Operating a model ecology
Operations turns model breeding into a repeatable rhythm. The goal is confidence: clear registries, reusable lineage, scheduled evaluation, budget review, human review points, evidence packets, and release stages that make improvements understandable.
Daily, weekly, monthly rhythms
| Cadence | Actions |
|---|---|
| Daily | Collect feedback, run small evals, compare local specialists, preserve useful examples. |
| Weekly | Summarize evidence, promote useful descendants, archive duplicates, update scorecards. |
| Monthly | Review lineage, prune stale branches, update benchmark sets, publish learning notes. |
Release stages
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| draft | Idea, recipe, or package exists. |
| lab | Offline evaluation is underway. |
| shadow | Candidate receives copied traffic or replay cases. |
| canary | Candidate serves a bounded cohort. |
| limited release | Candidate serves a declared niche. |
| champion | Candidate is the best current default. |
| archived | Candidate is preserved for learning and possible reuse. |
No-op as a quality decision
No-op means the active ecology remains the best choice under current evidence. It is a constructive decision because it preserves quality, reduces clutter, and tells builders what evidence is missing.
Retirement as simplification
Retirement keeps the active ecology lean. Retired artifacts are not erased; they remain in lineage with their evidence and reuse notes.
PROCEDURE weekly_model_ecology_review(registry)
evidence <- SUMMARIZE_RECENT_EVALUATIONS(registry)
promotions <- FIND_DESCENDANTS_WITH_POSITIVE_MARGIN(evidence)
archives <- FIND_DUPLICATES_AND_LOW_REUSE_BRANCHES(evidence)
packets <- BUILD_RELEASE_PACKETS(promotions)
APPLY_DECISIONS([packets, archives, NO_OP_WHERE_APPROPRIATE])
RETURN PUBLISH_LEARNING_NOTE(evidence)
END PROCEDUREGuides
- Implementation roadmap
- Local AI builder roadmap
- Release, canary, rollback
- Benefit-led roadmap
- Layout density and liquid layout
- Plain PHP deployment contract
Source reports used for this guide
These reports are preserved verbatim in the site archive. The guide above is an editorial synthesis and may narrow, qualify, or reorganize claims from the source material.