Buildable tools and devices: what they do, what you need, how to build or use them, and a worked example. The interactive ones open a tool.
Buildable Instrument
The Correspondence Engine
A small table and query function that maps Grimoire aspects to technical patterns.
What it is
To make a design decision from a correspondence instead of guessing.
At a glance
- Inputs
- An aspect id; an optional pattern id; a form id.
- Outputs
- A row (or a scored set of rows) with the mapping, an instrument idea and a build hint.
How to do it
- Store the correspondence rows as JSON: aspect, pattern, mapping, instrument, example.
- Write a function that filters by aspect and pattern.
- Add a scoring rule for ties (e.g. exact aspect first, then element).
- Expose it as a JSON file, a CLI, or a small page.
- Add a test: for every aspect, at least one row resolves.
- Keep the table small enough to read; a correspondence you cannot explain is not a correspondence.
What you need
- A JSON file
- A script or page
- A test
A worked example
Query: aspect `saturn`, pattern `cron_job`. Result: 'Saturday close — a scheduled review that closes the week's open loops.' The instrument is the `planetary_hour_daemon` configured for Saturday.
Variations
- Add a `weight` field for how strong the mapping feels, and sort by weight.
- Use the engine to generate a week's operations: one row per day.
- Make a physical card deck from the rows and draw instead of querying.
Code sketch
This is a sketch, not a runnable program. It names the shape of the automation; the definitions are yours.
const rows = [{ aspect: 'saturn', pattern: 'cron_job', instrument: 'planetary_hour_daemon' }];
const query = (aspect, pattern) => rows.filter((r) => r.aspect === aspect && (!pattern || r.pattern === pattern));Related entries
Practices
Protocols
Correspondences
Workings
One of 110 entries in the Technomancy workshop. How a working is built Is it wrong somewhere?
Mentioned by 1
Every entry that names The Correspondence Engine, grouped by section.
⚙ Instruments 1
- The Instrument Workshop Related
More in Instruments
The entries either side of this one in the same section.
- The Servitor Ledger A local record of constructs, feedings, readings and closings, exportable as a plain text file.
- The Random Rite Generator Composes a one-sitting working from a seed, an aspect and a small library of actions.
- The Digital Banishing Switch One action that closes the working: closes tabs, clears a cache, logs out and returns attention.
- The Sigil Forge Turns a sentence, a Grimoire aspect and a seed into a deterministic sigil, a charge card and a record line.
- The EVP Session Kit A timer, a noise source and a log for a recorded listening session.
- The Servant Foundry Builds a servitor sheet — name, sigil, one task, a way to feed it, a stop condition and a record — from a purpose and a Grimoire aspect.
New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.