Beacon · Phase II · Production Architecture

Publication Model

The Publication Model defines when a Beacon Discovery Signal becomes publicly discoverable, what its public representation contains, and how Beacon preserves the boundary between internal identification and review, institutional validity, and public release.

Discovery can exist before publication. Validation can precede publication. Publication is a governed institutional act.

Purpose

The Publication Model answers:

When may a Discovery Signal become public?
What must be true before publication?
What does the public representation contain?
What remains internal or restricted?
How are later changes shown publicly?

Core Distinction

Beacon must distinguish the existence of a Discovery Signal from the public release of that signal.

Canonical existence
≠ Validation
≠ Active lifecycle state
≠ Publication

Publication State

The Beacon lifecycle architecture established a separate Publication State:

Unpublished
Published

Publication State is intentionally separate from Lifecycle State.

Lifecycle State

Draft
Active
Superseded
Resolved
Withdrawn

Lifecycle describes institutional state.

Publication State

Unpublished
Published

Publication describes whether the governed Beacon representation has been publicly released.

Pre-Publication Sequence

Candidate Discovery Identified
↓
Discovery Signal Created
↓
BEAC Identifier Assigned
↓
Draft / Unpublished
↓
Review & Validation
↓
Active / Unpublished
↓
Publication Decision
↓
Active / Published

Publication is not the act that creates the canonical Discovery Signal. The signal already exists before public release.

Internal

Identification

Beacon may identify potentially relevant information before a canonical Discovery Signal exists.

Identified → pre-object condition

Identification alone does not create a public Beacon record.

Canonical

Creation

Canonical creation establishes the Discovery Signal and assigns its BEAC identifier.

Created → canonical object exists
Publication State → Unpublished
Review

Validation

Validation determines whether the signal conforms to Beacon production architecture.

Valid
≠
automatically Published
Public

Publication

Publication is the governed act that makes an eligible Beacon representation publicly discoverable.

Published → public Beacon representation released

Publication Eligibility

A Discovery Signal should be eligible for publication only when:

  • Canonical identity exists
  • BEAC identifier conforms
  • Required Entry Model components are present
  • Applicable Validation has passed
  • Lifecycle state permits publication
  • Provenance is sufficient for public review
  • Authority boundaries are preserved
  • References and relationships are sufficiently attributable
  • No governing restriction prevents public release
Eligibility permits a publication decision. Eligibility does not itself publish the signal.

Publication Decision

Beacon must make or record a governed publication decision before changing Publication State to Published.

Eligible
↓ publication decision
Published

Publication Is Not Validation

Validation answers whether the Beacon object conforms. Publication answers whether an eligible representation is publicly released.

Validation → conformance gate
Publication → public-release act

Public Representation

A published Discovery Signal should expose enough canonical information for a reviewer to identify, understand, attribute, and trace the discovery.

The public representation should normally include:

  • BEAC identifier
  • Signal subject
  • Signal Type
  • Lifecycle state
  • Publication state
  • Current version
  • Discovery summary or represented observation
  • Source identity
  • Reviewable provenance appropriate for publication
  • Canonical references when applicable
  • Relationships when applicable and publishable
  • Relevant timestamps
  • Supersession or resolution information when applicable

Public Canonical Identity

Publication must preserve the same canonical identity assigned at creation.

Internal canonical object → BEAC-2026-0001
Public representation → BEAC-2026-0001

Publication does not create a second public identifier.

Public Record Path

The Identifier Standard established the conceptual public record path:

/beacon/records/BEAC-2026-0001/

The later Individual Discovery Signal page will define the actual production record representation.

Public Representation Is Not the Source Object

Beacon publishes its Discovery Signal, not a replacement copy of another institution's canonical object.

Beacon publishes → BEAC Discovery Signal
Beacon references → source-owned canonical object

Reference does not transfer authority.

Source Attribution

Public references should preserve source ownership and native identity.

Source Institution → Certifier
Source Object → SC-CERT-2026-0001
Beacon Object → BEAC-2026-0001

No Authority Elevation

Publication must not make a source appear more authoritative merely because Beacon exposes it publicly.

Public visibility
≠ certification
≠ registration
≠ integrity verification
≠ trust

Public Provenance

Published signals should preserve enough provenance for meaningful public review while respecting legitimate access, privacy, security, and source restrictions.

Public provenance should explain where the signal came from without requiring Beacon to expose information that governance prohibits from release.

Internal Provenance

Beacon may retain provenance information needed for institutional accountability that is not appropriate for public release.

Public Provenance

The public representation contains the portion of provenance necessary and permitted for public review.

Internal completeness and public disclosure are related, but not necessarily identical.

Restricted or Non-Public Information

A valid Discovery Signal may remain Unpublished when legitimate restrictions prevent public release.

Potential restrictions may include:

  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Access limitations
  • Source restrictions
  • Institutional governance
  • Insufficient public-review basis
  • Other lawful or governed limitations
Valid does not mean public. Discoverable internally does not mean publishable externally.

Unpublished Active Signal

Beacon may have an institutionally valid Active Discovery Signal that remains Unpublished.

Lifecycle → Active
Publication → Unpublished

Published Active Signal

A signal becomes publicly discoverable only after the governed publication act.

Lifecycle → Active
Publication → Published

Publication of Versions

Publication should identify the current published representation while preserving reviewable history for materially superseded published versions.

BEAC-2026-0001 v1 → Published historically
↓ superseded by
BEAC-2026-0001 v2 → Current published representation

Exact public version-history presentation remains subject to production implementation.

Published + Superseded

A published signal may later become Superseded and remain publicly reviewable as historical institutional evidence.

Lifecycle → Superseded
Publication → Published

Published + Resolved

A published signal may remain publicly visible after resolution.

Lifecycle → Resolved
Publication → Published

Published + Withdrawn

Withdrawal requires careful public handling because the historical fact of prior publication may itself be institutionally relevant.

Do not silently erase prior publication.
Preserve governed withdrawal state and reason to the extent publication rules permit.

Exact withdrawal-display rules remain unfrozen pending Methodology and production use.

No Silent Unpublication

Once a signal has been publicly released, later institutional change should not ordinarily make the historical publication disappear without explanation.

Preserve public history where governance permits.

Correction Notice

Material corrections to a published signal should remain reviewable through version history, correction context, or another governed public mechanism.

Correct the record without pretending the earlier record never existed.

Publication Timestamp

Publication time must remain distinct from other Beacon timestamps.

observed_at → when Beacon observed the source
created_at → when the Discovery Signal was created
published_at → when the Beacon representation became public

These timestamps must not be silently substituted for one another.

Public Relationships

Relationships may be published when their meaning, attribution, provenance, and disclosure are appropriate for public release.

Restricted Relationships

A relationship may remain internally represented even when public disclosure of the relationship or one endpoint is restricted.

Relationship validity
≠ automatic public disclosure

Public Discovery Register

Published Discovery Signals will ultimately be surfaced through the Beacon Discovery Signals Register.

/beacon/records/
↓ lists / exposes published Beacon signals

/beacon/records/BEAC-2026-0001/
↓ represents an individual published Discovery Signal

The Register and individual-record architecture follow later in Phase II.

Publication and Search

Public discoverability should operate on published Beacon representations rather than exposing internal Draft or restricted records by default.

Publication and Indexes

Beacon indexes may expose published Discovery Signals while preserving publication restrictions and current/historical status.

Conceptual Publication Structure

publication:
  state
  published_at
  published_version
  public_record_location
  publication_basis
  restrictions
  historical_notice

Architectural only. Exact machine-readable property names and publication-decision mechanics remain unfrozen.

Minimum Publication Gate

Canonical Signal exists
+ Validation passed
+ Lifecycle permits publication
+ Public provenance sufficient
+ Authority boundaries preserved
+ References / relationships publishable
+ No governing restriction prevents release
+ Publication decision made
= Eligible Published Discovery Signal

Relationship to Validation

Validation determines whether the signal conforms to Beacon rules. Publication determines whether an eligible representation becomes public.

Relationship to Versioning

Versioning preserves changing representations. Publication identifies which representation was publicly released and which is currently public.

Relationship to Authority

Publication does not expand Beacon's institutional authority or transfer authority from referenced sources.

Relationship to Provenance

Public provenance must remain sufficient for review while respecting legitimate disclosure constraints.

What Is Now Established

  • Canonical existence and publication are separate
  • Identification is a pre-object condition and does not create a public record
  • Creation assigns canonical identity before publication
  • Validation does not automatically publish a signal
  • Publication is a governed institutional act
  • Publication State is separate from Lifecycle State
  • Active Discovery Signals may remain Unpublished
  • Published representations retain the canonical BEAC identifier
  • Public representations expose Beacon objects, not replacement copies of source-owned objects
  • Public source references preserve attribution and authority boundaries
  • Valid or internally discoverable information may remain non-public
  • Published historical versions and superseded signals should remain traceable where governance permits
  • Prior publication should not be silently erased
  • Publication timestamps remain distinct from observation and creation timestamps
  • Public discoverability should default to published Beacon representations

What Remains Unfrozen

  • Exact publication approval role or mechanism
  • Machine-readable publication property names
  • Formal publication-basis vocabulary
  • Public provenance minimums by Signal Type
  • Restriction classifications
  • Withdrawal display mechanics
  • Correction-notice format
  • Historical-version public navigation
  • Public indexing behavior for Superseded / Resolved / Withdrawn signals
  • Whether any valid Signal Types are non-public by default
These should be resolved through the Register, Individual Signal, Methodology, and first production operation.

Governing Rules

Identify before creation when necessary.
Create before publication.
Validate before publication eligibility.
Publish only through a governed decision.
Preserve canonical identity.
Preserve attribution and authority boundaries.
Expose enough provenance for review.
Respect legitimate disclosure restrictions.
Preserve public history when later state changes.

Publication makes discovery public. It does not make discovery authoritative beyond Beacon's own institutional role.

Current Status

Beacon Status → Continuing Development
Phase → Phase II — Production Architecture
Entry Model → Defined
Signal Types → Defined
Lifecycle → Defined
Identifier Standard → Defined
Schemas → Defined
Validation → Defined
Discovery Provenance → Defined
Authority & Reference Model → Defined
Relationship Model → Defined
Versioning & Supersession → Defined
Publication Model → Defined
Discovery Signals Register → Next
First Production Discovery Signal → Not yet created
Publication makes discovery visible; governance makes that visibility accountable.