Identity Spine Doctrine

Governed knowledge systems require a stricter distinction between semantic identity and similarity than ordinary retrieval graphs. The Identity Spine Doctrine specifies an operational profile for admitting and maintaining Global Term Keys (GTKs): corpus-wide anchors for disambiguated semantic bindings. The source doctrine requires a sparse, stable, evidence-bound identity layer; forbids intuitive merger; treats extractor term identifiers as mechanical facts; and uses graph topology to discover candidates rather than declare identity. This revision preserves those commitments while correcting several absolutes. A surface form can invoke many bindings. A term occurrence may remain unresolved among several candidates. Cross-artifact edges establish relatedness, not identity. Content hashes identify versions, not necessarily the continuing identity of an amended GTK. The revised doctrine separates occurrence, surface form, local binding, corpus identity, version, and coordinate. It defines an identity assertion, evidence classes, negative and polysemy tests, admission outcomes, revision and fork semantics, impact-weighted correction, and a measurable evaluation program. It positions the doctrine as a governance profile for the GTK architecture rather than a new foundational semantic primitive.