Relationships — Cross-References and Bindings

processkit expresses relationships between entities two ways:

1. Cross-references — lightweight fields in frontmatter
2. Bindings — first-class entities with their own files

Pick the right one based on what the relationship needs.

The rule

If a relationship has scope, time, or its own attributes → Binding. Otherwise → cross-reference.

Cross-reference examples

# In a WorkItem
spec:
  blocks: [BACK-swift-oak]
  blocked_by: [BACK-calm-fox]
  related_decisions: [DEC-023]
  parent: BACK-epic-lint

Conventional field names:

Field	Meaning
parent	This entity is a child of another
children	This entity has sub-items
blocks	This entity blocks others until resolved
blocked_by	This entity is blocked by others
related_workitems	Typed relationship to WorkItems
related_decisions	Typed relationship to DecisionRecords
supersedes	This entity replaces an older one
superseded_by	This entity has been replaced
implements	This entity implements a decision

See the cross-reference-management skill for the full list and conventions.

Binding examples

---
apiVersion: processkit.projectious.work/v1
kind: Binding
metadata:
  id: BIND-bright-falcon
  created: 2026-04-06T00:00:00Z
spec:
  type: role-assignment
  subject: ACTOR-alice
  target: ROLE-tech-lead
  scope: SCOPE-project-x
  valid_from: 2026-01-01
  valid_until: 2026-12-31
---

Conventional binding types:

type	subject kind	target kind
role-assignment	Actor	Role
work-assignment	WorkItem	Actor
workitem-gate	WorkItem	Gate
scope-gate	Scope	Gate
time-window	any	any
budget-application	Artifact	WorkItem/Scope

Legacy process-gate, process-scope, and schedule-scope Bindings are v1 migration inputs only. New v2 relationships should target the concrete WorkItem, Scope, Artifact, or Gate being governed.

See the binding-management skill for the full spec.

Why Binding was generalized from RoleBinding

DISC-002 §11 analyzes the decision to generalize the 18th primitive from RoleBinding to Binding. The short version: the indirection pattern applies to at least 7 relationship types across processkit, and one generalized primitive is cleaner than multiplying specific bindings. See DEC-023 in the aibox repo.