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An evergreen node is mature, well-linked, and trustworthy. The content has been validated through use — cited by other nodes, tested against sources, stable across multiple editing sessions. An agent encountering two nodes that answer the same question should prefer the evergreen one.
The term borrows from Andy Matuschak’s “evergreen notes” concept but applies it within the deep context type system. Where Matuschak’s evergreen notes are atomic and concept-oriented, deep context evergreen nodes carry structural contracts specific to their form type. A principle at evergreen stage has a tested maxim, clear scope, and documented exceptions. A model at evergreen stage has components validated against real cases.
Evergreen → Pruned: When a node’s domain shifts, its claims are superseded, or the topic is better covered by a different node. Evergreen nodes are not deleted — they transition to pruned with a superseded_by:: predicate preserving the chain.
Evergreen → Growing (demotion): When new information invalidates part of the node’s content, requiring significant revision rather than minor updates.
Growth stage definitions from [[Deep Context as an Architecture for Captured Reasoning]], “Growth Stages as Lifecycle Metadata” section. Originally status/evergreen tag; migrated to has_status::[\[\[Evergreen Stage\]\]](Evergreen%20Stage.html) predicate per [[Classification via Predicates Not Tags]]↑. Term inspired by Matuschak, Andy. “Evergreen notes.” https://notes.andymatuschak.org/Evergreen_notes