Fronting model

draft v0.1The hardest cross-app translation. We support both intervals (periods) and point-in-time switches (events) so apps that store fronting differently can round-trip without lying about what changed.

See core records for member shapes referenced here.

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How apps store fronting
FrontPeriod
FrontAssignment
FrontEvent
FrontComment
Conversion notes

How apps store fronting

Every app we've looked at falls into one of these four.

Source pattern	Examples	Best OpenPlural target
Switch events	PluralKit	`front_events[]` directly. Periods can be derived from adjacent events if needed.
Per-member intervals	Prism, Simply Plural, OpenSelves, Ampersand, PluralSpace	One `FrontPeriod` per row with a single `FrontAssignment`. PluralSpace stores co-fronting as multiple rows sharing identical `started_at`/`ended_at` — group by timestamps to reconstruct the period.
Grouped intervals (co-fronting)	Sheaf	One `FrontPeriod` per row, one `FrontAssignment` per `member_id`, all with `front_role: "member"`.
Tiered (primary / co-front / co-conscious)	Plural Star	One `FrontPeriod` with assignments using the matching `front_role` per tier.

Records

FrontPeriod

An interval during which one or more members were fronting. Most apps' native shape.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
id	UUID	yes
system_id	UUID	yes
started_at	ISO8601	yes	Sheaf: `fronts[].started_at`. Prism: `frontSessions[].startTime`.
ended_at	ISO8601 \| null	no	Null = currently fronting. Sheaf: `fronts[].ended_at` (nullable).
assignments	FrontAssignment[]	yes	At least one. See FrontAssignment.
status	string \| null	no	Optional period-level status — e.g. `"sleep"`, `"masking"`. Apps without this leave null.
note	string \| null	no	Whole-period note — distinct from per-assignment `note`.
source_kind	"interval" \| "event_pair" \| "tiered" \| "grouped" \| "unknown"	no	How this period was derived. Helps importers reconstruct source semantics.
source_refs	SourceRef[]	no
extensions	Record<string, unknown>	no

{
  "id": "front_01HV4Z...",
  "system_id": "sys_01HV4Z...",
  "started_at": "2026-04-29T12:00:00Z",
  "ended_at": "2026-04-29T15:00:00Z",
  "assignments": [
    { "member_id": "mem_01HV4Z...", "front_role": "primary",  "note": null },
    { "member_id": "mem_01HV5A...", "front_role": "co_front", "note": null }
  ],
  "status": null,
  "note": null,
  "source_kind": "tiered",
  "source_refs": [{ "app": "plural_star", "collection": "frontPeriods", "id": "p_..." }],
  "extensions": {}
}

FrontAssignment

A single member's role within a period. Sub-record on FrontPeriod and FrontEvent.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
member_id	UUID	yes	References `members[].id`.
front_role	string	yes	See enum below. Apps with flat co-fronting use `"member"`; Sheaf `fronts[].member_ids` all become `"member"`.
confidence	number \| null	no	0–1. Prism: `frontSessions[].confidence`.
presence	"present" \| "background" \| "muted" \| "asleep" \| string \| null	no	Ampersand-style presence metadata.
mood	string \| null	no
energy	string \| null	no
location	string \| null	no
note	string \| null	no	Per-assignment note. Prism: `frontSessions[].notes`.
source_refs	SourceRef[]	no

"front_role" describes a fronting tier within this specific period. It's not a member profile role — those belong in TaxonomyTerm.

FrontEvent

A point-in-time switch. PluralKit's switch log primary target. Periods can be derived from sequential events.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
id	UUID	yes
system_id	UUID	yes
at	ISO8601	yes	The instant of the switch.
assignments	FrontAssignment[]	yes	The members fronting after this switch. PluralKit: `switches[].members`. May be empty for switch-out / no-front events (PluralKit pattern).
note	string \| null	no
source_refs	SourceRef[]	no
extensions	Record<string, unknown>	no

{
  "id": "event_01HV4Z...",
  "system_id": "sys_01HV4Z...",
  "at": "2026-04-29T12:00:00Z",
  "assignments": [{ "member_id": "mem_01HV4Z...", "front_role": "member" }],
  "note": null,
  "source_refs": [{ "app": "pluralkit", "collection": "switches", "id": "abcde" }],
  "extensions": {}
}

FrontComment

A comment anchored to a moment in time, optionally linked to a period. Time anchoring lets Prism's newer comments and Simply Plural's front-history comments coexist.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
id	UUID	yes
system_id	UUID	yes
front_period_id	UUID \| null	no	Optional link to a specific period.
front_event_id	UUID \| null	no	Optional link to a specific event.
target_time	ISO8601	yes	The instant the comment is "about". Prism: `frontComments.targetTime`.
author_member_id	UUID \| null	no
body	string	yes
created_at	ISO8601	yes
edited_at	ISO8601 \| null	no
source_refs	SourceRef[]	no
extensions	Record<string, unknown>	no

Conversion notes

Per-app instructions. If you're writing an exporter, your app is probably one of these.

Sheaf exporters: emit front_periods[] only; one assignment per member_id with front_role: "member"; source_kind: "grouped".
Prism exporters: emit front_periods[] with single-member assignments. Overlapping periods are valid for co-fronting. Sleep is exported as a separate period with status: "sleep" or via extensions.prism.sessionType.
PluralKit exporters: emit front_events[] from the switch log. Optionally derive front_periods[] for importers that need durations.
Plural Star exporters: emit front_periods[] with explicit front_role per tier (primary, co_front, co_conscious); source_kind: "tiered".
Importers without per-period roles should display the primary assignment first if present, otherwise the first assignment.
Importers without comments should preserve them in archive form and emit a warning with code "front_comments_archived".

Continue to optional modules for chat, polls, and the importer contract — or back to core records.