal-budget content-key chains dominate; A+B union
worse everywhere); (m,dir) address coding DENIED (u8 coordinate pair
beats any structured address); blob far-offset signal recorded, not
retained.
- [mnf9-lattice-probe.md](mnf9-lattice-probe.md) — grid-topology
ablation: hex/tri causal lattices DENIED (+8.1%/+13.3%); algebraic
coordinates = analytic no-op tie; the measured discovery is the
branch-choice family (LOCO-I-plane −4.6%, left-only per-file arm),
MNF8-compatible and cheap.
- [mnf9-branch-gate.md](mnf9-branch-gate.md) — the branch-choice arms'
RETENTION GATE: PASSED (−71,767/−7.0% vs the v1.6.0 pick, never-worse
per file, 25/30 files on the new arms). Format step cleared:
MNF8 bits 4-5 + ADR-003 pick extension, no new magic.
- [mnf9-windowed-geometry-probe.md](mnf9-windowed-geometry-probe.md) —
unbounded shape / bounded observation (frequencies freed from the
window): DENIED at quantized-parameter cost; loses even on constructed
sinusoids (the model's quantization floor exceeds the residual-coder
floor); the tied-period negative result STANDS with its binding
constraint corrected. Discrete/integer geometric structure (CY01
phases) remains the family's measured-win territory.
Earlier research notes: [v07-charts-replication.md](v07-charts-replication.md),
[cy01-torus.md](cy01-torus.md), [dimensional-fold-probe.md](dimensional-fold-probe.md),
[cryoem-plan.md](cryoem-plan.md), [eer-probe-10061-10943.md](eer-probe-10061-10943.md),
[riemannian-review.md](riemannian-review.md).
- [vid03-r2-topology-gate.md](vid03-r2-topology-gate.md) — VID03-R2 topology-dependent reconstruction gate (DENIED: multi-sheet topology representable + renderable but not economical; sparse-event control covers the sheet record)
- [gse02-gate.md](gse02-gate.md) — GSE-02 hierarchical MDL byte-stream
codec gate (Rust research crate: generator/partition/shared-model
separation measured; 4/8 vs framed zstd-19 on the acceptance
matrix; decode-verified; natural-data gate pending)
## Communication
- [science.md](science.md) — the principles document: information theory,
coding theory, MDL, and the measured research principles (§11).
- [announcement-draft.md](announcement-draft.md) — approved announcement
numbers draft (in-repo, soaking).
## Audits
- [audit-crate-131.md](audit-crate-131.md) — published-crate audit (v1.3.1).
- [audit-2026-10-25.md](audit-2026-10-25.md) — full-repo technical audit.