A Contract for Unfold and Fold

This working paper proposes an operational contract between two primitive operations of attention: unfold and fold. It argues that unfold and fold are not symmetric inverse operations, but an asymmetric primitive through which semantic systems can render directed attention accountable. The paper synthesizes three previously articulated CoAgnes frameworks. From this synthesis, it derives architectural requirements for systems that preserve substrate integrity, trace lineage, witness attribution, negative points, and phase-balanced folds. The paper is intended as a conceptual and technical foundation for future executable systems in educational, regulatory, semantic publishing, and decision-support contexts.