Derived, Not Authoritative: Pattern B as the Substrate-Derived View Position in the CKS Composition Model

Abstract
The CKS hybrid composition specification names three positions an adjacent AI component can
occupy relative to a CKS substrate: input to a cell (Pattern A), derived view of substrate content
(Pattern B), or separate concern (Pattern C). This note formalizes Pattern B as a standalone architectural
specification. Pattern B is the architectural pattern by which a substrate's content is indexed, embedded,
summarized, or projected into an adjacent component — a vector index for semantic search, a derived
knowledge graph, a search-optimized projection, a summary store — to support specific access paths
without that component becoming authoritative for coordination. The note states Pattern B's four
operational components, distinguishes Pattern B from four adjacent variations commonly conflated
with it, names ten failure modes that violate the pattern, and supplies an operational test (with three
sharpening properties from the foundational note) for whether a derived-view boundary satisfies Pattern
B. The most common failure is gradual: a derived view becomes faster or more convenient than the
substrate it derives from, then becomes the surface participants reach for first, then becomes the place
new content effectively lives. Pattern B's four operational components specifically preempt that drift.