Sauvidya / PACE

Sauvidya (Sanskrit for with proper knowledge) defines the PACE specification: Principal Accessibility & Capacity Envelope.

The Gap

Agent protocols assume the principal can see, hear, read, comprehend, decide in real time, and maintain consistent cognitive capacity across interactions. For the estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide living with some form of disability, and for every adult whose capabilities are declining with age, this assumption is structurally exclusionary.

WCAG and ARIA govern the rendering layer (color contrast, screen readers). PACE governs the behavioral layer: what the agent communicates, when, how much, how many options it presents, how long it waits, and whether the principal can consent at this moment.

Four Primitives

Primitive	What it does
`PrincipalCapabilityProfile`	On-device declaration of the principal’s capabilities across eight dimensions
`InteractionModality`	Agent’s adapted communication plan computed from the PCP
`ConsentCapacityCheck`	Per-interaction verification that the principal can meaningfully consent right now
`AdaptiveInteractionContract`	Binding rules governing how all agents interact with this principal

Eight Capability Dimensions

Dimension	Range
Vision	full, low, minimal, none
Hearing	full, partial, minimal, none
Motor	full, limited, minimal, assistive_device
Cognitive	full, mild_decline, moderate_decline, severe_decline
Language	list of (language code, fluency score)
Literacy	full, functional, limited, none
Tech fluency	high, moderate, low, none
Decision capacity	stable, fluctuating, limited, guardian_required

Optional Compositions

PACE works standalone. When deployed alongside other protocols:

With consent protocols: consent becomes accessibility-conditional. A ConsentCapacityCheck must pass before any ConsentRecord is created.
With welfare protocols: satisfaction measurement becomes capability-aware. A non-response from a principal who could not see the notification is not scored as negative engagement.
With payment protocols (AP2): payment authorization becomes accessible. A voice confirmation in Telugu replaces a payment-detail screen the principal cannot read.

Augmentation Profile Extension

The augmentation_profile extension extends PACE from defensive accommodation toward active prosthetic augmentation. PACE Core declares what the principal can do and adapts the agent’s interaction surface to fit. The extension adds the missing piece: how an agent actively replaces missing capacity or amplifies existing strengths, with contractual safeguards against skill atrophy, identity erosion, and missed-emergency risk.

Primitive	What it records
`AugmentationAxis`	A single dimension with kind: `compensate`, `amplify`, or `preserve`
`AugmentationProfile`	Per-principal declaration with reversibility, audit, identity, skill-maintenance, and emergency rules
`AugmentationAction`	A logged action with a `mediation` field distinguishing agent-compensated, agent-amplified, user-direct, and agent-handed-off
`EmergencyTrigger` / `HandoffEvent`	Declared crisis conditions and the typed handoff event that follows
`AxisRevertedEvent`	Typed reversion event recording principal opt-out of any axis

Invariant	Purpose
AUG-1 Reversibility	Every augmentation is revertible by the principal as a typed event
AUG-2 Audit Decomposition	Every action records its mediation (no aggregation that erases agency)
AUG-3 Identity Preservation	Voice/style alteration requires explicit `identity_consent`
AUG-4 Skill Maintenance	`preserve` axes are never replaced by agent action
AUG-5 Emergency Boundary	Triggers force human handoff; no further agent action until acknowledgement

Full specification with TLA+ model and TLC configuration at extensions/augmentation_profile/. The extension is additive: agents that do not declare an AugmentationProfile continue to operate under PACE Core’s existing defensive-accommodation model.