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-# CosmosMesh Privacy-Preserving Federated Mission Planning
+# CosmosMesh MVP: Privacy-Preserving Federated Mission Planning for Deep-Space Constellations
 
-This repository contains a production-oriented MVP of CosmosMesh, a privacy-preserving,
-offline-first federation platform for distributed mission planning across diverse
-space assets (rovers, drones, habitat modules, and orbiting satellites).
+Overview
+- CosmosMesh is a modular open-source platform for offline-first, privacy-preserving coordination among heterogeneous space assets (rovers, drones, habitat modules, orbiting satellites) operating in deep-space fleets with intermittent communication.
+- It provides a category-theory-inspired compositional optimization layer on top of a mesh communication substrate to enable distributed planning and resource optimization without centralization.
+- MVP surface focuses on a small, testable surface that exercises a CatOpt-like orchestration layer and a canonical bridge to a vendor-agnostic IR.
 
-Key concepts
-- Local optimization problems (contracts) per asset with explicit data contracts and versioning.
-- Federated optimization through lightweight sharing of summarized signals (primal/dual variables) and aggregated statistics.
-- Global assembly of local problems into a feasible fleet plan with delta-sync and audit trails.
-- Privacy-by-design: secure aggregation, optional local differential privacy, and role-based access to signals.
-- Identity and security: DIDs, short-lived certificates, tamper-evident logging.
-- Adapters and simulators to bootstrap cross-domain interoperability and testing.
-- Open API and governance ledger for provenance and interoperability.
+Key concepts (MVP scope)
+- LocalProblem: per-asset optimization tasks with variables, objectives, and constraints, plus versioning and data contracts.
+- SharedVariables / DualVariables: exchanged signals and multipliers for federated optimization (ADMM-lite).
+- PlanDelta: incremental plan changes with timestamp and author signatures.
+- GoC (Graph-of-Contracts) registry: lightweight, versioned schema registry for adapters and data contracts.
+- Delta-sync and offline resilience: deterministic replay and reconciliation for intermittent links.
+- Privacy by design: secure aggregation, optional local DP budgets, role-based exposure.
+- Identity and security: DIDs or short-lived certificates, tamper-evident logs.
+- Adapters and simulators: reference adapters for rovers, habitat modules, and orbiting assets; a mission-scenario simulator.
+- Open API and governance: canonical interfaces to enable vendor-neutral interoperability and governance anchoring.
 
-This repository provides a minimal yet production-minded surface to bootstrap the
-ecosystem, with a focus on small, well-scoped changes and testable interfaces.
+MVP Plan (high-level, 8–12 weeks)
+- Phase 0 (0–4w): protocol skeleton, two starter adapters (e.g., rover_planner, habitat_module) over TLS; a lightweight ADMM-lite coordinator; end-to-end delta-sync with deterministic replay; toy objective (e.g., mesh energy balance).
+- Phase 1 (4–8w): governance ledger scaffolding, identity layer (DID/short-lived certs), secure aggregation defaults for SharedVariables; 2-adapter conformance harness.
+- Phase 2 (8–10w): cross-domain demo in simulation (e.g., rover + habitat + satellite); CosmosMesh SDK bindings (Python/C++); reference transport and contract example.
+- Phase 3 (10–12w): hardware-in-the-loop validation (Gazebo/ROS) with KPI dashboards for convergence, delta sizes, latency, and governance auditability.
 
-How to run tests
-- Ensure dependencies are installed via the packaging metadata in pyproject.toml.
-- Run tests: bash test.sh
-- Build the package: python3 -m build
+Interoperability blueprint
+- Canonical bridge (EnergiBridge-style) maps CosmosMesh primitives to a vendor-agnostic CatOpt-like IR:
+  - LocalProblem ⇄ LocalProblems (Objects)
+  - SharedVariables / DualVariables ⇄ Morphisms
+  - PlanDelta ⇄ PlanDelta
+  - PrivacyBudget / AuditLog blocks for governance and provenance
+- Graph-of-Contracts (GoC) registry anchors adapters and schemas; per-message metadata guards replay and drift.
 
-Note: The MVP is deliberately lean. The roadmap includes a canonical EnergiBridge for
-vendor-agnostic interoperability, a minimal DSL, and two starter adapters to bootstrap
-cross-domain demonstrations.
+Minimal DSL seeds for interoperability (low surface area)
+- LocalProblem { id, domain, assets, objective, constraints, solver_hint }
+- SharedVariables { forecasts, priors, version }
+- PlanDelta { delta, timestamp, author, contract_id, signature }
+- DualVariables { multipliers }
+- PrivacyBudget { signal, budget, expiry }
+- AuditLog { entry, signer, timestamp, contract_id, version }
+- PolicyBlock { safety, exposure_rules }
+- GoC registry entry schema (adapter_id, supported_domains, contract_version)
 
-For maintainers
-- Follow the architecture described in AGENTS.md and keep changes small and well-documented.
-- Add tests for any public surface changes.
-- If new dependencies are introduced, update pyproject.toml accordingly.
+How to run and contribute
+- Run tests and packaging checks: bash test.sh
+- Build the package for distribution: python3 -m build
+- To contribute, follow AGENTS.md guidance in the repository and open a PR with focused changes.
+- The package is Python-based; packaging relies on pyproject.toml with a README integration:
+  - readme = "README.md"
+
+How to extend
+- Add new adapters under the adapters module, following the existing interface patterns.
+- Extend the DSL sketch to cover additional primitives as needed for your mission.
+- Implement a small simulator to exercise delta-sync and islanding scenarios.
+
+Publishing readiness
+- This repository includes a ready-to-publish surface for a production-grade MVP.
+- If you intend to publish, ensure tests pass, add tests for any new public surface, and create a READY_TO_PUBLISH file (present at repo root once ready).
+
+Caveats
+- This is a test-focused MVP surface designed to validate interoperability and the core ideas of privacy-preserving federated planning.
+- The real-world deployment involves more rigorous threat modelling, cryptographic guarantees, and robust networking stacks.
+
+See also
+- AGENTS.md for contribution guidelines and architectural rules.
+- The existing tests cover core bridges (CatOpt and EnergiBridge) and contract models.
+
+Happy coding.