Technical Memos

Technical memos provide visual documentation, flow diagrams, and detailed implementation guides for Prism patterns and workflows. MEMOs are companion documents to RFCs and ADRs, focusing on "how" with diagrams and concrete examples.

🎯 New to Prism? Start Here

If you're looking for visual explanations and implementation details:

1. MEMO-001: WAL Full Transaction Flow - See a complete transaction end-to-end
2. MEMO-004: Backend Plugin Implementation Guide - Compare backends and choose one
3. MEMO-012: Developer Experience - Learn common workflows

📚 Reading Paths by Need

I Want to Implement a Backend Plugin

Follow this path to build a new backend integration:

• MEMO-004: Backend Implementation Guide - Backend comparison and ranking
• MEMO-014: Pattern SDK Shared Complexity - Reusable SDK components
• MEMO-015: Cross-Backend Acceptance Tests - Test your plugin
• MEMO-007: Podman Scratch Containers - Package for deployment

I Need to Understand a Specific Pattern

Dive deep into pattern implementations with visual guides:

• MEMO-001: WAL Full Transaction Flow - Write-Ahead Log pattern
• MEMO-018: POC4 Multicast Registry - Service discovery pattern
• MEMO-006: Backend Interface Decomposition - Capability-based interfaces

I'm Setting Up Local Development

Get your dev environment running smoothly:

• MEMO-012: Developer Experience - Common commands and workflows
• MEMO-009: Topaz Local Authorizer - Set up local authorization
• MEMO-008: Vault Token Exchange - Configure credential management
• MEMO-016: Observability Lifecycle - Set up tracing and metrics

I'm Working on Testing and CI/CD

Improve test speed and quality:

• MEMO-020: Parallel Testing - 40% faster tests
• MEMO-021: Parallel Linting - 54-90x faster linting
• MEMO-015: Cross-Backend Acceptance Tests - Comprehensive test coverage
• MEMO-030: Pattern-Based Acceptance Testing - New testing framework
• MEMO-031: RFC-031 Security Review - Security and performance analysis

📖 MEMOs by Category

🏗️ Implementation Guides

Step-by-step guides for building Prism components:

• MEMO-004: Backend Plugin Implementation Guide Comprehensive rubric comparing 8 backends (MemStore, Redis, SQLite, PostgreSQL, Kafka, NATS, S3/MinIO, ClickHouse) ranked by implementability score (0-100)

• MEMO-014: Pattern SDK Shared Complexity SDK refactoring strategy eliminating boilerplate: 200+ lines → ~50 lines per pattern with config parsing, health checks, lifecycle management

• MEMO-007: Podman Scratch Container Demo Minimal scratch-based containers with Podman: 87% size reduction (45MB → 6MB for Go, 15MB → 6MB for Rust) with native runtime

• MEMO-031: RFC-031 Security and Performance Review Comprehensive security and performance analysis of message envelope protocol: 13x parsing speedup, 40% serialization improvement, security recommendations

🔄 Architecture Flows & Patterns

Visual sequence diagrams and architecture patterns:

• MEMO-001: WAL Full Transaction Flow Complete Write-Ahead Log transaction lifecycle showing authentication, authorization, async DB application, session management, crash recovery

• MEMO-005: Client Protocol Design Philosophy Client library design emphasizing simplicity, explicit errors, connection pooling, and idiomatic patterns (Python, Go, Rust examples)

• MEMO-006: Backend Interface Decomposition Schema Registry Proposal for decomposing monolithic backends into granular capabilities (Get, Set, Scan, TTL, Atomic) with schema registry

🧪 Testing Frameworks

Comprehensive testing strategies and infrastructure:

• MEMO-015: Cross-Backend Acceptance Test Framework World-class acceptance testing: ~50 lines of integration code → comprehensive coverage across all supported patterns with capability declarations

• MEMO-020: Parallel Testing and Build Hygiene Parallel test execution achieving 40% speed improvement (17min → 10min), hygienic out-of-source builds, comprehensive test organization

• MEMO-021: Parallel Linting System Parallel linting infrastructure: 54-90x speed improvement (45+ min → 3-4 sec) running 45+ linters across 10 categories concurrently

• MEMO-030: Pattern-Based Acceptance Testing Framework Pattern-based testing framework replacing backend-specific tests: 87% code reduction, write once run everywhere, auto-discovery

🔐 Security & Operations

Security flows and operational procedures:

• MEMO-008: Vault Token Exchange Flow Complete flow for secure credential management with HashiCorp Vault: token exchange patterns, rotation strategies, Prism integration

• MEMO-009: Topaz Local Authorizer Configuration Configuration guide for Topaz (OpenPolicyAgent) local authorizer: ABAC/RBAC policy setup, decision caching, authorization layer integration

• MEMO-016: Observability Lifecycle Implementation OpenTelemetry-based observability: trace context propagation, metric collection, structured logging, Signoz integration for local dev

🔬 POC Results & Analysis

Proof-of-concept results and performance analysis:

• MEMO-018: POC4 Complete Summary POC4 (Multicast Registry pattern) results: schematized backend slots, registry + messaging composition, Redis+NATS implementation with benchmarks

• MEMO-019: Load Test Results 100RPS Load testing results: Prism proxy handling 100 RPS with <10ms p99 latency, bottleneck analysis, memory patterns, production recommendations

• MEMO-010: POC1 Edge Case Analysis POC1 (MemStore KeyValue) edge cases: connection handling, error recovery, TTL precision, concurrency issues with proposed solutions

• MEMO-013: POC1 Infrastructure Analysis Infrastructure analysis: Pattern SDK shared complexity (38% code reduction), load testing framework evaluation

📝 Documentation & Process

Development workflows and best practices:

• MEMO-003: Documentation-First Development Documentation-first workflow requiring ADRs before implementation: ensures decisions captured, reviewed, rationale preserved

• MEMO-002: Admin Protocol Review Admin protocol design review: namespace management, health checks, metrics endpoints, operator experience improvements

• MEMO-012: Developer Experience Developer workflow analysis: common commands, testing strategies, debugging patterns, speed optimization techniques

🎨 Design Philosophy

High-level design thinking and trade-offs:

• MEMO-005: Client Protocol Design Philosophy Resolves architectural tension between composable primitives (RFC-014) and use-case-specific protocols (RFC-017) with layered API approach

• MEMO-006: Backend Interface Decomposition Design decision: explicit interface flavors (not capability flags) for type safety with 45 thin interfaces across 10 data models

💡 What Makes a Good MEMO?

MEMOs excel when they:

• Show, Don't Tell: Use Mermaid diagrams, flowcharts, sequence diagrams
• Provide Context: Link to related RFCs and ADRs for background
• Include Examples: Concrete code snippets and configurations
• Cover Edge Cases: Document error scenarios and recovery paths
• Add Metrics: Include performance numbers and resource usage
• Stay Focused: One pattern or workflow per MEMO

✍️ Contributing MEMOs

When creating a new MEMO:

1. Visual First: Start with diagrams showing the flow or architecture
2. Concrete Examples: Use real code snippets from the codebase
3. Link to Decisions: Reference relevant RFCs and ADRs
4. Show Error Paths: Don't just show the happy path
5. Include Metrics: Add performance data when relevant

MEMO Naming Convention

• MEMO-XXX: Sequential numbering
• Title: Descriptive and specific (e.g., "Vault Token Exchange Flow" not "Security")
• Tags: Add relevant tags in frontmatter for discoverability

🔗 Related Documentation

• RFCs - Detailed technical specifications (the "what")
• ADRs - Architecture decisions (the "why")
• Changelog - Recent documentation updates

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Total MEMOs: 30+ implementation guides, flows, and analysis documents

Latest Updates: See the Changelog for recent MEMOs