DocForge 0.7 contract

Authority boundary

DocForge is bound to one explicit project root. Canonical project files own documentation facts. Indexes, query results, context packs, changesets, previews, and renders are derived artifacts.

The generic core validates and retrieves canonical nodes. A project-bound proposal service writes only isolated changesets. Canonical application, project builds, Git mutation, deployment, and publication remain external integration actions. Passive revision detection may read the current Git commit when Git is available; it cannot change repository state.

DFG-9 made manual canonical integration the permanent DocForge 0.x policy. The library, CLI, and MCP server do not apply changesets to canonical files. Reconsidering that boundary requires a new approved contract and measured cross-project evidence; it is not an unimplemented 0.x feature. See APPLICATION_DECISION.md.

Versioned contracts

Project descriptor schema: schemas/project.schema.json, version 1.
Node schema: schemas/node.schema.json, version 1.
Edge schema: schemas/edge.schema.json, version 1.
Result envelope: schemas/result.schema.json, version 1.
Changeset schema: schemas/changeset.schema.json, version 1.
Index schema: version 1, disposable and reproducible.
Core, CLI, and MCP server: version 0.8.1.

Schema files describe the generic interchange contract. Runtime validation remains responsible for path confinement, source hashing, relationship resolution, dependency cycles, project limits, stale state, and adapter-specific rules that JSON Schema cannot prove by itself.

Generic node storage

Markdown nodes begin with a TOML metadata block delimited by +++. The remaining Markdown is the node content. TOML sources contain one or more [[nodes]] tables and store content in a content field. Every node has a stable project-wide ID.

The generic authority vocabulary is authoritative, approved_plan, derived, proposal, and historical. Projects define statuses and allowed relationship names in their descriptor. The core gives special acyclic validation to depends_on; adapters may add stricter rules.

Result identity

Successful operations identify the project, adapter, current revision when available, and canonical source hash. Errors use a stable code, direct message, and structured details. Query operations fail if canonical source no longer matches the derived index.

Isolated proposal model

Create, update, move, and delete are ordered node operations inside an isolated changeset. Every operation names its expected base hash. A move preserves the stable node ID. A delete must resolve every incident relationship. Proposal validation and storage are atomic. Canonical application remains external, and prose is never auto-merged.

The MCP process binds to one configured writer identity at startup. The project descriptor grants that writer explicit families and operation types. A changeset records its creator, project root fingerprint, base revision, canonical source hash, and ordered operations. Every append requires the current changeset hash, so simultaneous writers cannot silently lose an operation.

Changesets from the same canonical base may coexist only when their touched node and source sets do not overlap. Exact overlaps return structured conflicts naming the other changesets, nodes, and sources. A stale canonical base, stale node hash, stale changeset hash, unauthorized family, unsafe path, invalid graph, dependency cycle, unresolved delete relationship, or configured limit fails before the proposal file changes.

Declared rendering and previews

Render configuration is optional. A configured project declares one template root, one isolated preview root, and one or more stable view IDs. Each view names a built-in renderer, template, derived output file, title, and optional family filter. Paths are resolved under the project root and may not overlap canonical content, authority files, changesets, templates, or previews.

The initial generic_html renderer uses pinned CommonMark parsing with raw HTML disabled. Templates are UTF-8 files with a fixed token vocabulary; they cannot name commands, modules, or executable renderers. Render identity covers the canonical source hash, optional changeset hash, selected node and edge identities, view configuration, template hash, renderer contract, and exact parser version.

An explicit CLI render atomically replaces one declared derived output. MCP can render a validated changeset only to its isolated preview path. Status recomputes expected output without writing and reports current, stale, missing, unsafe, or oversized. Input changes detected before atomic replacement fail without replacing the prior output.

Normal MCP access does not expose canonical application, declared project-output rendering, arbitrary renderer execution, arbitrary file writes, shell commands, Git mutation, build commands, deployment, or publication.

Project-bound graph visualization

The fixed docforge_visualize MCP tool starts one leased read-only graph browser for the server's already-configured project. It accepts only an optional stable node ID, an optional lexical query, and a bounded traversal depth. It does not accept a project root, database path, SQL, template path, bind address, command, or renderer.

The runner validates the complete canonical projection and derived index before it starts. It then pins the browser to that exact validated SQLite file identity and project metadata so normal UI queries do not rebuild a large adapter graph. Replacement or alteration of the index file makes the browser fail closed; the user must invoke the tool again. The browser identifies itself as a validated snapshot rather than claiming that canonical files are continuously monitored.

The HTTP listener binds to 127.0.0.1 on an operating-system-selected port. A cryptographically random token is part of every accepted URL path. Only GET and HEAD are supported. Responses use no-store caching, a restrictive content-security policy, frame denial, MIME sniffing protection, and no-referrer policy. The built-in template uses only same-origin JSON endpoints for graph overview, bounded search, exact node content, bounded incoming-and-outgoing neighborhoods, and one lease heartbeat. The heartbeat changes no project or index state. There is no write endpoint, arbitrary query endpoint, static filesystem handler, external asset, or project-selection control.

The graph-browser@5 template provides mouse-wheel zoom centered on the pointer, left-button drag pan, explicit zoom-in and zoom-out buttons, a reset-view button, and a live zoom percentage. A four-pixel drag threshold defers pointer capture and preserves node activation for ordinary clicks. Loading another root node resets the viewport so the new neighborhood begins centered and fully framed. Empty-canvas guidance is hidden whenever a neighborhood is rendered.

Activating a graph node opens a modal inspector containing that node's complete validated metadata and content. Inspection does not replace the current neighborhood or reset the viewport. The modal supports keyboard activation, Escape, explicit close controls, and backdrop dismissal. Loading the inspected node as the new root requires the separate Explore neighborhood action. Both side panels support pointer and keyboard resizing. The unblurred modal supports native resizing and constrained title-bar dragging.

The browser derives presentation roles only from the returned bounded graph. The current root is the primary focus. Nodes reachable through outgoing edges are children. Remaining incoming and cross-boundary nodes are edge/context nodes. These roles receive distinct palettes and navigation sections. An undirected shortest-hop calculation places nodes on distance rings and darkens each role palette progressively, capped at fifty percent. This presentation does not reinterpret, replace, or add project relationships.

Each invocation launches the validated snapshot in a detached local worker. The worker is outside the short-lived MCP transport process, so transport teardown cannot close an active browser. It tracks the longer-lived MCP client host and closes when that owner process exits. A repeated invocation in the same MCP process replaces its tracked worker after a fresh index check.

The page renews a 180-second lease every 15 seconds and when it becomes visible; a link never opened receives a 120-second startup grace. An abandoned page stops renewing and the detached worker closes after the bounded lease. Explicit service shutdown closes the worker tracked by that service immediately. Project-specific integrations receive the same tool because the parent validates and serializes only the supplied ProjectService and ProjectIndex snapshot; the detached worker does not discover projects or load canonical sources.

Project adapter boundary

An adapter supplies one deterministically ordered AdapterProjection containing core nodes and edges plus ordered adapter metadata. The core validates root identity, graph integrity, stable ordering, and metadata-key uniqueness before exposing the projection through the standard derived index. The loader is called again during an operation so identity or source changes fail closed.

Adapters own stricter project semantics such as authority precedence, phase rules, context selection, query ordering, and render-model composition. They may not weaken root confinement, canonical authority, graph validation, hashing, stale-state checks, or derived-output boundaries. Shadow adapters are explicit local integrations and are not loaded by the normal generic MCP process. A project integration may explicitly construct a read-only MCP server from one validated ProjectService and an optional project-owned context provider. That server exposes only the fixed read tool surface. The core does not discover adapters, choose projects or sessions, or import project policy.

A proposal-enabled adapter declares confined canonical source, changeset, template, preview, and render paths plus fixed writer permissions. It must supply a proposal validator. The core continues to enforce optimistic hashes, writer permissions, graph integrity, limits, atomic changeset storage, conflict detection, and preview confinement. The adapter validator enforces source-format and project semantics that the generic core cannot infer. Generic projects retain the built-in Markdown and TOML source-layout validator.

An explicit integration may construct the full fixed MCP surface for a configured adapter project and one startup-bound writer. This does not add adapter discovery or canonical application. An adapter without proposal settings or validation remains read-only.

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