Sensory keys and factory yields are a similar mechanisms at two abstraction levels. At either level a system component may vouch for a key being unable to produce side effects (such as exfiltration of secrets shown to it). Sensory keys are described here in the context of more jargon, and defined most completely here. Sensory keys make the factories much more practical. The VCSK style segment keeper uses sensory keys strategically. As the sense key design provides assurance from the kernel that no side effects will result from use of certain keys to objects defined in the kernel, so may the factory assure that keys that it produces are to objects defined by user mode code incapable of producing side effects.
The Keykos world bottoms out with Pages, Nodes and a few miscellaneous kernel objects. None of those can be profitably viewed as composed of yet more fundamental things. Three special types, Domains, segments and meters, however, are implemented by code in the kernel and yet, are each conceptually composed of pages and nodes. The manner of composition involves keys (capabilities) even though it is the kernel that defines these special objects. Here the kernel conforms to capability discipline as well as enforcing it. There are many reasons for this but one is that it makes security arguments much easier.
Factories are implemented outside of the kernel as absolutely normal user-mode objects. Sensory keys were implemented, in the kernel, at the same time and the factory was about the first user of the logic of sensory keys. Factories are not the oldest, or most primitive objects outside the kernel. Factories invoke such fundamental objects as domain creators and banks that are implemented outside the kernel. The kernel does not depend on the logic of any domain code for its integrity.
The yield of a factory is known to be discreet mainly because of the discreetness of the things of which it is built, such as the factory components, or their yield. In this bottoming out we get to things that do not come from factories because they are more primitive than factories. Domain creators are known to be discreet. I just found this in the manual: “Official domain creators without destroy rights are also treated as hole free factories.” The factory is able to recognize a domain creator key by consulting the source of domain creators: the DCC. Space banks are not allowed as components. The requestor must provide space banks. Perhaps the domain creator creator should be allowed, but is not. Only the kernel can vouch for the various sensory keys. The swiss army knife called “DISCRIM” was enhanced to do the job.
Charlie Landau would argue, I think, that the order of layers should not be apparent as they are here. I don’t know whether he would object to this description or design.