ArchMask: Architecture as a Bit Vector and Bitmask Equality as Proof of Capability Capture
ANKR Labs (PowerPBox Solutions Pvt. Ltd.)
Abstract
We propose that the complete architectural state of a software service can be encoded as a set of integer bitmasks — one per architectural dimension — and that capability is provably captured when three masks are equal at three moments: inception (req_mask), creation (trust_mask), and launch (forja_mask). This equality condition — capability_captured = (req_mask == trust_mask == forja_mask) — is machine-verifiable in one operation. At 223 services, the complete architectural audit fits in 4.4 KB and runs in microseconds. Traditional architecture review is prose to interpretation to meeting to decision. ArchMask is integer to AND to truth. Eight masks covering ~160 bits describe the complete architectural state of any service. DNS made internet addresses machine-readable. ArchMask makes software architecture machine-readable. Not a tool. A primitive. Hypothesis paper — implementable immediately using existing Forja protocol infrastructure. Extends: Bitmask Trust (Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.19390925) and The Hidden Intelligence (Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.19413767).