Vyges Metadata Specification

A machine-readable schema for describing reusable silicon IP — the foundation of the Vyges Metadata Standard and the open registry built on it.

What is the Vyges Metadata Specification?

This page documents the Vyges Metadata Specification — the schema document — and the Vyges Metadata Standard that it implements.

The Vyges Metadata Specification is a structured, extensible JSON schema for describing hardware IP blocks. It enables automated validation, reuse, and integration across toolchains.

The Standard the Specification implements is what makes silicon IP composable, governed, and AI-agent-consumable across the Vyges open registry, the private catalogs we operate for buyers, and the silicon products we ship.

Key Features

  • Machine-readable JSON schema
  • Detailed and structured descriptions for RTL, interfaces, and constraints
  • Built-in fields for license type, usage policies, and export compliance
  • Explicit port, protocol, and signal-level definitions
  • Capture timing, area, power, and throughput goals
  • Metadata extensions for chiplet packaging and die-to-die connectivity

What the Standard replaces — the Excel-as-spec problem

The Vyges Metadata Standard turns the spreadsheet into a code artifact. Registers, parameters, and interfaces are version-controlled with the RTL — no second source of truth, no spec drift, no transcription errors at integration time.

"Machine-readable" is an abstract claim until you name what it replaces. Today, the canonical truth for an IP's registers, parameters, interfaces, integration constraints, and target PDKs lives in Excel spreadsheets maintained by engineering teams alongside the code — supplemented by Word docs, wiki pages, PDF datasheets, and tribal knowledge. This is the actual workflow inside most IP teams, and it is broken in three predictable ways:

  • Drift between spec and code. A register added in RTL but missed in the spreadsheet (or vice versa) is a routine occurrence; reconciliation is manual, sporadic, and never complete.
  • Copy errors during integration. When the IP is reused in another design, register addresses, bit fields, and parameter constraints are transcribed by hand into the consumer's RTL — and transcription introduces errors that don't surface until simulation or, worse, silicon.
  • Information loss across handoffs. When an engineer leaves, when a project is paused, or when an IP is licensed to a third party, the spec docs and the code drift apart. Years later, no one is sure which version of the spreadsheet matches the tagged RTL release.

The Vyges Metadata Standard eliminates this entirely. The metadata lives next to the code, in the same repository, under the same version control, in the same release tag. There is no separate spreadsheet to update, no doc to keep in sync, no wiki page to maintain. Updates to registers, parameters, or interfaces flow through the same commit as the RTL change — there is no second source of truth to drift from.

No more Excel reconciliation. No more copy errors. No more "is the spec current?"

Why a Schema-First Approach Works

A standardized metadata layer creates alignment across IP providers, integrators, and EDA tools—enabling repeatable automation, easier collaboration, and faster delivery.

Discoverability

Rapidly find and filter IP blocks using consistent metadata across your organization or ecosystem.

Composability

Match and integrate IPs faster with explicit interface, constraint, and compatibility metadata.

Automation

Power toolchains with structured inputs for validation, linting, integration, and compliance checking.

One engine, two configurations

The same Standard. Two operational modes — open and private.

The public Vyges open registry and the private catalogs we operate for enterprise buyers are not parallel rewrites of one another. They are two configurations of one system — same registry engine, same metadata model, same version lifecycle, same dependency graph, same governance core. Access control, identity, and audit features differ to fit confidentiality and compliance constraints, but the Standard underneath is identical.

Two consequences fall out of this. The public registry continuously scale-tests the enterprise deployment — whatever the open catalog handles in load, integrity, and correctness, enterprise inherits without a separate hardening cycle. And fixes flow in both directions: a bug fixed on the public surface is fixed in private; a hardening done for an enterprise buyer reinforces the open registry. There is no fork to drift.

Why machine-readable matters in the AI era

Structure converts an unbounded grep into a bounded read.

A Standard that LLMs and search agents can query directly is dramatically cheaper than greppable code. Every question answered from metadata instead of raw RTL is a token bill avoided and a context window kept free for reasoning, not parsing. Across a 10,000-IP enterprise estate — including the archived repos nobody wants to index — that is the difference between "we should look it up" and "we already know."

Open standard, protected ecosystem

Published openly under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The legal posture is summarised below; the canonical statement lives in the NOTICE file in the schema repository.

Patent posture

TrustStix Inc., operating under the name Vyges, has filed provisional patent applications covering aspects of the Vyges ecosystem architecture — specific methods for metadata-driven IP discovery, workflow orchestration, and end-to-end silicon delivery. Nothing in the NOTICE limits or conditions the rights granted under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

The patent filing does NOT affect:

  • Reading, implementing, or extending the Vyges Metadata Specification
  • Internal or commercial use of software implementing the Specification
  • Creation of independent tools, services, or IP using the Specification
  • Use of Vyges IP templates or Vyges-generated IP blocks distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0

Vyges retains all rights in its patented methods and systems, to the extent not licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, as well as in:

  • Its hosted services, registries, and commercial offerings
  • Its trademarks, service marks, and certification programs

Trademarks and conformance

"Vyges", "VyCatalog", and related names are trademarks or service marks of TrustStix Inc. Claims of compatibility, conformance, or certification with the Vyges Metadata Specification — including descriptors such as "Vyges-compatible", "Vyges-conformant", "Vyges-certified", or "certified for VyCatalog interoperability" — require authorization from Vyges.

Vyges operates, or may operate, a Vyges Conformance Program under which validation tools, test suites, and certification rights are made available pursuant to a separate written agreement. Reading the Specification, implementing it internally, or building tools that consume Vyges-format metadata does not require participation in the Conformance Program. Commercial offerings that publicly claim Vyges conformance or certification do.

Nothing in this notice restricts truthful, nominative references to the Vyges Metadata Specification where no endorsement, certification, or affiliation is implied.

Inquiries — patent licensing, commercial agreements, and conformance program: patents@vyges.com.

Full canonical text: NOTICE on GitHub.

Get Started

Begin integrating the Vyges Metadata Standard into your IP creation, validation, and publishing flow.

Read the Spec

Explore the full metadata schema and understand its structure, fields, and use cases.

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Create Metadata

Use Vyges CLI to generate and validate metadata for your IP blocks—fast and error-free.

Use Vyges CLI →

Join the Community

Help evolve the standard. Propose changes, submit feedback, or contribute new extensions.

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