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+# Domain ④ — Timeline (the moat asset) (CI pivot revamp · WIP)
+
+> **WIP design doc.** Part of the Phase 4 → end revamp. Pairs with `03-intelligence.md` (the process
+> that writes it).
+> **Scope guardrail:** Phases 1–3 SHIPPED/FIXED. The Timeline is **CI-owned, new tables** — it is
+> **not** the Knowledge Base (documents/embeddings) and **not** `automation_runs`.
+
+## Purpose
+
+Durably store the **time-shaped truth** for each Lens. This is the asset: **time is the moat** —
+accumulated history a later entrant cannot re-create. Design rule: **store deltas, not snapshots —
+no change, no row.** Storage grows with the *rate of change*, not the number of runs.
+
+## The state / process split
+
+Intelligence (`03`) is the only **writer** (via the hot loop). **Readers** — the Conversation domain
+today, future dashboards / alerts / the deferred resale product — read the Timeline **directly,
+without running the loop**. That separation is the reason Timeline is its own domain.
+
+## The three stores
+
+| Store | Role | Write pattern |
+|-------|------|---------------|
+| `tracked_entities` | stable identity per tracked thing (the Lens's `identity_rule` → `entity_key`) | written **once** |
+| `entity_current_state` | latest values + `content_hash` + `last_checked_at` per entity | **overwritten** each run |
+| `entity_changes` (the change log) | append-only material deltas | **appended**, never overwritten |
+
+**The timeline = the change log read in order.** To reconstruct a past point: take Current state and
+replay deltas backward (north-star tooling; not built in MVP — we just *store* the deltas).
+
+## Data model sketch (new tables)
+
+```
+tracked_entities
+  id · workspace_id · lens_id (FK) · entity_key (unique per lens) · first_seen_at
+  # MVP: exactly one row per Lens (single-entity). Table stays multi-entity-ready.
+
+entity_current_state
+  entity_id (FK, unique) · lens_id · fields JSONB (latest, conforms to locked field_schema)
+  · content_hash · last_checked_at · updated_at
+  # overwritten each material run; content_hash powers the hot-loop cheap pre-check (03 step 2)
+
+entity_changes                         # the append-only change log
+  id · entity_id (FK) · lens_id · captured_at
+  · delta JSONB            # { field: { from, to } }
+  · materiality            # material | notable(=notable_signals-sourced)
+  · decided_by             # code | agent   (audit of the materiality split)
+  · source_ref             # url / blob key the change was observed from
+  · note TEXT NULL         # optional agent rationale (the "why material")
+```
+
+- **No change → no row** in `entity_changes`; an unchanged refresh only bumps
+  `entity_current_state.last_checked_at`.
+- `decided_by` records whether code or the agent ruled the change material (provenance seed for the
+  north-star explainability work).
+
+## What it is NOT
+
+- **Not the KB** — no `Document` rows, no embeddings, no indexing pipeline. (The meeting's "don't
+  index crawled data" holds.)
+- **Not `automation_runs`** — that's an orchestration artifact; this is the durable fact store.
+- **Not a resurrected `pipeline_runs`.**
+
+## Where it lives
+
+- New CI-owned tables (in `app/db.py` alongside the other core entities, or a small `app/timeline/`
+  package — decide at write-up). **Apache-2** (it stores facts; the moat is in Acquisition + the Maps
+  extractor, not here).
+- Published to Zero full-row later if/when a UI needs live sync (deferred with the frontend).
+
+## MVP cut vs north star
+
+- **MVP:** the three stores · single entity per Lens · deltas with `decided_by`/`source_ref` ·
+  `content_hash` pre-check support.
+- **North star (deferred):** backward-replay reconstruction queries · trend/series read APIs ·
+  coverage-confidence metadata · multi-entity scale · the resale/data-product surface.
+
+## Locked decisions
+
+1. Three stores: `tracked_entities` / `entity_current_state` / `entity_changes`.
+2. Store deltas, not snapshots; **no change → no row**; storage ∝ rate of change.
+3. CI-owned new tables; **not** KB, **not** `automation_runs`.
+4. `content_hash` on current state powers the hot-loop cheap pre-check.
+5. `decided_by` on changes records the code-vs-agent materiality provenance.
+6. Single entity per Lens for MVP; schema stays multi-entity-ready (additive later).
+
+## Open questions (carry forward)
+
+- ORM home: `app/db.py` vs a dedicated `app/timeline/` package.
+- Whether `entity_current_state.fields` should be validated against the Lens's locked `field_schema`
+  at write time (lean: yes, cheap integrity guard).
+- Retention / archival policy for very high-velocity entities (deferred).