Version: v0.1 (2026-04-27); codec §5: pads-v1 v2.0 (#1pa/)
Maintained by: Babb
BASICS conformance: Core tier, BASICS v0.1.1
License: Open standard — see Conformance and Use
Cross-repo process: workpadskaios/system/project-process.md
Workpads is a record format and protocol for portable, sovereign, URL-transmissible commercial records. A workpad record documents a piece of work — a job, a quote, an invoice, an expense, a completion — in a compact binary encoding that travels as a URL hash fragment over SMS, WhatsApp, QR code, or any link transport, without a server or account.
The atomic unit is the workpad record: complete enough to stand alone, compact enough to travel as a URL, honest about its state, sovereign to its creator, and able to reference other records through a chain protocol.
This repository is the normative specification for all Workpads implementations. When implementation and standard conflict, the standard governs. When the standard is silent, implementations document their decisions and feed them back here.
Babb created the Workpads Standard to grow a format that serves workers, not to own a market.
Babb builds reference implementations — KaiOS, web, CLI — to prove the standard works in practice and to establish a baseline for conformance testing. These are not the only valid implementations. They are proofs of concept with a conformance record.
The standard is designed to be implemented by anyone, for any purpose. Experimental apps, open-source tools, proprietary products, and platform-specific derivatives are all welcome. The standard defines what a workpad record is and how it is encoded; what you build with that is yours.
What Babb asks in return is simple: if your product generates or decodes workpad URLs (workpads.me/p#1pa/...), it should decode correctly the records it receives, and encode records that any conformant decoder can read. Interoperability is the standard's core value — not exclusivity.
BASICS Standard is the benchmark. The Workpads Standard is a BASICS-conformant product standard. BASICS provides the meta-framework: naming conventions, conformance claims, deviation registration, compatibility policy. If you are building on Workpads, conforming to BASICS gives your product a recognised conformance tier and a path for formally registering deviations rather than silently breaking compatibility.
Babb actively supports independent products that:
- Implement the codec and record schema faithfully
- Extend the format through registered deviations or v0.2+ extension points
- Use the standard as a foundation for experimental, open-source, or proprietary applications
- Conform to BASICS to establish a credible interoperability claim
The standard grows through real implementation experience. Deviations found in practice feed the next version. Every conformant product makes the ecosystem stronger.
Eight numbered sections form the normative core:
| Section | File | Version |
|---|---|---|
| §1 — PADS Data Model | pads-model.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
| §2 — Record Schema (svc-basic) | record-schema.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
| §3 — Naming Convention | naming-convention.md |
v1 (2026-04-26) |
| §4 — RecordService Interface | record-service.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
| §5 — Codec & Compact Encoding | codec.md |
v1.1 (2026-04-28) |
| §6 — Storage Adapter Contract | storage-adapter.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
| §7 — Two-Build Strategy | build-strategy.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
| §8 — BASICS Conformance Mapping | basics-conformance.md |
v1 (2026-04-27) |
These documents are part of the standard and cover features in active implementation or scheduled for v0.2:
| File | Scope |
|---|---|
record-philosophy.md |
The five properties of a workpad record — foundational rationale for all design decisions |
activity-profile.md |
Activity Profile and Block Registry — sender identity, contact store, location store |
chain-protocol.md |
Record chain protocol — linked records, ACK mechanism, multi-worker pre-seeding (v0.2) |
participants-block.md |
Participants block — replaces simple worker text field with typed party list (v0.2) |
financial-block.md |
Financial block — amounts, currency, tax, qty×rate split, compound invoicing (v0.2) |
transaction-classification.md |
I>O notation for income/expense direction, time, and settlement state |
personal-platform.md |
Two-engine architecture: Exchange Engine + Learning Engine |
panel-access-model.md |
Panel navigation model (ArrowLeft/ArrowRight) — platform input adaptation |
pads-v2-encoding-spec.md |
Extended bitpad-v2 encoding forward design |
bitpad-record-encoding.md |
Bitpad record encoding reference |
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
ECOSYSTEM.md |
Map of all repos, tools, and how they connect |
implementation-notes.md |
Pre-publication scan: deviations and innovations found in v0.1 implementations |
codec-sync.md |
Protocol for keeping codec implementations in sync across products |
STANDARD-UPDATES.md |
Standard Update Register — tracked list of all kaios design advances not yet reflected in this standard, with SUI IDs, source docs, and status. The authoritative to-do list for keeping this standard current. |
cc
The Workpads Standard is supported by a set of reference products maintained by Babb. These are the canonical implementations of the standard — not the only ones.
| Repo | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
workpads-standard (this repo) |
Normative specification | v0.1 live |
workpads-codec |
@workpads/codec npm package — implements §5 |
v0.1 |
workpads-cli |
CLI reference implementation — implements §4 surface, used for integration testing | v0.x |
workpadsdev-cli |
Developer toolchain — build, packaging, softkey validation, conformance checks | v0.1 |
workpadskaios |
KaiOS 3.x reference app — full implementation, D-pad navigation | v0.1 |
workpadsdotme |
Web reference app (workpads.me) — three-column layout, mouse + keyboard |
active |
workpads-basicsconform |
Research control plane — quiz rounds, decision log, deviation registry | internal |
workpads |
Original architecture documents (pre-2026). Historical reference. | archived |
See ECOSYSTEM.md for a detailed description of each repo's role and how they interconnect.
The Workpads Standard is open. You may implement it, extend it, and build proprietary or open-source products on it without permission from Babb.
If your product:
- Generates workpad URLs (
workpads.me/p#1ag/...): encode according to §5 so any conformant decoder can read the record. - Decodes workpad URLs: implement §5 faithfully so records from any conformant encoder are readable.
- Extends the format: use the reserved field slots and template bytes in §5, or register a deviation via BASICS.
The Workpads Standard conforms to BASICS v0.1.1 at the Core tier. BASICS provides a meta-framework for interoperability claims, deviation registration, and compatibility policy.
If you are building a product on Workpads and want a formal conformance claim:
- Read
basics-conformance.mdfor the mapping. - Use
workpads-basicsconform/(Babb's internal conformance control plane) as a reference for the BASICS evidence artifact format. - Register deviations in your own
deviation-registry.mdfollowing the BASICS pattern.
Formal BASICS conformance is not required to implement Workpads — it is a signal to other implementors that your product has a documented interoperability posture.
Section versions use v1, v2, etc. A section version increments on breaking changes (field removed, encoding slot reassigned). Additive changes (new optional fields, new sections) do not increment existing section versions.
The overall standard version (v0.1) tracks the implementation generation. workpadskaios v0.1 and workpadsdotme at launch both implement Workpads Standard v0.1.
The following are settled in design and documented in extended specs, pending implementation:
- Financial block in codec (§
financial-block.md) — amounts, currency, tax, compound invoicing - Chain protocol (§
chain-protocol.md) — linked records, ACK, multi-worker chains - Participants block (§
participants-block.md) — replacesworkertext field - KaiOS 2.5 build target (§
build-strategy.md) - URL scheme tag alignment across all implementations (see
implementation-notes.md) - Block Registry v0.2 schema — typed customers/locations with flag field
The Workpads Standard was developed through a series of research-quiz rounds in workpads-basicsconform/, with decisions logged in workpads-basicsconform/system/logs/decisions.md. The original/ subfolder in this repo contains a separate git repository with the pre-2026 Workpads Standard drafts. Those documents informed but do not supersede the sections in this repo.