pace-engine 0.5.0

PACE - an engineering operating system: a versioned, installable engine that preserves and governs a project's knowledge so any AI understands it in seconds.

PACE

An engineering operating system — a versioned, installable engine that preserves, organizes, governs and evolves the knowledge of any software project, so any AI understands it in seconds.

PACE does for a project's knowledge what Git did for its source code.

PACE is installed once and governs any number of independent projects. Each project carries only its own .pace/ memory — never a copy of PACE itself. Bring your own AI: PACE is AI-agnostic and runs locally. No lock-in.

The problem

Engineering knowledge lives scattered across ChatGPT and Claude chats, Slack, Notion, READMEs, emails and the architect's memory. When the AI changes, the team changes, or months pass, most of it disappears — and the same question returns: "explain the project to me again." PACE exists so that never happens again.

Install

From source (PyPI packaging is on the roadmap):

pip install .

Or run it directly without installing:

python cli/pace.py <command> ...

Quickstart

pace init --guided        # interview: seed mission, vision, roadmap, sprint
pace context              # print the project's full context (for any AI)
pace handoff              # (re)generate the AI-onboarding handoff
pace remember "<note>"    # add a continuity note (agreement, current state)
pace recall               # print the working memory (so the AI keeps the thread)
pace doctor               # validate the .pace/ instance structurally
pace create <path> ...    # generate a brand-new project governed by PACE

The 4-level model

Level	What it is
PACE	The engine. Code only, versioned, installable. Knows nothing of any specific project.
Organization	An adopting org's governance memory (authority, policies, project registry).
Instance (.pace/)	A single project's memory: mission, vision, roadmap, sprint, history, decisions, requests.
Project	The actual product codebase — it simply hosts a .pace/ at its root.

Repository layout

• kernel/ — locates and structurally validates a .pace/ instance against the Contract.
• services/ — PDL reading, contract loading, validation, versioning.
• engines/ — Project Creator (init, create), Handoff, and working Memory.
• cli/ — the pace command.
• ontology/ — the fundamental categories (entities, relations, assertions).
• contracts/ — the checkable physical shape a .pace/ instance must have.
• protocols/ — the PDL specification and the Learning Protocol.
• standards/, policies/, governance/ — conventions, binding rules and the authority model.
• .pace/ — PACE's own memory. PACE is governed by PACE — run pace context here.

A .pace/ instance

.pace/
  INSTANCE.pdl          identity (kind, name, slug, schema/pace version)
  ACTIVE_VERSIONS.pdl   which mission/vision/roadmap/sprint are current
  mission/ vision/ roadmap/ sprint/
  history/ decisions/ releases/ requests/
  handoff/              regenerable AI-onboarding view (HANDOFF.md)
  memory/               continuity notes + generated reports

Status

PACE governs itself: this repository has its own .pace/ instance, valid under its own Kernel. See .pace/roadmap/ for the phased plan (foundation -> solid product -> launch -> adoption -> scale) and .pace/handoff/HANDOFF.md for the current onboarding view.

License

Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL-1.1): you may read, use and self-host PACE, but not offer it as a competing hosted service. It converts to Apache 2.0 on the Change Date. See LICENSE.