Volume I is the doctrinal foundation of the Ethical AI Series — Conservation of Intent trilogy. It establishes the law-altitude basis of the framework by defining the governing primitives of intent, intent-domain, transformation, conserving versus non-conserving classification, trace representability, semantic altitude irreversibility, and refusal as a terminal jurisdictional boundary. From these foundations, the volume formalizes the trilogy’s axioms, invariants, admissibility conditions, and conformance clauses, creating the canonical doctrinal base upon which the later ontology and closure volumes depend. The volume is explicitly classification-only and non-operational. It does not authorize mechanisms, interfaces, enforcement schemas, behavioral inference, identity inference, mental-state inference, or outcome guarantees. Its purpose is to preserve lawful interpretive structure, prevent semantic overreach, and stabilize governance reasoning under pressure. As the first volume in the trilogy, it provides the primary doctrinal anchor for all later formalization, ensuring that subsequent developments remain constrained by admissibility, lawful scope, and refusal integrity.

This standalone Zenodo record was created to correct an earlier deposit configuration in which multiple volumes were grouped under a single version chain. This record is the canonical Zenodo home for Volume I as an independent work.