Open Contracts for Hybrid AI Machines

OKHAM.ORG defines open, vendor-neutral standards for building AI-native systems. OKHAM standardizes semantic meaning — so humans, tools, and AI systems can share a common understanding, validate compatibility, and evolve implementations without losing what things mean.

Why OKHAM exists

The problem

In complex systems, the meaning of interfaces and data is often implicit and trapped in code, docs, and tribal knowledge. This makes interoperability, governance, and reuse expensive — especially when AI agents and tools are involved.

What OKHAM standardizes

OKHAM defines vendor-neutral contracts that make semantics explicit and machine-readable: types, events, intent, policies, and interoperable UI structures — independent of language, runtime, or implementation.

How OKHAM helps

Contract-first semantics

Instead of relying on conventions and ad-hoc integrations, OKHAM provides stable, versioned contracts that can be validated deterministically.

LLM-friendly consumption

Standards are published as canonical JSON Schemas and documentation, and can be exposed through a read-only MCP profile (OMP) so LLM hosts and agent tooling can retrieve authoritative sources without synthesis.

Benefits

For teams

Faster onboarding, less ambiguity, safer refactors, and reusable patterns across projects.

For tooling & agents

Deterministic validation loops, lower prompt complexity, and a shared contract model that enables consistent governance and automation.

OKHAM Core Standards

OKHAM standardizes meaning, not implementations.

These contracts preserve semantic meaning across system boundaries — enabling interoperability, governance, and reuse.

OTC — Open Type Contract

Canonical type definitions with semantic meaning. Preserves data structure and semantics across system boundaries.

Learn more →

OEC — Open Event Contract

Observable, versioned events as immutable facts. Defines event structure, causality chains, and semantic classification.

Learn more →

OPC — Open Policy Contract

Declarative policies that constrain, allow, deny, or condition behavior. Engine-independent policy semantics.

Learn more →

OIC — Open Intent Contract

Declarative intent semantics across agents and runtimes. Preserves purpose, expectations, and constraints of reasoning and action.

Learn more →

OUCC — Open UI Component Contract

Declarative, interoperable UI component structures. Preserves component semantics across rendering engines.

Learn more →
Extension Standards (Optional)

Optional contracts that extend OKHAM Core for specific domains:

OBC — Open Business Contract

Declarative business flow composition and orchestration. Enables process modeling with semantic meaning preservation.

Learn more →

OAC — Open Accessibility Contract

Normative accessibility obligations and evidence model. Defines requirements and compliance verification for UI and interactions.

Learn more →
Tooling & Format Standards

Interoperable formats for tooling, registries, and development workflows:

OMP — OKHAM MCP Profile

A read-only MCP profile for exposing OKHAM standards to LLMs and agent tooling with authoritative, non-synthesized responses.

Learn more →

Draft

ONC — Open Naming Contract

Standard naming and identifier conventions to keep contracts, registries, and tooling consistent across ecosystems.

Learn more →

Specification in development

OCD — Open Contract Document

Meta-format for all OKHAM specifications. Defines structure, versioning, and documentation standards for contract documents.

Learn more →

OCC — Open Capability Contract

Capability packaging and discovery metadata. Optional format for registries and ecosystems to catalog and discover capabilities.

Learn more →

ODT — Open Design Tokens

Shared visual token vocabulary for consistent theming. Standardizes tokens (colors, spacing, typography) across implementations.

Learn more →

Specification in development

OSR — Open Snippet Registry

Interoperable snippet catalog format. Enables sharing and discovery of reusable code snippets, templates, and patterns.

Learn more →

Specification in development

OVR / OLR — Validation & Linting Specifications

Interoperable report and ruleset formats. Standardizes validation results and linting rules for consistent tooling integration.

Learn more →

Specification in development

OFR — Open Function Registry

Declarative specification of executable operations, including inputs, outputs, side effects, and intent compatibility, independent of language and runtime.

Learn more →

Specification in development

OPRC — Open Projection Contract

Contract for projections: turning streams of facts/events into derived, queryable state while preserving meaning and traceability.

Learn more →

Specification in development

About OKHAM.ORG

OKHAM.ORG is a standards body, not a software vendor. We define open, vendor-neutral contracts that enable AI-native systems to be composable, observable, and governable.

Our standards are language-agnostic and implementation-independent. You can adopt OKHAM standards in any stack: Python, Java, Go, Node.js, Rust, or any other language.

Standards, Not Software. OKHAM.ORG defines contracts. Tools, registries, and frameworks are separate. You can adopt standards without adopting any specific product.

Get Started

Start by reading the documentation to understand the core concepts and standards. Then explore the individual standards to see how they fit together.

New to OKHAM?

Start with the Foundation section to understand the core principles and architecture.