package/forest.jsonl

Every coded thread of every room as a reply tree, in one file.

What it holds

One line per thread: thread_id, community, title, hours_since_open, n_items, n_coded, n_dropped, retrieved_on, and tree, a nested node with coord (Dewey; "0" is the submission), item_id, parent_id, author, state (coded, bridge, removed, dropped), collapsed_n, dt_parent_sec, dt_thread_sec, code_ids, labels, sequence, coverage, meta and children. The build adds sub.

Who writes it, and when

build_store.py at stage 00 writes each room's forest/forest.jsonl from the coders' input into this one file, and derives the store's items.jsonl and threads.jsonl from it. transitions.py reads it to build the transitions ledger.

The depth cut

Reply chains deeper than 490 are cut in this file, and only here. Each level of a tree is two levels of JSON, and the Python the repository pins (3.11) stops reading near 1,000, so a tree deeper than about 496 cannot be read. Only r/counting has such chains: members reply to each other one number at a time, and five of its threads reach 492 to 1,004 levels. import_rooms.py (CUT_DEPTH) cuts them when it renders the room, on J's instruction of 26 September 2026 to cut at 500; 490 keeps a margin under the limit.

• The node at depth 490 keeps its place and gains cut_below: n_items and n_coded, the replies removed under it. The thread gains cut_at_depth, n_cut and n_coded_cut.
• r/counting loses 1,564 of 6,242 items here, 38 of them coded. The 38 codes stay in codes.jsonl with their text, item and thread; the store lists them in _unjoined.jsonl, and the room's tree_index.json still gives each one's coordinate.
• The whole forest is kept beside the cut one, as the room's forest/forest.uncut.jsonl in the coders' input (run/INPUT/coders/rooms/counting/). No tool reads it; it is there for a reader on Python 3.12 or later, which opens the full depth.
• The room's tree_index.json and trees/counting.md are not cut: both are flat, one entry or one line per item, and hold every reply. The header counts (n_items, n_coded) are the uncut ones.

Why it exists

METHOD: in Van de Ven and Poole's grammar "the forest is that grammar, and a coded turn is an incident." STANDING §1: "The forest is the coded record's shape", and "A reply is a reply": the tree shows order, not cause.

Where

package/forest.jsonl.

Checked against: import_rooms.py, tools/build_store.py, tools/transitions.py, METHOD.md, STANDING-INSTRUCTIONS.md §1, package/forest.jsonl.