Principle × FR Matrix

May 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

Audience: maintainers running the constitution's §Compliance review:

the coverage matrix (each principle → enforcing FRs) is regenerated and any GAP row blocks the release.

This is that matrix. It is regenerated at every MINOR-or-greater release of the seed; a GAP row (a principle with no enforcing FRs) blocks the release.

Conventions

Principle column: the constitutional principle by number.
Primary FR(s) column: the FRs that exist because of the principle. If they were removed, the principle would not be enforced.
Supporting FR(s) column: FRs that interact with the principle but are not the primary enforcement mechanism.
Status column: OK if at least one primary FR exists; GAP if not. A GAP blocks release.

If this matrix and the spec disagree, the spec wins; this page is updated.

Matrix

Principle	Title	Primary FR(s)	Supporting FR(s)	Status
I	Evidence Over Assertion	FR-087, FR-087a, FR-088	FR-053–FR-058 (Triager), FR-059–FR-064 (Validator), FR-085, FR-086	OK
II	Surface Only What Survives	FR-044, FR-057, FR-079	FR-042 (rule-gap), FR-045 (dedup), FR-078 (publish true-positive reports), FR-086 (retain rejected), FR-090–FR-091 (fingerprint), FR-092 (label set)	OK
III	Liveness By Heartbeat, Never By Clock	FR-005, FR-100, FR-101	FR-007 (crash-loop backoff), FR-118 (session rotation, not liveness)	OK
IV	Claims Are Atomic And Mortal	FR-095, FR-096	FR-097 (auto-block on N releases), FR-098 (operator-/agent-writable), FR-099 (stable ids)	OK
V	The Provider Is The Rate Arbiter	FR-105, FR-106	FR-113 (cost/token tracking)	OK
VI	Coverage Before Yield	FR-115, FR-116, FR-117	FR-067–FR-071 (Coverage-Guide), FR-114 (default unset)	OK
VII	Exploited Means Demonstrated	FR-060, FR-061, FR-089	FR-062–FR-064 (Validator behavior)	OK
VIII	Fingerprints Are Stable Under Edit	FR-090, FR-091	FR-045 (dedup keys on fingerprint), FR-080 (Reporter dedup), FR-058 (cross-run inheritance)	OK
IX	Sandbox By Infrastructure, Not By Prompt	FR-107, FR-108	FR-109 (operator informed of pivot points), FR-110, FR-111 (hard rules as defense-in-depth)	OK
X	The Operator Outranks Every Agent	FR-014, FR-016, FR-018, FR-102	FR-013 (grounded answers), FR-015 (help requests), FR-110, FR-119a (no busywork)	OK
XI	Persist Atomically	FR-106a	FR-025 (Indexer instance), FR-074 (Coverage-Guide checklist instance)	OK

All eleven principles have at least one Primary FR. No GAP rows. Status: matrix passes.

Notes per principle

I — Evidence Over Assertion

FR-087 and FR-088 make the verdict structurally checkable (three-leg evidence) and mechanically checked (citations resolve). FR-087a is the narrow carve-out for presence-is-the-vulnerability classes.

II — Surface Only What Survives

The Detector cannot directly surface (FR-044). The Triager surfaces only true-positive findings via Reporter (FR-057). The Reporter must not publish any non-true-positive finding (FR-079). Each of those is a primary enforcer — removing any one of them re-introduces the failure.

III — Liveness By Heartbeat, Never By Clock

FR-005 forbids wall-clock as a liveness signal. FR-100 defines liveness as heartbeat age. FR-101 requires the heartbeat to have its own execution lane.

IV — Claims Are Atomic And Mortal

FR-095 (atomicity) and FR-096 (mortality). Both are required; either alone reproduces a different failure mode.

V — The Provider Is The Rate Arbiter

FR-105 forbids internal pre-throttling below the provider's actual limit. FR-106 requires shared backoff state across the fleet.

VI — Coverage Before Yield

FR-116 is the conjunction (yield low AND coverage complete AND minimum runtime AND trailing window full). FR-115 defines yield. FR-117 makes the parameters operator-configurable.

VII — Exploited Means Demonstrated

FR-089 anchors exploited to Validator-only setting after testbed reproduction. FR-060/FR-061 define what reproduction means.

VIII — Fingerprints Are Stable Under Edit

FR-090 defines the fingerprint structure (path + symbol + class). FR-091 keys deduplication on it. The exclusions (line numbers, snippets, timestamps) are normative in FR-090.

IX — Sandbox By Infrastructure, Not By Prompt

FR-107 mandates infrastructure enforcement. FR-108 requires read-only mounts. Together they make the boundary unarguable.

X — The Operator Outranks Every Agent

FR-014 (operator submits tasks at chosen priority), FR-016 (operator steers running agents), FR-018 (conversational facet does not modify verdicts on its own initiative), FR-102 (peer messages are advisory). The pattern is consistent: operator authority is structurally superior to agent claims.

XI — Persist Atomically

FR-106a is the general rule. FR-025 and FR-074 are instances of it (Indexer index, Coverage-Guide checklist). Removing FR-106a would not by itself remove FR-025 / FR-074, but the general rule is required so future persisted artifacts inherit the guarantee.

Procedure: regenerate this matrix

When constitution.md changes at MINOR or above (or spec.md changes in a way that adds/removes a principle-enforcing FR):

Walk each principle in constitution.md.
Identify the FR(s) whose existence is because of the principle (Primary).
Identify the FR(s) that interact with the principle without being primary (Supporting).
Mark OK if Primary is non-empty, GAP if empty.
If any row is GAP, the release is blocked until either an FR is added or the principle is removed (with full Amendment process; see ../governance/amendment-process.md).

Record the result in this file and reference it in the Sync Impact Report at the top of constitution.md.