Segmentation

Segmentation (Stage 4 Structural Segmentation)

Assign stable structure before alignment.

This skill is the Stage 4 owner for structural segmentation. It should answer:

• what is the canonical reference system for this work?
• what unit is appropriate: book/chapter/section/line/verse/sentence/etc.?
• are Greek and witness structures reproducible and auditable?
• is the segmentation honest for the source material and downstream reader needs?

It does not own:

• witness fitness classification
• cross-language alignment mode selection
• interlinear generation

Quick Status

Structured artifact dirs: !find ${LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR:-output/texts} -path '*/structured' -type d 2>/dev/null | wc -l Segmentation reports: !find ${LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR:-output/texts} -path '*/qa/*segmentation*' 2>/dev/null | wc -l

Commands

• /segmentation run [work] — Produce or refresh structured Greek and witness artifacts
• /segmentation validate [work] — Check reference stability, counts, and structural honesty
• /segmentation inventory [work] — Emit the reference inventory for the current segmentation
• /segmentation status [work] — Summarize the canonical reference system, structure quality, and blockers

Target: $ARGUMENTS

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Owned Responsibilities

Owns

• canonical reference system selection
• structural segmentation of Greek and witnesses
• reference inventory generation
• segmentation report and stability checks

Does not own

• witness fitness classification
• direct/DP/range alignment decisions
• word-level interlinear work

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Segmentation Units

Possible segmentation units include:

• book
• chapter
• section
• line
• verse
• sentence
• stanza
• speech
• liturgical unit
• fable unit

Important rule

Choose the coarsest structure that is still honest and useful.

Do not invent false precision the source material cannot support.

Segment size policy

Read docs/segmentation-policy.md before choosing a segmentation unit. It defines the target word count per segment and when/how to sub-segment prose texts whose source reference system is too coarse for the reader.

Reference System Selection Guide

Choose the reference system that matches the scholarly tradition for the text class:

Text class	Reference system	Example refs	Notes
Biblical (NT)	book.chapter.verse	John 3.16, Rom 8.28	Honor NA28/UBS5 verse numbering. Note 'ghost verses' (Matt 17:21, Acts 8:37 etc.) — follow the base edition's numbering.
Biblical (OT/LXX)	book.chapter.verse	Gen 1.1, Ps 23.1	Note LXX vs MT psalm numbering differences (LXX Ps 9 = MT Ps 9-10). Always document which tradition you follow.
Epic poetry	book.line	Il. 1.1, Od. 1.1	Line numbers from critical editions (OCT, Teubner). Never sub-segment lines.
Prose philosophy	book.chapter.section	Med. 1.1, Rep. 327a	Casaubon (Meditations), Stephanus (Plato), Bekker (Aristotle).
History/biography	book.chapter.section	Thu. 1.1.1, Plut. Alex. 1.1	Follow Loeb/OCT section numbering.
Drama	play.line	Ag. 1, OT 1	Line numbers from critical editions.
Fables	collection.number	Aes. 1, Perry 1	Perry numbers for Aesop.

Biblical Versification Notes

• Honor existing verse numbers — even when verse divisions split mid-clause (this is common in Pauline epistles). The verse system is the universal reference standard.
• Ghost verses: Some editions include verses absent from critical text (Matt 17:21, Mark 7:16, John 5:4, Acts 8:37, etc.). Follow the base edition's numbering and document any gaps.
• Psalm numbering: LXX and MT differ by ±1 across Psalms 9-147. Always note which system you use.
• Sub-verse notation: Support a/b markers if the edition uses them (e.g., 3.16a, 3.16b).

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Workflows

/segmentation run

Produce structured artifacts for the target text.

Decide

1. canonical reference system
2. segmentation unit(s)
3. how Greek structure should be represented
4. what witness-side structural information should be preserved for later stages

Output should make later stages easier

• Stage 5 witness comparison
• Stage 6 versification
• Stage 9 reader/reference behavior

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/segmentation validate

Check that the segmentation is stable and honest.

Validate for

• stable references
• internal count consistency
• sample reference resolution
• segmentation granularity appropriate to the text class

Important rule

A pretty reference grid is not success if it misrepresents the source structure.

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/segmentation inventory

Emit the reference inventory and counts for review.

Useful contents

• reference list per book/chapter/unit
• unit counts
• notable merges/splits or ambiguities

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/segmentation status

Summarize:

• canonical reference system chosen
• segmentation unit
• inventory size/counts
• known structural ambiguities
• whether Stage 5 can begin or segmentation needs revision

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Outputs

Canonical outputs

$LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR/<slug>/
├── structured/
├── qa/
├── state.json
└── replay/stage-history.json

Segmentation artifacts should include

• structured Greek file(s)
• structured witness file(s) where applicable
• reference inventory
• segmentation report

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Database Import (Required)

After producing structured artifacts, Stage 4 must import Greek segments into data/editions.db. Downstream stages (Stage 6 translation generation, etc.) depend on segments being in the database.

Import Command

nix-shell -p go --run "go run scripts/import_workspace.go --workspace $LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR/<slug> --greek-only"

What gets imported

• Author (created if missing, looked up by URN)
• Work (created if missing, looked up by URN)
• Edition (created with type="edition", language="grc")
• Segments (all Greek segments from structured/ files)

Import verification

After import, verify with:

sqlite3 data/editions.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM segments WHERE edition_id = (SELECT id FROM editions WHERE urn LIKE '%<work-urn>%')"

URN derivation

The import script derives URNs from the workspace manifest:

• Author URN: manifest.author_urn
• Work URN: manifest.work_urn
• Greek Edition URN: manifest.work_urn + ".workspace-grc1" (or manifest.greek_edition_urn if set)

Idempotence

The import is idempotent — running it again clears and re-inserts segments for the edition. This allows safe re-runs after segmentation changes.

Failure handling

If import fails:

1. Check that structured/ contains valid JSON files
2. Verify manifest.json has author_urn and work_urn set
3. Check editions.db exists and is writable

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Verification Contract

This skill follows the Stage 4 contract from docs/text-pipeline-skill-verification-2026-03-13.md.

Verify

• a canonical reference system was selected
• Greek and witness structure is reproducible
• reference inventory is complete
• segmentation granularity matches the text class

Minimum evidence

• structured artifacts under structured/
• reference inventory
• segmentation report

Pass criteria

• references are stable and non-ambiguous
• counts per book/chapter/section are internally consistent
• sample references resolve correctly across structured files
• segmentation is honest for the text type and downstream reader needs

Failure examples

• references drift unexpectedly across artifacts
• segmentation is too coarse for alignment or too precise for the source
• segmentation invents unsupported structure

Required next steps

After successful segmentation:

1. Import to DB: Run nix-shell -p go --run "go run scripts/import_workspace.go --workspace $LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR/<slug> --greek-only" to import Greek segments to editions.db
2. /translation-witness ... when witness comparison is needed
3. /versify run <work> when structural alignment is next
4. Invalidate downstream stages if the structure changes materially

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Verification

After completing this stage, run the automated verification script:

bash scripts/verify_stage_4.sh "${SLUG}"

Exit codes: 0=PASS (advance), 1=FAIL (block), 2=WARN (advance with notes). The orchestrator runs this automatically; when executing manually, check the output for [FAIL] or [WARN] lines.

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Key Files

File	Purpose
docs/text-pipeline-master-plan-2026-03-13.md	Canonical Stage 4 requirements
docs/text-pipeline-skill-architecture-2026-03-13.md	Ownership and command surface
docs/text-pipeline-skill-verification-2026-03-13.md	Verification contract
$LYCEUM_TEXTS_DIR/<slug>/structured/	Canonical structural artifacts