# docs/03-architecture/tripod/

Architectural constraints for the three StarForth VMs that make up the
Tripod. These documents are binding — read the relevant one in full before
touching any Tripod code. Violating the mythological contract they describe
is treated as an architectural error, not a style preference.

- **[TRIPOD.md](TRIPOD.md)** — The Tripod as a whole: Hera (VM-HERA=0,
  governor — spawns/manages/reaps VMs), Hermes (VM-HERMES=1, messenger —
  moves events), Artemis (VM-ARTEMIS=2, memory — owns block storage).
  Covers capability-based dispatch (no heat-based routing), the CD-TICK
  heartbeat, the K≡1.0 compudynamic conservation invariant, the DoE test
  fixture's role, and explicit prohibitions (no heat-based VM routing, no
  primitives added without instruction, no `BLOCK` calls outside the
  0–3071 ramdrive range).
- **[HERMES.md](HERMES.md)** — Hermes VM architecture: the messenger role.
- **[ARTEMIS.md](ARTEMIS.md)** — Artemis VM architecture: the memory/block-
  storage role.

All three documents share a non-negotiable constraint: Tripod implementation
is StarForth dialect only — no C99 without Captain Bob's explicit written
permission for that specific construct.

## See also

- [`docs/birthing/`](../../birthing/) — birthing plan and QEMU acceptance
  logs for the Hera-spawns-Hermes/Artemis constellation described here.
- [Project root](../../../README.md)