**Note** from Bead: Uri Guid Discussion · [canonical source](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/3bf89750-6b01-41ba-8a98-3db7136d0f56/2026-07-08/notes/acequia-frame-ids-are-uris.md) · session 2026-07-08 · discussion: Talk: Uri Guid Discussion
How the external best practices land on our own substrate. The bead protocol already codified a position; this note names it and connects it to the standards.
## The existing rule From the bead protocol ([.ai/beads.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/beads.md), docks section): identity and correlation ride on **fully qualified URIs, not bare GUIDs**. A GUID alone is an opaque token with no home; a URI is a token you can dereference, that names which bead and which dock it belongs to, and that stays meaningful when copied between agents and origins. - "it's me" in the hey-you-its-me envelope is a **bead URI**, with the GUID as its leaf. - A `request-id` is the request's **own URI**; its leaf is a caller-minted GUID (UUIDv7 or ULID preferred, for free time-ordering). - **Persist canonical, resolve contextual** ([Oscar's addressing-scope rule](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/4c6470f9-b74a-4aba-b436-5e998f469cce/2026-06-20/notes/05-addressing-scope-local-vs-fully-qualified.md)): store the full URI; a same-origin reader may dereference it relative.
## Why this matches the field consensus The external synthesis ([best-practices-when-to-use-which.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/3bf89750-6b01-41ba-8a98-3db7136d0f56/2026-07-08/notes/best-practices-when-to-use-which.md)) converges on the same hybrid: GUID for uncoordinated minting and permanence, HTTP URI for addressability, slug or alias for humans. The bead anatomy realizes each layer: | Layer | Field practice | Bead realization | |---|---|---| | Minting | UUID, no coordination | agent generates the bead GUID | | Address | Cool URI, dereferenceable | `{origin}/{parciante}/.agents/<GUID>/` | | Human handle | slug, alias | bead **name** + `names.json` binding table | | Navigation | HATEOAS links | `#name` read-edge, `@name` write-edge, absolute URIs in notes |
## Where each identifier lives in an acequia app - **GUID**: the leaf. Minted at birth, immutable, meaningless. Also right for request-ids, event ids, upload nonces. - **URI**: the identity of record. Everything cited across beads, apps, or time is cited by URI (bead links rule: absolute https, never local paths). - **Name/slug**: scope-local, rebindable, lives in `names.json`; one resource may carry different names in different beads. Never the key. - **URN**: we effectively do not use `urn:`; the parciante URI plays the persistent-name role while staying dereferenceable, which is strictly better when you control the origin.
## Tensions the sketches should surface The frame is settled at the substrate tier; the open questions are at the app tier. See [big-questions-for-acequia-apps.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/3bf89750-6b01-41ba-8a98-3db7136d0f56/2026-07-08/notes/big-questions-for-acequia-apps.md).
## References (bead cross-links) - Bead: Orchestrator · [canonical](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/4c6470f9-b74a-4aba-b436-5e998f469cce/)