The Four Frameworks

werk is built on four interlocking frameworks. Each governs a different dimension of practice. Together they define what the instrument can express.

Architecture of Space

Where things are. Every tension exists in a spatial structure:

• Containment — tensions can be children of other tensions, forming trees of structural dependency.
• Position — within a parent, tensions are sequenced to declare intent.
• The spatial law — in every visual representation, desired is above actual. This is not a layout preference. It is the fundamental orientation of structural dynamics: aspiration above ground truth.

Grammar of Action

What you can do. Every mutation in werk is a gesture — an atomic, named unit of change:

• add — bring a new tension into existence
• desire / reality — update the desired state or current reality
• position — declare sequence
• resolve — close the gap (mark as resolved)
• split / merge — structural transformations with provenance
• note — add observational testimony without changing the tension itself

Gestures are recorded. They form the history. There is no action in werk that doesn’t leave a trace.

Calculus of Time

When things matter. The practitioner provides two temporal inputs:

• Deadline (horizon) — when this tension should be resolved.
• Order (position) — what comes next.

From these two inputs, werk computes:

• Urgency — how much of the available time has elapsed.
• Temporal pressure — the relationship between urgency and structural depth.
• Neglect — how long since the last gesture on this tension.
• Sequencing pressure — when positioned work has unresolved dependencies.

You set the when. The instrument computes the consequences.

Logic of Framing

What’s visible and why. Not everything can be on screen at once. Framing determines:

• Envelope — which tensions are in scope (the current parent, its children, its context).
• Zoom — the level of structural detail (collapsed tree vs. expanded detail).
• Signal thresholds — when a condition becomes worth surfacing (overdue, approaching deadline, containment violation).

Framing is not filtering. Filtering hides things. Framing determines what matters right now given where you are in the structure.