The rules
In development
Person-first by design
Scythian is designed so the person a figure is about sees it first, and every look leaves a trace. Here is each rule, and what it means for you and for your manager.
One purpose: team support. Scythian does not evaluate individuals or support employment decisions.
These rules are Scythian’s design, set out plainly for you and for counsel to review. They are not a compliance claim or a certification.
Where things stand. The floors are built and tested in Omphalos today. Person views, the part where one named viewer can see one person’s figures, are designed and switched off in the code, which refuses them with one sentence: Person views are not available yet.
They are planned after counsel review and a trust test.
Thirteen rules, each read two ways.
What each rule means for the person a figure is about, and for the manager who might look.
- IDesigned
You see it first
Each period’s figures are yours alone for five working days. Add a note or flag an error before anyone else can look.
- For you
- Time to check your figures and say what they miss.
- For your manager
- They see your figures after you, with your note beside them.
- IIDesigned
A receipt for every view
Who viewed, when, and which family of figures.
- For you
- You see every receipt, so you always know who looked.
- For your manager
- Every look you take is on the record.
- IIIDesigned
One purpose: team support
Team support is the only purpose a view can have. No employment decisions.
- For you
- Figures are not there to rank you or to decide hiring or firing.
- For your manager
- A clear use for what you see: helping the team work.
- IVDesigned
Notice first
People are told what is counted and who can see it before any view starts.
- For you
- No surprises.
- For your manager
- Your team knows the rules before you open a view.
- VDesigned
Three people approve
A view policy needs the department admin, a legal reviewer and a security reviewer, each with a passkey. It expires within 365 days, and new reporting lines wait seven days.
- For you
- No one can quietly switch views on.
- For your manager
- Access comes with a clear, time-limited approval.
- VIDesigned
View-only
Views are watermarked. No export, print, API copy or “share with my manager”.
- For you
- Your figures do not travel in spreadsheets.
- For your manager
- Look, talk, and leave it there.
- VIIDesigned
No scores or ranks for viewers
A viewer sees one person at a time, beside their own trend. Never a leaderboard.
- For you
- You are compared only with your own past periods.
- For your manager
- You see one person’s change over time.
- VIIIDesigned
Never content
No message text, keystrokes, screens, emotion or off-duty use, and no machine-learned inputs.
- For you
- What you write stays yours.
- For your manager
- Counts and rates only.
- IXBuilt in Omphalos
Floors of five
A group figure needs five people behind it, ten when it comes from content. Floors can be raised, never lowered, and nothing drills down to a person.
- For you
- A small group cannot single you out.
- For your manager
- Some cells read “Withheld”. That is the floor working.
- XDesigned
The strictest mode wins
Group figures only, by default. Each person gets the strictest mode that applies to them. In the EU, person views stay off until a data protection impact assessment and works council review.
- For you
- The strictest rule that covers you is the one that counts.
- For your manager
- Some people may never appear in a person view.
- XIDesigned
Who can view
One named viewer, for direct reports and at most one skip level. Never an agent.
- For you
- You know exactly who can look.
- For your manager
- Your view stops at your own reporting line.
- XIIDesigned
Nothing per person leaves
Per-person figures never leave your company’s deployment. Group figures leave only if your contract opts in, which is planned for benchmarks.
- For you
- Figures about you stay in your company’s deployment.
- For your manager
- Group figures go out only if your contract says so.
- XIIIDesigned
You can push back
Object without retaliation. Limit what is shown. The “What your manager can and cannot see” card. A trust test, and a stop rule if trust falls.
- For you
- An objection cannot count against you.
- For your manager
- You hear about problems early, before trust breaks.
The rules, on screen.
Design previews of person views, which are planned. All names and figures are made up.
Who looked at your figures
September period · shown to you first, Oct 1 to Oct 8
A. Rivera (manager) viewed Usage,
A. Rivera (manager) viewed Adoption,
Your note, shown beside your figures
“Out on leave Sep 14 to 18.”
S. Lin · Usage
Beside their own last six periods
AprSep
S. Lin’s note: “Out on leave Sep 14 to 18.”
View-only · no export, print or copy · S. Lin gets a receipt
Support team · person views
Purpose: team support · expires 2027-10-31
- Department adminPasskey, Nov 2✓ Approved
- Legal reviewerPasskey, Nov 3✓ Approved
- Security reviewerNot yet signed~ Waiting
New reporting lines wait seven days before any view.
In the code
Off until it is right.
From Omphalos’s permission law and its tests as they stand today. Trimmed where marked, never changed.
/** Why each other kind is refused, one sentence each. */
export const SWITCHED_OFF: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {
// …
K13: 'Person views are not available yet.',
};it('2. an agent seat views no figures: they are read at the console, by person-apps and by services (SDK-5)', () => {
expect(view({ seat: seat() })).toMatchObject({ allow: false, reason: 'seat-scope' });
});Questions about the rules?
We would rather answer them now than after a rollout. Scythian is in development.