Artifacts as Units of Computational Work

This technical note establishes computational artifacts as first-class objects in agent-based systems. Traditional file-based storage inadequately represents outputs that participate in multi-stage workflows — treating them as data rather than as the durable results of completed computational work. The note defines an artifact as a durable output of a completed computational process that may be referenced, verified, and reused independently of the process that produced it. Four essential characteristics are established: stable identity, derivation relationships, reusability potential, and persistence beyond the originating process. The note further establishes that artifacts naturally form dependency structures — artifact graphs — where nodes represent computational results and edges represent derivation relationships. This structural representation is foundational for understanding agent ecosystems, enabling artifact reuse, and improving computational efficiency. This is Technical Note 02 of the Agent Artifact Availability (AAA) Framework series.