doctrine

What it is

URI

majordomus://feature/doctrine

Kind

feature

Identity

doctrine

Path

.ai/repo/features/doctrine.md

Provenance

declared

Media type

text/markdown

As a capability

feature.doctrine

Front matter

{
  "schema": "feature/v1",
  "id": "doctrine",
  "kind": "feature",
  "title": "Rules a machine decides, wired, tested and CI-blocking",
  "short_title": "Doctrine",
  "headline": "A rule is enforced when a validator decides it, a command runs it, a test proves it and CI blocks on it; anything less is documentation, and the tool knows the difference.",
  "summary": "Every rule is a portable Markdown object with front matter, and it is enforced in one of three declared modes: a validator the dispatcher runs, a gate or case that proves it, or a stated reason why no program can express it. Doctor walks the dispatch chain from the source, refusing a validator nobody declares and a declaration nothing runs; the proof graph walks the other relation, joining each rule to the tree and to the runs recorded against it, so that a rule naming a case which was deleted is reported as reading enforced rather than being it.",
  "status": "stable",
  "weight": 70,
  "domain": "governance",
  "featured": true,
  "areas": [
    "governance",
    "verification"
  ],
  "modules": [
    "health",
    "rules",
    "shell"
  ],
  "commands": [
    "rules",
    "doctrine",
    "doctor",
    "check",
    "watch"
  ],
  "kinds": [
    "rule"
  ],
  "rules": [
    "project.rule-is-a-doctrine",
    "majordomus.doctrine-wiring-integrity",
    "majordomus.enforcement-wiring",
    "majordomus.rule-package-integrity",
    "project.no-claim-without-test",
    "project.english-only",
    "project.finding-carries-reproduce"
  ],
  "docs": [
    "docs/DOCTRINE.md",
    "docs/DOGFOODING.md"
  ],
  "claims": [
    "doctrine-registry",
    "doctrine-class-decides",
    "dispatcher-wiring",
    "wiring-reconciliation",
    "vendored-rule-package",
    "rule-resolution",
    "drift-watch",
    "rule-proof-is-named-and-resolves",
    "rule-exemption-carries-its-reason",
    "rule-state-is-derived-from-what-ran",
    "authored-files-are-english",
    "a-finding-names-how-to-see-it-again"
  ],
  "use_cases": [
    "prove-a-rule-is-enforced",
    "read-the-rules-the-tool-applies",
    "gate-ci-on-the-tool-itself",
    "find-out-what-drifted"
  ],
  "cockpit": [
    "health"
  ],
  "related": [
    "finish-contract",
    "policy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "rules",
    "doctrine",
    "enforcement"
  ]
}

Content

---
schema: feature/v1
id: doctrine
kind: feature
title: Rules a machine decides, wired, tested and CI-blocking
short_title: Doctrine
headline: A rule is enforced when a validator decides it, a command runs it, a test proves it and CI blocks on it; anything less is documentation, and the tool knows the difference.
summary: Every rule is a portable Markdown object with front matter, and it is enforced in one of three declared modes: a validator the dispatcher runs, a gate or case that proves it, or a stated reason why no program can express it. Doctor walks the dispatch chain from the source, refusing a validator nobody declares and a declaration nothing runs; the proof graph walks the other relation, joining each rule to the tree and to the runs recorded against it, so that a rule naming a case which was deleted is reported as reading enforced rather than being it.
status: stable
weight: 70
domain: governance
featured: true
areas: [governance, verification]
modules: [health, rules, shell]
commands: [rules, doctrine, doctor, check, watch]
kinds: [rule]
rules: [project.rule-is-a-doctrine, majordomus.doctrine-wiring-integrity, majordomus.enforcement-wiring, majordomus.rule-package-integrity, project.no-claim-without-test, project.english-only, project.finding-carries-reproduce]
docs: [docs/DOCTRINE.md, docs/DOGFOODING.md]
claims: [doctrine-registry, doctrine-class-decides, dispatcher-wiring, wiring-reconciliation, vendored-rule-package, rule-resolution, drift-watch, rule-proof-is-named-and-resolves, rule-exemption-carries-its-reason, rule-state-is-derived-from-what-ran, authored-files-are-english, a-finding-names-how-to-see-it-again]
use_cases: [prove-a-rule-is-enforced, read-the-rules-the-tool-applies, gate-ci-on-the-tool-itself, find-out-what-drifted]
cockpit: [health]
related: [finish-contract, policy]
tags: [rules, doctrine, enforcement]
---

## What it does

The effective rule set is the vendored baseline the tool ships plus the rules this
repository wrote, resolved as a dependency graph: a missing dependency, a cycle or two rules
claiming one identity is an error, and a set that does not resolve is not applied at all. A
rule's class is `blocking` or `advisory` and there is no third; the class is read at
dispatch time and is what routes a finding, so changing one word in a rule file changes
whether `majordomus check` exits zero — and a test asserts exactly that.

`majordomus doctor` reads the source rather than a rule's description of itself: the
validator function must exist, the commands the rule names must dispatch it, a blocking
rule must be able to exit non-zero, a test must prove it, and CI must run that test without
swallowing its exit code. A validator no rule declares is enforcement running under no
rule, and fails.

## What it does not do

A rule without a validator is normative for whoever reads it and enforced by nobody, and it
says so; the tool does not pretend otherwise. There is no severity ladder, no baseline and
no override: a project rule may add a constraint and may never weaken a vendored one.