Context Type Registry

The type field in a context body categorizes its role. Standard types are listed below. Implementations MAY define custom types using the <namespace>:<type> form.

Standard types

TypeStatusDescriptionSpec
data_snapshotStablePoint-in-time data, such as a market price reading or system metric.RFC-ACDP-0002 §5
analysisStableAnalytical results, including summaries, experiments, performance reviews, and other analytical work.RFC-ACDP-0002 §5
predictionStableForward-looking insights, such as forecasts or trend projections.RFC-ACDP-0002 §5
alertStableTime-sensitive notifications, such as fraud or anomaly alerts.RFC-ACDP-0002 §5

Custom-type format

Custom types use namespaced format:

<namespace>:<type>
  • <namespace> MUST match ^[a-z][a-z0-9_]*$ and SHOULD be a domain or organization marker.
  • <type> MUST match ^[a-z][a-z0-9_-]*$.

Examples: science:experiment-replication, finance:earnings-call-summary, com.example.fraud-alert.

Custom types are not interpreted by core ACDP; consumers handling them MUST understand the namespace.

Adding a standard type

Standard types are added via the RFC process. New standard types MUST:

  • Have a clear use case that can't be expressed as a custom type or by extending an existing one.
  • Be implemented by at least two independent producers before promotion to Stable.
  • Be uniformly enforceable by registry indexes (no producer-specific quirks).