From a8c724a202a9bad3ac6d5da20e08209478af2f2d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: David Snelling <david@soulcraft.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:08:19 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] docs: the contract manifest stands alone; public docs
 describe this engine only
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The manifest's prose pointer named a document that answers a confidential
specification, and such a document does not belong in a public repository even
in summary. The pointer is dropped — the manifest is generated from this
engine's own surface and is self-describing — and the requirement marking it
deliberately omits is recorded with the contract's owner rather than here.

The standard is written down so this is not relitigated per document.
---
 CONTRIBUTING.md                    | 4 ++++
 docs/api-contract.json             | 1 -
 scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs | 5 ++---
 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 84bd25e3..54d4f784 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ see `package.json` for `test:integration`, `test:coverage`, and friends.
   store, measured solo under an exclusive lock" tells a reader everything the
   number depends on; the machine it ran on and whose data it was tell them
   nothing except where somebody's infrastructure lives.
+- **Documents that answer or reference a confidential specification never enter
+  this repository, even summarized.** The public docs describe THIS engine and
+  the published contract, and nothing else — a summary of a private document is
+  still that document's contents.
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/docs/api-contract.json b/docs/api-contract.json
index 9dadcc0e..aafd838a 100644
--- a/docs/api-contract.json
+++ b/docs/api-contract.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
   "contractVersion": 1,
   "engine": "@soulcraftlabs/brainy",
-  "prose": "docs/contract-1-ratification.md",
   "compatibility": {
     "minor": "additive — a new optional door, a new served operator, a new error class; every existing implementation still conforms",
     "major": "breaking — a door removed, an answer narrowed, an ordering law changed, an optional door promoted to required, or an operator moved from served to refused"
diff --git a/scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs b/scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs
index 13a9bc6d..be73d4ca 100644
--- a/scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs
+++ b/scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
  * between two engines, never between two authors.
  *
  * Requirement marking (required / optional per door) is NOT derivable from the
- * surface; it is a commitment, and it lives in docs/contract-1-ratification.md.
- * This manifest carries the surface; that document carries the promise.
+ * surface — it is a commitment, recorded with the contract's owner rather than
+ * here. This manifest carries the surface; the promise lives with the contract.
  *
  * Usage: node scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs [--check]
  *   --check exits non-zero when the committed manifest is stale.
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ const servedOnIndex = accepted.filter((op) => !refusedByIndex.includes(op))
 const manifest = {
   contractVersion: versionModule.contractVersion(),
   engine: '@soulcraftlabs/brainy',
-  prose: 'docs/contract-1-ratification.md',
   compatibility: {
     minor:
       'additive — a new optional door, a new served operator, a new error class; every existing implementation still conforms',