This policy applies to stable operation bindings and @runstamp/contract.
Stable guarantees
| Contract surface | Promise within a major version |
|---|---|
| Error codes | Never removed or repurposed. New codes may be added in a minor release. |
| Messages | Not contractual; branch on code, never message text. |
| Locators | The same logical position in the same bytes produces the same locator. |
| Determinism | A deterministic: true operation produces byte-identical output for the same input, options, and version. |
| Deprecation | At least two minor releases, with a runtime notice, before removal. Breaking changes need a major release and migration guide. |
| Contract version | CONTRACT_VERSION appears in receipts and moves independently of package versions. |
The conformance matrix tests these promises against built package artifacts. Gates C7 and C8 independently verify determinism and receipt honesty.
Experimental and stable operations
The public catalog lists only stable operations. The four lifecycle.* bindings
in @runstamp/approval stay experimental and are excluded from the stable
SDK, CLI, MCP and Managed API catalogs.
experimental: schemas and codes may change within a major version.stable: changing schemas or codes requires a major version and migration guide.
Promotion requires all of these:
- The contract ships unchanged in two minor releases.
- Every applicable conformance gate passes without warning or skip.
- Error and loss declarations are complete.
- Nominal, hostile, and boundary fixtures exercise the exact operation.
- Office and PDF outputs pass format, semantic, determinism, and known-bad controls.
The frozen 1.0.0 catalog used a one-time initial-GA certification instead of
the two-release history. That exception cannot be reused. Demoting a stable
operation also requires a major version.
Payment boundary
Correctness is not a paid feature. Local packages include rendering, validation, repair, accessibility, formula, PDF/A, tagging, signature and other operation capabilities, with no hosted subscription.
Pro adds company-wide support for local deployments. Platform, Enterprise and the free trial cover managed processing and workflow controls for active workspaces; they do not unlock extra local operations.