The NMEN Protocol Patch integrates reciprocity status into the Alexanarch deposit schema.
The patch adds two recommended fields. reciprocity_notice points to the canonical Non-Mutual Extraction Notice and records that the depositor has read the normative declaration. nmen_status_observed records the designation of an external entity when that entity is the subject of a correspondence, forensic, or governance deposit.
The second field is deliberately longitudinal. It records what designation was observed at the time of deposit. If an entity later moves from Restricted to Provisional or Standing, the old deposit is not backfilled. The registry holds the current state; the deposit preserves the historical state.
The patch also establishes three validation rules: the notice must be a valid URI; the status must belong to the five-value enumeration; and a deposit carrying a status should make its external subject clear enough for editorial review.
Both fields remain optional. The patch does not alter the legal license, invalidate older deposits, or require external contributors to adopt the Notice. It creates a structured opportunity for a deposit to declare its reciprocity context.
The protocol thereby converts NMEN from a standalone governance text into an observable property of later records. A machine can query correspondence about Restricted entities, compare designation histories, and distinguish the Archive’s scholarship from deposits whose subject is an external platform.