Concepts
What are ContractSpec contracts?
A ContractSpec contract is an explicit, typed product rule — defined once and projected into every surface that must stay aligned. It is not only an API schema. Contracts let humans, software, and AI agents read, regenerate, and operate the same system without each surface inventing its own truth.
ContractSpec contracts are explicit product rules that software, agents, workflows, interfaces, integrations, and evidence systems can share.
Why contracts exist
AI-native software needs more than prompts and scattered code.
Modern AI-native software needs more than prompts and scattered code. APIs, UI, data, policies, workflows, tools, and evidence need to stay aligned. ContractSpec gives teams an explicit behavior layer that humans, software, and agents can inspect and reuse.
What a contract can describe
A contract is broader than an API schema.
A ContractSpec contract is not only an API schema. It can describe operations, workflows, agents, policies, forms, data views, integrations, knowledge, proof scenarios, telemetry, and evidence behavior — all from the same explicit product layer.
Three adoption modes
Start where the substrate helps most.
Teams adopt ContractSpec in three main ways. Each one is a way to bring an explicit product layer to software that AI now writes, regenerates, and operates.
Full-stack product contracts
Build coherent application modules where API, UI, data, events, policies, and tools stay aligned.
Agent and workflow contracts
Govern AI agents, human approvals, workflow steps, tool calls, policies, and evidence trails.
App builder and regeneration contracts
Give coding agents, builders, CLIs, templates, and editor workflows explicit product rules so generated software can be inspected, changed, regenerated, and tested safely.
Five use-case families
Where contracts show up in public use cases.
Public ContractSpec use cases group into five families. Explore them in depth on the use-cases page.
Full-stack product contracts
Keep API, UI, data, events, and tools aligned from one explicit product layer.
Agent and workflow contracts
Define what AI can propose, what humans must approve, which tools can run, and what evidence is captured.
App builder and regeneration contracts
Give coding agents and builders explicit product rules so generated software can be inspected, changed, and regenerated safely.
Integration contracts
Connect external systems through scoped, governed adapters with explicit reads, writes, policies, and audit trails.
Evidence and replay contracts
Prove what happened with harness scenarios, replayable workflow runs, test suites, and evidence receipts.
Contract artifact types
The building blocks underneath the families.
Under the families sit lower-level contract artifact types. These are building blocks, not separate public product categories — you compose them into the families above.
These artifact types are the vocabulary of the substrate. They belong in the docs and in your contracts — not in a buyer-facing menu.
How contracts project
One explicit layer, projected into many runtime surfaces.
Define behavior once, then project it into the surfaces that must stay aligned as AI accelerates every edit.
- APIs
- UI
- data models
- forms
- dashboards
- workflows
- agent tools
- MCP surfaces
- policies
- tests
- replay/evidence systems
How this relates to CompanyOS
CompanyOS runs governed AI workflows on contracts.
CompanyOS uses ContractSpec contracts to run governed AI workflows. Each workflow can be defined through explicit contracts for the signal, AI proposal, policy check, approval gate, dispatch action, evidence receipt, and replay path.
How this relates to Managed ContractSpec
Managed ContractSpec is the production runtime.
Managed ContractSpec is the production runtime for operating contracts safely with managed deployment, BYOK, integrations, evidence/replay infrastructure, and support.
How this relates to Autonomous Companies
Autonomous Companies are the contract-defined end-state.
Autonomous Companies are built from governed operating systems whose software, workflows, agents, integrations, evidence, and interfaces are contract-defined and human-governed.
Keep going
Explore where contracts are used, or see the operating product.
ContractSpec is the open contract layer for AI-native software. CompanyOS is the governed operating product built on top of it.