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SDR-0009: Separate structural incompatibility from scientific failure

  • Status: Accepted
  • Date: 2026-07-26

Context

The frozen IBL v0.3 protocol labelled AsLS universes executable even though the raw timestamp jitter violates the implementation's regular-sampling requirement. Timestamp structure was available before fluorescence outcomes and should have been checked at readiness. Calling the later error a failed scientific analysis would conflate an undeclared preprocessing requirement with evidence about the method or biological result.

Decision

Pipeline and multiverse compatibility may be assessed from dimensions, timestamps, finite/include masks, declared variables, and operation parameters without fitting or summarizing outcome values. Reports explicitly record outcome_values_accessed = false.

Structural incompatibility is a separate state from blocked QC, runtime failure, and a successful analysis. A protocol must not label a universe executable until this preflight passes on the intended acquisition structure.

Consequences

Changing fluorescence magnitudes cannot alter compatibility. Methods requiring regular sampling, reference channels, variables, or valid filter rates fail before outcome access with actionable codes. A structurally incompatible method can be retained in a multiverse without being misreported as negative scientific evidence.

Revisit trigger

Revisit when operations acquire additional structural requirements or when a controlled outcome-masking interface can validate more complex method setup safely.