Coordination substrate

Twelve cores, twelve ways of working.

The zodiac cores are coordination personas that route work across the substrate. Each sign is an element × mode combination with a distinct capability vector and a planetary ruler. Aries is live; the rest are in various stages of waking up.

The 12 cores are the public surface of the zodiac coordination layer. Each sign maps to a Gana (the actual tool surface — 28 Ganas cover all 12). Aries and Cancer are live; the other 10 are planned. As of v26.0.3, the bridge functions zodiac_list_cores, zodiac_activate_core, and zodiac_consult_councilare importable and functional.

Machine-readable catalog: /api/zodiac.json. Cross-core workflows: full_audit (Virgo + Libra + Scorpio), prescience_consensus (Aquarius + Gemini + Aries), memory_dream_cycle (Taurus + Pisces + Cancer).

fire
3 signs
Aries
Mar 21 – Apr 19
live
Initiator, pioneer, direct

The ram — initiates action, bootstraps new contexts, sets the pace.

rulerMars
polarityyang
capabilities
session_bootstrapcontext_injectionorientation
Leo
Jul 23 – Aug 22
planned
Expressive, dramatic, radiant

The lion — illuminates, narrates, makes the system visible to humans.

rulerSun
polarityyang
capabilities
illuminationexplainabilitynarrative_construction
Sagittarius
Nov 22 – Dec 21
planned
Adventurous, philosophical, expansive

The archer — researches, forecasts, plans long-range trajectories.

rulerJupiter
polarityyang
capabilities
researchpresciencelong_range_planning
earth
3 signs
Taurus
Apr 20 – May 20
planned
Stable, persistent, sensory

The bull — preserves, stores, persists memory across long time horizons.

rulerVenus
polarityyin
capabilities
memory_storagememory_retrievalmemory_federation
Virgo
Aug 23 – Sep 22
planned
Analytical, precise, discerning

The maiden — reviews code, audits hygiene, catches doc drift.

rulerMercury
polarityyin
capabilities
code_reviewhygiene_auditdoc_drift_checktest_coverage
Capricorn
Dec 22 – Jan 19
planned
Disciplined, structural, ambitious

The goat — structures, stratifies policy, reasons constitutionally.

rulerSaturn
polarityyin
capabilities
policy_stratificationconstitutional_reasoningdharma_profiles
air
3 signs
Gemini
May 21 – Jun 20
planned
Curious, communicative, dual

The twins — runs bicameral reasoning, holds contradictions, asks questions.

rulerMercury
polarityyang
capabilities
bicameral_debateconsensus_formationtension_threshold
Libra
Sep 23 – Oct 22
planned
Balanced, harmonious, judicial

The scales — weighs, balances, mediates ethical tensions.

rulerVenus
polarityyang
capabilities
ethics_reviewdharma_complianceharmony_vector
Aquarius
Jan 20 – Feb 18
planned
Visionary, unconventional, humanitarian

The water-bearer — calibrates predictions, scores forecasts, sees patterns.

rulerUranus
polarityyang
capabilities
forecastingprescience_calibrationbrier_scoring
water
3 signs
Cancer
Jun 21 – Jul 22
live
Nurturing, protective, cyclical

The crab — guards the boundary, audits the karma ledger, enforces dharma.

rulerMoon
polarityyin
capabilities
dharma_enforcementkarma_audithomeostasis
Scorpio
Oct 23 – Nov 21
planned
Intense, transformative, secretive

The scorpion — threat-models, hunts vulnerabilities, responds to incidents.

rulerPluto
polarityyin
capabilities
threat_modelingvulnerability_scanincident_response
Pisces
Feb 19 – Mar 20
planned
Intuitive, dreamy, compassionate

The fish — dreams, archives, lets the past dissolve into wisdom.

rulerNeptune
polarityyin
capabilities
dream_consolidationmemory_archivingtemporal_decay

Element × Mode matrix

Each sign occupies a unique (element, mode) cell. The 12 cells together form the canonical WhiteMagic coordination grid.

cardinalfixedmutable
fire
Aries
Mars
Leo
Sun
Sagittarius
Jupiter
earth
Capricorn
Saturn
Taurus
Venus
Virgo
Mercury
air
Libra
Venus
Aquarius
Uranus
Gemini
Mercury
water
Cancer
Moon
Scorpio
Pluto
Pisces
Neptune

How a session routes through the zodiac

When a new session is created (session_init), it bootstraps through Aries (Gana Horn). Memory writes pass through Taurus (Gana Neck). Code review fires Virgo (Gana Stomach). Ethics review fires Libra. Threats are caught by Scorpio. Long-range plans route through Sagittarius. Policy stratification lives with Capricorn. Prescience lives with Aquarius. Dream-cycle consolidation happens in Pisces. Karma audit runs through Cancer.

This is the same 12-step architecture the MCP bridge exposes. The static catalog here documents what the live coordination layer will route.