# P3DF format architecture overview

Canonical page: https://p3df.org/spec
Status: explanation of the 0.1.0-draft reference architecture; not a complete normative or ratified standard.
Created by the Council for Independent Frontier Research (CIFR), a non-profit organisation: https://cifr.org.

P3DF means Portable 3D Format. An exported `.p3df` package is a point-in-time spatial digital twin. It brings together geometry, semantic relationships, navigation topology and recorded time-series data. The portable file is distinct from the proposed cloud platform and full Creator authoring application.

## Container

A ZIP archive with `manifest.json` and `scene.json` required. Optional entries include:

- `geometry/*.glb`
- `navmesh/{profile}/*.parquet` and navigation metadata
- `telemetry/{node_id}/*.parquet`
- `thumbnails/*.png`

The draft specifies stored ZIP entries, fixed timestamps, paths sorted with manifest first, and entry sizes and SHA-256 checksums in the manifest. Checksums cover each non-manifest entry. Checksums do not authenticate the author. Signing and encryption are future work.

## Scene and coordinates

Scene hierarchy: Site -> Building -> Level -> Space -> Asset -> Component.
UUIDv4 identifiers connect nodes and references. JSON carries the scene; JSON-LD context provides vocabulary prefixes, with Brick and SAREF among the recommended domain vocabularies.

The local coordinate frame is right-handed, Z-up, in metres. Unit quaternions are stored in x, y, z, w order. Global anchoring uses WGS84. GLB geometry uses axis conversion at the I/O boundary. Levels of detail range from simple spatial bounds to visual meshes.

## Navigation and telemetry

Navigation is per level, with clearance profiles, door constraints and cross-level links. The initial model assumes flat levels. Arrow and Parquet represent bulk navigation arrays and telemetry. Historical telemetry is bound to asset channels, with UTC timestamps, units and declared data types.

## Queries

The reference engine is specified to execute deterministic JSON query IR. Natural-language-to-query translation is the caller's job. An integrating agent supplies perception, intent, access permissions, planning, freshness checks and physical execution.

## Scope limits

Live camera feeds, cloud database services, live synchronization and embeddable cloud APIs are platform roadmap work. IFC, OpenUSD, AAS, URDF and ROS bridges are proposed. No standards-body endorsement or certified bridge is claimed.

## Public release plan

A language-neutral specification, schemas, valid/invalid conformance examples, public source release under Apache 2.0, and native/web Creator releases are coming soon. The website's illustrative JSON sample is not a conformant `.p3df` file.

Roadmap: https://p3df.org/roadmap
Governance: https://p3df.org/governance

## Open standard, licensing and AI agent interactions

P3DF is an evolving open standard for digital twins in the AI agentic age. The public specification and source code will be released under Apache License 2.0 (Apache-2.0); published license grants and release artifacts are not yet available.

The proposed Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration will support digital-twin interactions from Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients. Intended operations include listing spaces and assets, retrieving recorded observations, querying telemetry and inspecting navigation constraints. A public MCP server and tested client configurations have not been released. See https://p3df.org/mcp for the integration plan.

P3DF Creator is the creation and editing application. Native releases and the full hosted Creator are coming soon. The illustrative browser preview is at https://p3df.org/creator.