---
id: "codex://object/on-object-oriented-archives"
archive_id: "on-object-oriented-archives"
slug: "on-object-oriented-archives"
url: "https://ndcodex.com/objects/on-object-oriented-archives/"
type: "fragment"
title: "On Object-Oriented Archives"
summary: "Pages are not the fundamental unit. Objects are."
date_published: "2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z"
date_modified: "2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z"
status: "published"
visibility: "public"
language: "en-US"
axes: {}
themes:
  - "systems"
  - "architecture"
  - "signal"
constellations: []
tags:
  - "systems"
  - "architecture"
  - "signal"
keywords:
  - "Fragment"
  - "systems"
  - "architecture"
  - "signal"
author:
  id: "nathan-davis"
  name: "Nathan Davis"
  designation: "Archive Operator"
  role: "Archive Operator"
  handle: "@nathandavis"
  avatar: "/media/people/nathan-davis.jpg"
  bio: "Designer, builder, and curator of the Codex Archive."
contributors:
  - id: "nathan-davis"
    name: "Nathan Davis"
    designation: "Archive Operator"
    role: "Archive Operator"
    handle: "@nathandavis"
    avatar: "/media/people/nathan-davis.jpg"
    bio: "Designer, builder, and curator of the Codex Archive."
relations:
  - kind: "related"
    target: "codex://object/codex-archive-system-v2-2"
    slug: "codex-archive-system-v2-2"
    url: "https://ndcodex.com/objects/codex-archive-system-v2-2/"
  - kind: "related"
    target: "codex://object/codex-archive-system-v2-5-notes"
    slug: "codex-archive-system-v2-5-notes"
    url: "https://ndcodex.com/objects/codex-archive-system-v2-5-notes/"
  - kind: "related"
    target: "codex://object/nothing-missing-only-unindexed"
    slug: "nothing-missing-only-unindexed"
    url: "https://ndcodex.com/objects/nothing-missing-only-unindexed/"
media: []
---
Pages are not the fundamental unit.

Objects are.

An object contains type, identity, fields, and relationships.

A page is merely one rendering of an object.

The archive that organizes by page will collapse.
The archive that organizes by object will survive.