csdms
BMIv3: Extensions
Austin suggested an object-free extension, tentatively named bmi:introspection, that indicates availability of variable sets bmi:introspection:all_sets and/or bmi:introspection:all_variables. Those sets would be usable for a model-description utility to just enumerate everything, maybe querying data types, units, etc, to output for user review, documentation, compatibility checking, etc.
Possible variation on the introspection idea: an extension that asks for a static version of everything that might be available, independent of any specific config file. In that case, the init_config file argument could be a placeholder value, rather than actually setting up the model instance to run.