Observing the world#
Read what Ridgeport is doing without changing it. Observation is the default mode and it takes no deliberate action to enter.
Before you start#
The service running, and access to the Director or an Observer link. See Install and first run.
The Now surface#
The Director opens onto the world as it currently stands: the durable World Program, current conditions, ordinary life, affiliations, and the chronicle of what has happened.
This surface is observation-only. It does not start a simulation, create a run, or invoke a model provider. Reading costs nothing.
Three facts that are independent#
The surface shows world time, lifecycle state and connection freshness as separate values, and they are genuinely separate:
| Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| World time | Where the fiction currently is |
| Lifecycle state | Whether the world is advancing, held, or archived |
| Connection freshness | Whether your view is current |
A stale connection does not mean the world stopped. A held world does not mean your connection dropped. Read the one you actually need.
Affiliations are not locations#
Ridgeport models affiliations — which institutions and groups a resident belongs to — and these are non-geographic. An affiliation never implies that a resident is present somewhere or has moved. There is no movement model. See World Lens.
Observer view and share links#
/observe is a reduced view intended for someone who should read the world
without operator access. Observer share links carry their own token behaviour
and are not covered by the operator token, so a share link keeps working
independently of operator authentication.
An Observer share link grants read access to anyone holding it. Treat a link as the credential it is, and issue a new one rather than reusing an old link for a new audience.
Event Arcs are optional#
Ridgeport's ordinary ambient and resident life needs no triggered Event Arc. Arcs are an overlay on the durable World Program, not a replacement for it, and a world with no active arc is a normal world rather than an idle one.
Verify#
- The Director loads and shows a chronicle with recent entries.
- World time advances across two page loads separated by real time, while the service is running.
- No run is created by opening any surface — the runs list is unchanged.
If it does not work#
| Symptom | Check | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| World time does not advance | Whether the service was restarted, and the lifecycle state | Fiction time does not advance while the service is down and does not catch up afterwards |
| The chronicle is empty | Whether the store is the one you meant to open | See Data and backup |
| Connection freshness degrades but content is present | Your view is stale, not the world | Reload; if it persists, check the service is still running |
| An Observer link stops working | Whether the token was rotated or revoked | Issue a new link |
Next#
- Research runs — the deliberate path.
- World Lens — the schematic view.