Identifiers

Prefixes

Thesis chapters use CH01 through CH09 and are not registered separately; the chapter list is fixed by the outline.

Format

PREFIX-NNN, zero-padded to three digits, assigned in order within the prefix. RQ-001, FIG-042, CONFIG-007.

Three digits is enough. A doctorate that produces more than 999 of any one entity kind has a different problem than numbering.

Rules

1. Numbers are never reused. If EXP-014 is abandoned, EXP-014 stays abandoned and the next experiment is EXP-015. Reusing a number makes every older reference to it silently wrong.
2. Numbers never change. Directory slugs may change; the number in them may not. PRJ-001-vague-idea becoming PRJ-001-orbital-thermal-study is fine.
3. Assignment happens in the registry. Take the next free number from the registry file and add the entry in the same commit that creates the page. Two branches that both take the next number is the one failure mode here, and it shows up as a merge conflict in the registry, which is exactly where it should show up.
4. An entity with no page is not an entity. A registry row pointing at nothing is a broken reference; pnpm validate reports it.

Referencing

Inside prose, write the bare identifier and link it: [EXP-001](/experiments/EXP-001-experiment-name). Do not write “the first experiment”; a reader six months later cannot resolve that, and neither can a search.