The six layers
1
Control
Define who can run what, under which rules, and with which
explicit rollout and promotion permissions. This is the policy
plane — RBAC, rights, scopes, approvals.
2
Runtime
Operate execution across screen estates through a disciplined
runtime instead of ad hoc orchestration. Handles resolve, pacing,
delivery, failure modes, and observability.
3
Spatial
Substrate-agnostic by design — 23 substrates from DOOH to drones
are first-class in the type system. Adding a new substrate is
configuration, not a rewrite.
4
Proof
Every delivery, activity, and operating action is signed,
hash-chained, and verifiable offline. This is where the
open-source auditor draws its source material from.
5
Metering
Project from raw delivery events into the metered units that
matter — impressions, dwell time, surface-hours, attention
seconds — for accountable commercial decisions.
6
Settlement
A versioned path from verified activity into finance, invoicing,
and settlement discipline. Designed in from the start; never
bolted on.
Two views of the six layers
If you have read the platform’s architecture decision records or the spatial SDK surfaces, you will have met a second six-layer chain:World Model → Resolve → Proof → Metering → Commerce → SettlementThese are not two competing architectures. The chain above is the spatial substrate’s internal layering (ADR-0001) — a self-similar expansion of the platform spine for digital objects placed into governed physical space. It maps onto the spine like this:
In short: the spine’s single Spatial layer expands into World
Model + Resolve when you zoom in, and the spine’s Settlement
layer encompasses both Commerce and Settlement in the spatial chain.
Proof and Metering mirror one-to-one.
How they interact at runtime
A delivery event walks the layers from bottom to top:- The render SDK reports a delivery event to Runtime.
- Runtime asks Control whether the underlying rights basis still authorises this delivery.
- If yes, Runtime asks Spatial to confirm the substrate-specific constraints (geofence, altitude, audience, consent).
- If yes, Proof signs the event and folds it into the tenant’s hash chain.
- Metering projects the event into the metered units the contract is denominated in.
- Settlement reconciles metered units against the contract on a periodic batch.