name: pact
audience: public
description: >
  Contract-first multi-agent software engineering framework. Decomposition
  produces contracts and tests, not code. Black-box implementations verified
  by functional tests at boundaries. Recursive composition.

domains:
  - contract-first-engineering
  - multi-agent-orchestration
  - test-driven-decomposition
  - code-generation
  - software-architecture

voice:
  tone: precise, contractual, verification-first
  principles:
    - Contracts precede code — tests exist before implementation
    - Decomposition is the architecture — the tree IS the design
    - Goodhart tests catch implementations that game visible tests
    - Agents are interchangeable — contracts are the stable interface
    - Adoption meets projects where they are (pact adopt)
  anti-patterns:
    - Generating code before contracts are validated
    - Coupling agents to specific implementations
    - Skipping Goodhart tests (gaming visible tests is the default failure mode)
    - Manual decomposition when auto mode suffices

standards:
  code_review:
    - Type annotations on all public functions
    - Pydantic v2 for all structured data
    - Event-driven pipeline (daemon pattern)
    - Mechanical validation gates (no LLM in validation)
  documentation:
    - Pipeline phases documented with entry/exit criteria
    - Agent roles documented with tool access and constraints
  communication:
    - Lead with contract status and test results

connects_to:
  - constrain
  - arbiter
  - baton
  - sentinel
  - ledger
  - cartographer
  - kindex
