HEXT Specification

HEXT Standard 1.0 · Stable · Normative

The canonical specification is maintained in the HEXT-AI/hxt-spec repository. This page provides an overview. Normative requirements use SHALL, SHOULD, and MAY per RFC 2119.

Read SPECIFICATION.md Conformance Schemas

Abstract

HEXT encapsulates artifact bodies with generation, editing, and observation metadata. HEXT Standard 1.0 establishes the Semantic Object Graph as the canonical model. Semantic XML is the canonical serialization.

HEXT is not XML. HEXT is a Semantic Object Graph. Semantic XML is the canonical serialization of that graph.

Five Container Responsibilities

Field	XML Element	Required
`object`	`hext:Object`	Yes
`provenance`	`hext:Provenance`	Yes
`semantic`	`hext:Semantic`	No
`ledger`	`hext:Ledger`	Yes
`final_seal`	`hext:Seal`	Yes

Validity Rule

A HEXT container is valid with minimum: object + provenance + ledger + final_seal.

Namespace

Namespace URI: urn:gmm:hext:core:1
Prefix: hext

Conformance

HEXT Standard 1.0 defines four normative compliance levels in SPECIFICATION.md §6: Core, Validator, Registry, and MCP. Core is required; others are optional additive capabilities. Full requirements are documented on the Conformance page.

Parses or produces valid hext:Document per hext-core.xsd
Preserves the five-field object model without semantic alteration
Applies version-appropriate canonicalization for integrity verification
Treats Semantic XML as the only canonical serialization