The lenses
Health, measured through 10 lenses.
Each lens is a deterministic measurement of the code as it stands — never a judgement of the team. The CAI groups its 127 dimensions under these lenses; five are core (always on), the rest model-aware (they light up only when the architecture calls for them).
Each lens below: what it measures (the dimensions under it), why it matters, and what it protects against.
Code Health
core · always onIncluding code health protects you against tangled, duplicated, hard-to-change code that quietly slows every future change and raises the cost of every fix.
Architecture
core · always onIncluding architecture protects you against a system whose parts are wired together so tightly that one change breaks several others and the structure cannot grow.
Maturity
core · always onIncluding maturity protects you against an unfinished product — missing tests, documentation and the disciplines that show the code is ready to be handed over.
Readiness
core · always onIncluding production readiness protects you against software that cannot be safely run in the real world — no automated deployment, no backups, no way to see when it breaks.
Security
core · always onIncluding security & compliance protects you against shipping known vulnerabilities and leaked credentials that an attacker can use against you.
Domain Modelling
model-awareIncluding domain modelling protects you against code that does not reflect your business rules, where the language of the system and the language of your business drift apart.
Event-Driven
model-awareIncluding event-driven design protects you against a system whose moving parts coordinate in fragile, hidden ways that break under load or change.
Event Sourcing
model-awareIncluding event sourcing protects you against losing the trustworthy, replayable record of what happened — the audit trail your business may depend on.
Accessibility
model-awareIncluding accessibility protects you against a web product that people with disabilities — and, under the EU Accessibility Act, the law — cannot use: images with no text alternative, forms with no labels, controls no keyboard can reach.
Every lens is computed when its subject exists; a lens with no measurable subject is excluded (never counted as zero). A lens reading Critical caps its displayed band — a serious failure can't hide behind strong scores elsewhere.