Stability Commitments¶

Maintainer stability means the repository is willing to pay compatibility cost for a command, governed input, or evidence location. Existing callers alone do not make a surface stable.

Stability Decision Route¶

flowchart TD
    surface["repository-facing surface"]
    governed["used by governed make lane<br/>or reviewed workflow?"]
    evidence["does it read/write governed evidence?"]
    compatible["can changes stay backward-readable?"]
    stable["document as stable"]
    private["keep private or explicitly experimental"]

    surface --> governed
    governed -- yes --> evidence
    governed -- no --> private
    evidence -- yes --> compatible
    evidence -- no --> private
    compatible -- yes --> stable
    compatible -- no --> private

Stable Surfaces¶

surface	stability reason	proof route
`audit-allowlist.toml` validation	security exceptions must remain reviewed and attributable	governance file guide and guardrail tests
`configs/rust/deny.deviations.toml` validation	standards deviations must keep owner, reason, review link, and expiry	governance docs and policy tests
audit ignore argument derivation	automation must derive ignores from one reviewed source	command docs and workflow tests
benchmark comparison outputs	performance evidence is reviewed through governed benchmark files	benchmark docs and comparison tests
documented maintainer command outputs	reviewed workflows need stable evidence locations	output guide and integration tests

Not Stable By Default¶

Private module layout inside crates/bijux-gnss-dev.
Product crate internals used by benchmark workflows.
CLI output schemas that are not documented as governed maintainer evidence.
Experimental maintainer helpers without a governed make lane or review path.

Change Rules¶

When a stable surface changes, update command docs, output docs, and tests in the same change.
When a workflow stops being governed, remove the stability claim instead of leaving stale compatibility promises.
When a product behavior changes, update product docs; dev docs only cover the maintainer workflow that detects or records it.

First Proof Check¶

Inspect the maintainer command guide, workflow guide, output guide, governance file guide, command implementation, and maintainer guardrail tests.