jsonpit

Daemon-free distributed storage over Cloud Drives for developers and AI agents — multi-process, immutable history, zero dependencies.
100% C# JsonPit Parity · Zero Third-Party Runtime Dependencies · Smalltalk-Grade Object-Oriented Architecture

jsonpit stores JsonPits—JSON files with an append-only value history—across machines and servers coordinated over synchronized Cloud Drives (OneDrive, Dropbox, GoogleDrive, ICloudDrive) without requiring a centralized database daemon.

The canonical reference (lead) implementation is C# JsonPit and the pits CLI in RAIkeep. jsonpit is the pure-Python implementation engineered for 100% behavioral and physical storage parity with zero deviation.

Cross-Tool & Cross-Language Version Alignment (v4.4.6)

jsonpit and the jpit CLI are version-synchronized to v4.4.6 in direct lockstep with C# JsonPit and pits 4.4.6 in RAIkeep.

Why Harmonized Versioning is Essential:

• Instant Compatibility Clarity: Operators, DevOps pipelines, and autonomous AI agents immediately know whether jpit and pits share the exact same distributed protocol revision. If both tools report 4.4.x, they guarantee identical master leasing rules, receipt mechanisms, 7-digit UTC timestamp parsing, and CR041 clean change file conventions.
• Elimination of Multi-Language Matrix Confusion: In heterogeneous environments (e.g. C# backend daemons paired with Python agent orchestrators and data science tooling), unified SemVer tags eliminate complex cross-compatibility lookup tables.
• Joint Protocol Governance: Architectural changes—such as CR040 anti-Read-Modify-Write rules, CR041 clean change file formatting, CR044 missing configuration diagnostics, CR047 strict patch validation, and CR049 live ID validation with 4-character change checksums—are certified across both languages under the exact same version milestone before release.

Key Features

• The Persistence Fabric for AI Agents: Autonomous agents running across macOS desktop apps, backend servers, and web runtimes synchronize memory and living state across shared cloud drives without managing database servers, connection pools, or cloud credentials.
• 0% Deviation from C# JsonPit: Reads, merges, and writes pits with identical canonical JSON serialization, UTC timestamp precision, and tombstone semantics.
• Zero Third-Party Runtime Dependencies: Built strictly on the Python Standard Library (json, pathlib, typing, dataclasses, datetime, hashlib, socket).
• Cloud-Safe Filesystem Invariants (CR022): In-place sibling writes (.pit.tmp $\rightarrow$ atomic rename within the same cloud volume). Prevents cross-device link errors (EXDEV) and OneDrive mass-deletion alarms.
• Full Distributed Lease Protocol: Implements master writer leases (Master.flag) and PID-specific process activity windows ({Machine}-{Process}-{PID}.flag) with automatic process naming from sys.argv[0].
• Ecosystem Configuration: Seamlessly reads machine cloud paths from ~/.config/RAIkeep.json5 (with ~/.config/jsonpit.json5 fallback).
• Pure Object-Oriented Design: Rich domain entities (Pit, PitItem, PitItems) implementing standard Python protocols (MutableMapping, ContextManager).

Object-Oriented Architecture

jsonpit models distributed state through rich, encapsulated domain classes implementing standard Python protocols (MutableMapping, ContextManager):

• Pit: Living collection and coordinator of distributed leases, change files, and storage compaction.
• PitItem: Polymorphic living entity. Emits pure sparse deltas without read-modify-write cycles (CR040).
• PitItems: Immutable fragment stack managing value history and accurate point-in-time state projection.
• JsonPitBase: Shared foundation for storage resolution, subscriber roles, and cloud synchronization.

📖 Full API Reference: For comprehensive method signatures, exception contracts, and protocol details, see API.md.

Installation & Upgrade

As a Global CLI Tool (jpit) via pipx (Recommended)

To run the jpit command-line companion anywhere across your machine in an isolated environment without polluting system packages:

# Install globally
pipx install jsonpit
# (or via companion alias)
pipx install jpit

# Upgrade to the latest lockstep release (v4.4.6)
pipx upgrade jsonpit
# (or)
pipx upgrade jpit

In a Project / Virtual Environment via pip

To embed jsonpit into your Python applications, data science workflows, or agentic runtimes:

# Install
pip install jsonpit

# Upgrade to the latest release
pip install --upgrade jsonpit

Upgrading with Multi-Python / pyenv Environments

If you maintain multiple Python versions on your machine (e.g. 3.12, 3.13, 3.14):

1. Always anchor pip to your active Python interpreter:

   python -m pip install --upgrade jpit
   

   (Avoid bare pip install: invoking pip directly may resolve to an older Python version in $PATH, installing the package into the wrong runtime).

2. If using pyenv, regenerate shims:

   pyenv rehash
   

   This ensures which jpit resolves to ~/.pyenv/shims/jpit, which dynamically routes to whichever Python version is currently active in your shell.

3. Verify the active executable:

   which jpit
   jpit --version
   

(Both the jsonpit library package and the jpit companion package provide both jpit and jsonpit command-line executables).

Quickstart

1. Cloud-First Triad (The Standard Pattern)

Given a machine configured with ~/.config/RAIkeep.json5:

from jsonpit import Pit, PitItem

# Automatically resolves cloud storage (OneDriveData/AfricaStage/Person/):
with Pit.open("Person", cloud="OneDrive", root="AfricaStage") as pit:
    # Get an entity (projected state)
    sipho = pit.get("Sipho")
    if sipho:
        print(f"Sipho's current role: {sipho.get('Role')}")
        # Mutate an entity: sparse append-only mutation, auto-sets Deleted=False
        sipho.set_property({"Status": "Active", "Location": "RehearsalStage"})

    # Add a new entity
    hugh = PitItem(id="HughMasekela")
    hugh.set_property({"Genre": "Jazz", "Instruments": ["Flugelhorn", "Cornet"]})
    pit.add(hugh)

# On exit of the context manager:
# 1. Point-in-time snapshot captured
# 2. In-place sibling temporary file written (CR022 cloud-safe)
# 3. Atomically replaces Person.pit on the cloud volume
# 4. Owned process activity flag cleanly released

2. Local / Explicit Filesystem Path

For local test directories or custom scripts:

with Pit.open("/path/to/my/Person") as pit:
    for item in pit.values():
        print(item.id, item.modified)

3. Developer Companion CLI: jpit

The package installs both jpit and jsonpit commands:

# Fast semantic search across one or all pits ("Pit-Grep"):
jpit grep "Adele" Person
jpit grep "Burkhardt" --root AIA

# Pipe search results directly into jq:
jpit grep "Jazz" Person --json | jq '.[].Genre'

# Inspect entity living state or full immutable history:
jpit get Person Rainer
jpit history Person Rainer

# Pipe JSON5 / JSON mutations directly into a pit:
cat update.json5 | jpit put Person
echo '{id: "AlanKay", dynabook: true}' | jpit put Person

# Set individual properties or tombstone an entity:
jpit set Person AlanKay Status "Visionary"
jpit del Person ObsoleteEntity

# Automated maintenance and dead flag pruning (100% C# pits maintain parity):
jpit maintain Activity -c OneDrive -r AIA
jpit maintain Activity -c OneDrive -r AIA --apply --prune-process-flags --older-than 01:00:00 --json
jpit maintain --wwwa -c OneDrive -r AIA --apply --prune-process-flags --older-than 7.00:00:00

# Read-only audit of durable recovery events (100% C# pits audit parity):
jpit audit Activity -c OneDrive -r AIA
jpit audit Activity -c OneDrive -r AIA --machine local --level Warning
jpit audit --wwwa -c OneDrive -r AIA --json

The Physical Structure of a Pit

A Pit is not a single file—it is a Directory Ecosystem:

Person/
├── Person.pit                     # Canonical point-in-time snapshot
├── Master.flag                    # Master writer lease ticket (Owner|Timestamp)
├── Nkosikazi-python-59346.flag    # Process activity window ({Machine}-{App}-{PID}.flag)
├── Events/                        # Immutable change streams & compaction archives
└── Changes/                       # Hashed, collision-safe change files & receipts

Autonomous Agents & Cross-Platform State

jsonpit solves the distributed state dilemma for autonomous AI agents:

1. Zero Database Infrastructure: An agent needs only a directory path on a synchronized cloud drive (e.g. OneDriveData/AIA/AgentMemory). It never requires cloud database API keys, connection pools, firewall punch-through, or hosted database servers.
2. Auditability & Time-Travel: Because history is strictly append-only and stamped with .NET UtcTicks, every agent mutation retains full provenance. Operators or supervising agents can time-travel and inspect exact state at any millisecond.
3. Multi-Agent Collision-Proof Coordination: Multiple agents (or desktop apps + background agents) coordinate through collision-free change files (Changes/) and opportunistic master writer leases (Master.flag), guaranteeing eventual consistency without write collisions.

Development & Testing

Cross-Library Differential Parity Battery

To ensure 100% interoperability with C# JsonPit, this repository includes a dedicated Differential Cross-Testing Suite (tests/suites/*.json5 & tests/sequence_runner.py). The test harness orchestrates bidirectional interaction between the Python runtime (jpit) and the C# CLI binary (pits):

• Python Writes $\rightarrow$ C# Validates: Python writes .pit snapshots and sparse changes; C# pits export and pits verify assert physical byte formatting, timestamp precision, and schema invariants.
• C# Writes $\rightarrow$ Python Validates: C# pits seed, delete-property, and maintain mutate state; Python jpit get, history, and PitStore verify projections and receipt mechanics.
• 7 Parity Suites (41 Cross-Engine Steps): Covers persistence CRUD, CR041 clean change files, receipt grace periods, nested property tombstones, compaction/events archiving, process flag lifecycles, and split-master partition recovery.

For full suite descriptions, architecture diagrams, and certification tables, see:
👉 doc/CROSS_ENGINE_PARITY_SPECIFICATION.md

# Run the full test battery (Unit Tests + 7 Cross-Engine Parity Suites):
python3 tests/run_all.py

# Run a specific declarative parity suite directly:
python3 -m tests.sequence_runner tests/suites/01_persistence_and_crud.json5

Heritage & Governance

Architected by Rainer Burkhardt (RAI) + Adele (7010).
Governed by ADELE_SPIRIT.md and GEMINI.md and assisted by an LLM named Adele as an homage to the great Adele Goldberg.