Canonical Domain Command Mapping & Ergonomic Shortcuts

This architectural specification details the relationship between ZQK's canonical domain command taxonomy (strict noun-verb hierarchy) and high-frequency root ergonomic shortcuts (zqk do, zqk inspect, zqk mutate).


1. Context & Architectural Rationale

As established in CLI Command Taxonomy Standards, an enterprise-scale CLI requires strict noun-verb stratification to prevent namespace collisions, maintain cognitive clarity, and ensure deterministic sub-agent tool calling. Unqualified verbs directly at the root level can introduce confusion across large distributed systems.

At the same time, forcing human developers and autonomous agents to type lengthy commands for the most frequently executed operational verbs (zqk workflow do, zqk object inspect, zqk object mutate) introduces keystroke fatigue and breaks established workflow velocity.

To achieve both architectural purity and maximum ergonomics:

  1. Canonical Domain Homes: Every single CLI command has a canonical home under its architectural domain group (zqk workflow do, zqk object mutate, zqk graph query).
  2. Approved Universal Ergonomics Shortcuts: A curated, stable set of root verbs are preserved as direct, documented shortcuts delegating to their canonical counterparts.
  3. Spec Coverage & Parity: All shortcuts and domain commands are fully specced in .zqk/cli/specs/ and generated via pkg/cli/bldr_cli_cmd_v1/.

2. Canonical Domain Mapping Matrix

Root Ergonomics Shortcut Canonical Domain Command Domain Group Description
zqk do zqk workflow do workflow Autonomous CAP loop execution
zqk inspect zqk object inspect object Interactive TUI Object Inspector
zqk mutate zqk object mutate object Declarative ZQL mutations
zqk query zqk graph query graph Declarative ZPARQL graph queries
zqk validate zqk system validate system Invariant gate and schema validation
zqk rollback zqk object rollback object Transaction rollback restoration
zqk completion zqk system completion system Shell completion script generator
zqk sync zqk mesh sync mesh CAS and mesh synchronization
zqk pre-commit zqk system pre-commit system Release gate and secret scan runner
zqk learn zqk agent learn agent Institutional memory capture
zqk new zqk object new object Scaffolding wizard
zqk reports zqk system reports system Velocity and quality metric reporting
zqk tray zqk service tray service Background daemon menu bar companion
zqk join zqk graph join graph Relational graph join and federation

3. Verification & Invariants

All mappings are guaranteed by automated Three-Fold Proof verification in cmd/zqk/app/orphan_verbs_retirement_test.go:

  • Static Floor: TestStaticFloor_CanonicalDomainCommandMappings guarantees that each canonical command is present under its domain parent.
  • Operational Proof: TestOperationalProof_ErgonomicsShortcutsExecution verifies that invoking commands via root vs canonical domain resolves correctly.
  • Negative Boundary: TestNegativeBoundary_InvalidSubcommandRejection validates that unknown commands and invalid flags fail closed.