---
slug: "TimeWarpLog"
name: "TimeWarpLog"
type: "Primitives"
layer: "Infrastructure"
ref: "TimeWarpLog#755f"
sema_id: "sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:755f480a60517d8e99807da674019db06ab0b7b2edabcc806d833947da4446e4"
tags: ["Infrastructure","Primitives"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/TimeWarpLog/
related: ["Agent","CausalBarrier","MonotonicCounter","State","System","WorldReversible","Compensate","DocumentedOverride","LazyConsensus","TraceBelief"]
---

# TimeWarpLog

Handling relativistic event ordering

Layer: Infrastructure · Category: Primitives

## Mechanism

Events are not ordered by wall-clock time but by 'causal cones'. An [Agent](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Agent.md) accepts an event from the 'past' if it doesn't contradict its current causal cone. The log's append position is driven by a [MonotonicCounter](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/MonotonicCounter.md) so that once an event is admitted to a cone, no earlier-sequenced event can supersede it. Allows for massive latency tolerance. Utilizes [WorldReversible](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/WorldReversible.md), [CausalBarrier](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/CausalBarrier.md).

## Invariants

- Immutability: past entries cannot be modified.
- Indexability within retention: Seek(T) returns deterministic [State](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/State.md)(T) for any T inside `retention_window`.
- Causal consistency: events are accepted only if they do not contradict the current causal cone.

## Preconditions

- Storage supports append-only writes

## Postconditions

- [System](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/System.md) state matches T_target

## Failure modes

- User confusion about 'when' things happened.

## Parameters

- `granularity` (Duration, [1ms, 1min]): Resolution of time travel
- `index_strategy` (Enum, {Time, Causal, Hybrid}): How to organize history
- `retention_window` (Duration, [1h, 30d]): How far back to retain

## Caution

Causal cone is only as trustworthy as the identities signing events. Unsigned or weakly-authenticated events can rewrite perceived history.

## Builds on

- [Agent](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Agent.md) (Mind; References)
- [CausalBarrier](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/CausalBarrier.md) (Physics; References)
- [MonotonicCounter](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/MonotonicCounter.md) (Society; References)
- [State](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/State.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [System](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/System.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [WorldReversible](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/WorldReversible.md) (Mind; References)

## Used by

- [Compensate](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Compensate.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [DocumentedOverride](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/DocumentedOverride.md) (Society; Composes with)
- [LazyConsensus](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/LazyConsensus.md) (Society; References)
- [TraceBelief](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/TraceBelief.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:755f480a60517d8e99807da674019db06ab0b7b2edabcc806d833947da4446e4`
- Ref: `TimeWarpLog#755f`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:d9386c726ba1c96bfae61549b82b16d1137d59b1f2129a19a24568f3117a4720`
  - `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:c60901d1796a1284a17cd5c97604718bd08428a7a9691a7f225c57195efe0a96`
  - `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:2a101afbc167bce00efa25a0439774ab1b30ef094facfaf2b8f9a5edb1b54269`
  - `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:e26edd5011e4842730b23fb11a2d5efaff9a52112e8081f5856893c9c4ce99ff`
  - `sema:TimeWarpLog#mh:SHA-256:7fd7d546477d4389a8c63cde58b1d4a02d20e8a44ac22f7975fa77292c595790`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/TimeWarpLog/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#TimeWarpLog)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/TimeWarpLog.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)