# myelin + cortex

> Myelin is the seven-layer protocol stack for the agentic nervous system (M2–M6: transport, envelope, identity, discovery, composition). Cortex is the M7 collaboration surface that consumes the myelin bus and presents agent activity to operators. Both are open source projects of the metafactory ecosystem.

This site is a curated entry point. The canonical specifications live in the source repositories.

Canonical public URL: https://stack.meta-factory.ai

Cloudflare Pages fallback URL: https://myelin-cortex-site.pages.dev

## Core concepts

- [In plain English](/plain.html): layman's one-pager — myelin and cortex without the jargon. Start here if you are not already an engineer.
- [myelin overview](/myelin.html): plain-English description of the seven-layer model, per-layer charter, status, and roadmap.
- [cortex overview](/cortex.html): plain-English description of the M7 application — its three jobs, three-tier visibility model, and internal componentisation.
- [arc overview](/arc.html): the apt-install for agentic skills. Multi-source registry, capability-based trust, four primary verbs (search, install, audit, upgrade).
- [metafactory overview](/metafactory.html): the trusted distribution hub for agentic processes. Sponsor-reviewed, runtime-enforced, closed by default.
- [blueprint overview](/blueprint.html): two meanings. (1) The collective noun for every component published via metafactory (DD-85). (2) The blueprint CLI that tracks cross-repo dependencies as a DAG; renaming to `depend` post-MVP.
- [soma overview](/soma.html): the portable assistant core. One durable assistant body projected into Codex, Claude Code, Pi.dev, Cursor, and future Cortex/Myelin flows.
- [docs hub](/docs/): index of links into the canonical source-repo documentation.

## Source repositories

- [myelin on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/myelin): the protocol stack.
- [cortex on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/cortex): the M7 surface application.
- [arc on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/arc): the package manager client (the-metafactory/arc).
- [meta-factory on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/meta-factory): the marketplace platform (closed-source per DD-44).
- [blueprint on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/blueprint): the cross-repo dependency CLI (renaming to `depend`).
- [soma on GitHub](https://github.com/the-metafactory/soma): the portable assistant core.
- [the-metafactory org](https://github.com/the-metafactory): all related repos.

## Canonical specifications

- [myelin architecture spec](https://github.com/the-metafactory/myelin/blob/main/docs/architecture.md): the seven-layer model — per-layer charter, code mapping, current status. The source of truth.
- [myelin envelope schema](https://github.com/the-metafactory/myelin/blob/main/schemas/envelope.schema.json): JSON Schema (draft 2020-12) for the Myelin envelope.
- [myelin namespace spec](https://github.com/the-metafactory/myelin/blob/main/specs/namespace.md): NATS subject namespace convention.
- [myelin identity model](https://github.com/the-metafactory/myelin/blob/main/docs/identity.md): the M4 identity layer.
- [cortex architecture spec](https://github.com/the-metafactory/cortex/blob/main/docs/architecture.md): the M7 design — bus consumption, three-tier visibility, internal componentisation.
- [cortex migration plan](https://github.com/the-metafactory/cortex/blob/main/docs/plan-cortex-migration.md): per-file inventory + phase plan MIG-0..MIG-8.
- [soma architecture spec](https://github.com/the-metafactory/soma/blob/main/docs/architecture.md): portable assistant core, compartments, adapters, runtime modes, and Meta Factory boundaries.
- [soma vocabulary](https://github.com/the-metafactory/soma/blob/main/CONTEXT.md): canonical terms for substrate, projection, presence, compartments, and policy inspection.

## Blog

- [Launching the stack: why myelin and cortex are separate](/blog/2026-05-11-launching-the-stack.html): the case for splitting the protocol from the surface; what changed once we did.
- [Sovereignty in the envelope: why policy rides with the message](/blog/2026-05-07-sovereignty-in-the-envelope.html): the M3 design decision to put classification, residency, and model constraints into the envelope itself.

## Optional

- [agents.md](/agents.md): one-screen markdown summary of myelin and cortex with all the links above.
- [robots.txt](/robots.txt): crawling policy.