# scaffold (temporary)

A temporary window maintained by work, within which a system forms that will later hold its own parameters inside a window.

- Computed level: L15 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: emergent  ·  Arena: system

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [maintenance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-maintenance.upkeep), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [form](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-form.shape), [work](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-work.effort), [system](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-system.organized), [inside](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-inside.spatial), [later](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-later.temporal), [hold](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hold.physical)

**Through:** Work resists aimless drift to keep a system within a stable range long enough for it to become self-maintaining.

**Novel properties:**
- temporary support structure
- time-bound formation context

## Examples
- The International Space Station maintained orbital position with weekly reboosts during assembly, before achieving stable flight. *(engineering)*
- Baboons rely on nightly sleeping sites for infant protection until juveniles can keep pace with the moving troop. *(biology)*
- Python 2's support window lasted until 2020, holding codebases stable during migration to Python 3. *(computing)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-scaffold.temporary*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-scaffold.temporary.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*