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aDNA

Plain-Language Definition

aDNA (Agentic DNA) is a way of organizing project knowledge so that AI agents — and humans — can find what they need, do their work, and hand off to each other cleanly. Think of it as a project’s knowledge genome: a shared structure that every participant can read.

Technical Definition

aDNA is a knowledge architecture standard that defines a directory structure (the triad), governance files, metadata conventions, and operational protocols for AI-native projects. An aDNA instance is the complete set of governance files, triad directories, and operational infrastructure that implements this standard within a project. (aDNA Standard §1.1)

Usage Examples

  • “This project follows the aDNA standard — see CLAUDE.md for the agent entry point.”
  • The vault you are reading right now (aDNA.aDNA/) is itself an aDNA instance, built to teach the standard by being the standard.

See Also