ZAIXOS Engineering Platform — Product Editions
Document type: Product Definition
Version: 1.0 · Phase: 12-2
Status: Permanent product authority
Decision
ZEP v1 ships as a single edition: ZAIXOS Engineering Platform (Core).
Separate Community / Professional / Enterprise product editions are not planned for v1 through v3.
Justification
| Factor | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Audience size (v1) | Primary consumers are ZAIXOS internal products — no multi-tier commercial packaging requirement yet |
| Scope clarity | Edition fragmentation before GA would blur Public API and validation guarantees |
| Open vs closed | Distribution/licensing is a future business decision, not a v1 architecture requirement |
| Capability maturity | Experimental capabilities (CLI, SDK, hosted services) are stability classifications, not edition gates |
| Avoid false tiers | "Enterprise validation" without hosted service would be marketing-only — rejected |
What Exists Instead of Editions
| Mechanism | Role |
|---|---|
| Public / Internal / Experimental / Deprecated | API stability tiers (PLATFORM_PUBLIC_API.md) |
| Extension registry | Product-specific customization without tiered core |
| Adapter certification | Optional adapters, not edition-locked features |
| Org policy (future) | Enterprise may add extensions + process, not a forked platform binary |
Internal vs External (Not an Edition)
| Dimension | ZAIXOS Internal | External adopter (future) |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Same ZEP Core | Same ZEP Core (if distributed) |
| Support | Platform team direct | TBD when open adoption ADR exists |
| Hosting | Self-hosted in product repos | Self-hosted in product repos |
| Difference | Operational, not feature SKU | Licensing only |
Internal refers to organizational usage, not a separate product edition.
Future Edition Reconsideration Triggers
Revisit editions only if all conditions met:
- External commercial adoption ADR accepted
- Hosted services (C-12) in production
- Clear feature boundary that cannot be an extension
- Legal/compliance packaging requires tiered support SLAs
If triggered, prefer:
| Edition | Scope (hypothetical — not committed) |
|---|---|
| Core | Package + contracts + one adapter + validation |
| Team | Org extensions, shared policy bundles, CLI Public |
| Enterprise | Hosted validation, signing, audit exports, SLA |
No implementation until ADR + product phase after v3.
Summary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Community edition? | No — not v1 |
| Professional edition? | No — not v1 |
| Enterprise edition? | No — not v1; enterprise persona supported on Core |
| Internal edition? | N/A — internal usage of Core, not separate SKU |
Product Editions v1.0 — Phase 12-2.