Beacon · Discovery Signal Architecture

Beacon Identifier Standard

The Beacon Identifier Standard establishes the canonical identifier convention for Beacon-owned Discovery Signals. It gives every production signal a stable, unique, human-readable institutional identity.

This standard defines Beacon's equivalent of SC-CERT-2026-0001, SREG-2026-0001, CHR-2026-0001, and ANCH-2026-0001.

Purpose

A production Discovery Signal must be independently identifiable across public pages, schemas, indexes, references, relationships, version history, and future machine-readable interfaces.

Stable identity allows Beacon to preserve continuity even as metadata, status, publication state, or related source information changes.

Canonical Decision

The canonical Beacon Discovery Signal identifier prefix is:

BEAC

The first production Discovery Signal uses:

BEAC-2026-0001

Canonical Identifier Format

BEAC-YYYY-NNNN

The identifier consists of three governed components:

BEAC → Satoshium Beacon institutional prefix
YYYY → four-digit year of canonical signal creation
NNNN → zero-padded sequential number within that year

1. Institutional Prefix

BEAC identifies the object as institutionally owned by Satoshium Beacon.

Short enough for human use
Distinct from other Suite identifiers
Clearly recognizable as Beacon
Does not encode Signal Type
Remains stable even if Beacon classifications evolve

Identifier → institutional identity.
Signal Type → discovery classification.

These concerns remain separate.

2. Year Component

YYYY records the calendar year in which the canonical Discovery Signal is created.

Four digits
Based on canonical creation year
Does not change if the signal is later updated
Does not change if the signal is superseded or resolved

The year is part of identity, not a statement of current status.

3. Sequence Component

NNNN is a four-digit, zero-padded sequence assigned within the creation year.

0001 is the first canonical Discovery Signal of the year
0002 is the second
Sequence increases monotonically
Assigned numbers are not reused

Example → BEAC-2026-0001

Why BEAC?

The prefix was selected to preserve institutional clarity rather than abbreviate the object as though the object type alone were the institution.

Beacon owns Discovery Signals
Beacon may later own additional governed discovery structures
Signal Type remains a separate field
The prefix aligns with Suite precedent for institution-recognizable identifiers

The identifier says who owns the object.
The Entry Model says what the object is.

Suite Identifier Context

Beacon's identifier joins the existing production-proven Suite object conventions:

Certifier → SC-CERT-2026-0001
Registry → SREG-2026-0001
Chronicle → CHR-2026-0001
Anchor → ANCH-2026-0001
Beacon → BEAC-2026-0001

These identifiers remain institution-specific. They do not imply that a single object moves through the Suite.

Assignment Point

The Entry Model and Lifecycle distinguish Identified from the creation of the canonical Beacon object.

The identifier is assigned when the canonical Discovery Signal is Created and enters Draft.

Identified → no permanent Beacon identifier required
Created → identifier assigned
Draft → canonical object exists

Identifier Permanence

Once assigned, a Beacon identifier is permanent.

It is not changed by publication
It is not changed by lifecycle transition
It is not changed by resolution
It is not reused after withdrawal
It remains attached to the historical object after supersession

Identity persists even when institutional standing changes.

Versioning

Version information must not be embedded into the canonical Beacon identifier.

Canonical Identifier → BEAC-2026-0001
Version → separate governed field

This keeps the stable object identity distinct from later version mechanics.

Signal Type

Signal Type must not be encoded into the identifier.

BEAC-2026-0001
Signal Type → Certification

A signal's classification belongs in the Entry Model and controlled vocabulary, not in its permanent identity.

Status

Lifecycle and publication status must not be encoded into the identifier.

Identifier → BEAC-2026-0001
Lifecycle State → Active
Publication State → Published

Status may change. Identity must not.

Source Identity

Referenced source identifiers remain separate from the Beacon identifier.

Beacon Signal → BEAC-2026-0001
Referenced Anchor Object → ANCH-2026-0001

Beacon preserves the relationship between the identifiers without collapsing them into one object.

Identifier Grammar

BEAC-[four-digit year]-[four-digit sequence]

Conceptual pattern:

^BEAC-[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{4}$

Beacon Schemas and Validation now govern identifier conformance at the institutional level. Exact frozen machine-schema enforcement remains intentionally open.

Examples

BEAC-2026-0001 → first Beacon Discovery Signal created in 2026
BEAC-2026-0002 → second Beacon Discovery Signal created in 2026
BEAC-2027-0001 → first Beacon Discovery Signal created in 2027

Invalid Examples

BEAC-26-0001 → year too short
BEAC-2026-1 → sequence not zero-padded
BEAC-CERT-2026-0001 → Signal Type improperly embedded
BEAC-2026-0001-v2 → version improperly embedded
BEAC-ACTIVE-2026-0001 → status improperly embedded

Sequence Governance

Sequence assignment must preserve uniqueness and non-reuse.

Each created canonical Discovery Signal receives one sequence number
A withdrawn identifier remains consumed
A superseded identifier remains consumed
A resolved identifier remains consumed
Numbers should not be reassigned to repair gaps

Gaps are preferable to identity reuse.

Human-Readable Identity

The Beacon identifier is intended to be stable enough for:

public citation
cross-Suite references
URLs
indexes
schemas
relationship mappings
version history
future APIs and machine discovery

Canonical Public Path

A published production Discovery Signal is addressable through its Beacon Record using the permanent identifier.

/beacon/records/BEAC-2026-0001/

Beacon Record is the public representation of the Discovery Signal; it is not a separate canonical object type.

Authority Boundary

A Beacon identifier establishes the identity of the Beacon-owned Discovery Signal only.

BEAC-2026-0001 identifies a Beacon Discovery Signal.
It does not rename, replace, or absorb the identity of any referenced canonical object.

Reference does not transfer authority.

What Remains Intentionally Open

The canonical identifier convention, assignment point, permanence rules, and public routing pattern are established and have been exercised in production. Remaining openness belongs to implementation.

Frozen machine-schema enforcement
Automated sequence-assignment mechanism
Automated collision-prevention implementation
Future ledger or service mechanism for issued Beacon identifiers
API behavior
Exact machine version-reference syntax outside the canonical identifier

Identifier meaning and institutional use are established. Future software may automate the mechanics without changing the canonical identity model.

First Production Identifier

The Identifier Standard has now been exercised through Beacon's first canonical production Discovery Signal.

Identifier → BEAC-2026-0001
Assigned At → Canonical Creation
Created → September 13, 2026 · 9:01:57 AM PDT
Initial Lifecycle → Draft
Initial Publication → Unpublished
Current Lifecycle → Active
Current Publication → Published
Version → 1.0
Public Record → /beacon/records/BEAC-2026-0001/

The production operation confirms that the permanent identifier is assigned at Creation, before validation, activation, or publication.

Current Status

Beacon Status → Operational · September 2026
Identifier Standard → Defined and production-exercised
Canonical Prefix → BEAC
Canonical Pattern → BEAC-YYYY-NNNN
Assignment Point → Canonical Creation
First Production Identifier → BEAC-2026-0001
Public Routing → Exercised
Frozen Machine-Schema Enforcement → Not yet adopted