# StellaOps Excititor

Excititor converts heterogeneous VEX feeds into raw observations and linksets that honour the Aggregation-Only Contract.

## Latest updates (2025-11-05)
- Link-Not-Merge readiness: release note [Excitor consensus beta](../../updates/2025-11-05-excitor-consensus-beta.md) captures how Excititor feeds power the Excititor consensus beta (sample payload in [consensus JSON](../../vex/consensus-json.md)).
- Added [observability guide](operations/observability.md) describing the evidence metrics emitted by `EXCITITOR-AIAI-31-003` (request counters, statement histogram, signature status, guard violations) so Ops/Lens can alert on misuse.
- README now points policy/UI teams to the upcoming consensus integration work.
- DSSE packaging for consensus bundles and Export Center hooks are documented in the [beta release note](../../updates/2025-11-05-excitor-consensus-beta.md); operators mirroring Excititor exports must verify detached JWS artefacts (`bundle.json.jws`) alongside each bundle.
- Follow-ups called out in the release note (Policy weighting knobs `POLICY-ENGINE-30-101`, CLI verb `CLI-VEX-30-002`) remain in-flight and are tracked in `/docs/implplan/SPRINT_200_documentation_process.md`.

## Release references
- Consensus beta payload reference: [docs/vex/consensus-json.md](../../vex/consensus-json.md)
- Export Center offline packaging: [docs/modules/export-center/devportal-offline.md](../export-center/devportal-offline.md)
- Historical release log: [docs/updates/](../../updates/)

## Responsibilities
- Fetch OpenVEX/CSAF/CycloneDX statements via restart-only connectors.
- Store immutable VEX observations with full provenance.
- Publish linksets and events that drive policy suppression decisions.
- Provide deterministic exports for Offline Kit and downstream tooling.

## Key components
- `StellaOps.Excititor.WebService` scheduler/API host.
- Connector libraries under `StellaOps.Excititor.Connector.*`.
- Normalization helpers and exporters in `StellaOps.Excititor.*`.

## Integrations & dependencies
- Policy Engine for evidence queries.
- UI/CLI for conflict visibility and explanation.
- Notify for VEX-driven alerts.

## Operational notes
- MongoDB for observation storage and job metadata.
- Offline kit packaging aligned with Concelier merges.
- Connector-specific runbooks (see `docs/modules/concelier/operations/connectors`).
- Ubuntu CSAF provenance knobs: [`operations/ubuntu-csaf.md`](operations/ubuntu-csaf.md) captures TrustWeight/Tier, cosign, and fingerprint configuration for the sprint 120 enrichment.

## Backlog references
- DOCS-LNM-22-006 / DOCS-LNM-22-007 (shared with Concelier).
- CLI-EXC-25-001..002 follow-up for CLI parity.

## Epic alignment
- **Epic 1 – AOC enforcement:** maintain immutable VEX observations, provenance, and AOC verifier coverage.
- **Epic 7 – VEX Consensus Lens:** supply trustworthy raw inputs, trust metadata, and consensus hooks for the lens computations.
- **Epic 8 – Advisory AI:** expose citation-ready VEX payloads for the advisory assistant pipeline.