CodeTEI

"CodeTEI" is a technical specification for quoting and interpreting executable poetry that itself stands as a poem. It extends the international standard TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) for scholarly documents, defining an XML schema that structures the execution, quotation, and multi-layered interpretation of code poetry. Each line of a poem carries a persistent identifier in the format `codetei://sha3-256-<digest>#<lineID>`, enabling precise citation. Annotations by humans, AI, and systems are recorded without hierarchy, and even execution logs or error messages are treated as new lines woven into the body of the poem. In the exhibition, HTML quoting one of the "Executed Poetry" poems, "If your heart is empty, borrow love from the universe.", is displayed alongside XML containing equivalent information written according to the CodeTEI specification. CodeTEI is a protocol for preserving, quoting, and interpreting poetry in the digital age, and is itself a meta-poem that explores what poetry is.