Dependency Governance¶

Dependency governance is really boundary governance under another name.

For agentic-proteins, a dependency is acceptable only when it supports compatibility proof or retirement work without binding modern runtime ownership more tightly to the bridge.

Governance Model¶

flowchart TB
    change["new or changed dependency"]
    bridge{"serves bridge or migration purpose?"}
    runtime{"runtime should own this instead?"}
    retirement{"dependency keeps retirement pressure explicit?"}
    accept["dependency is governable"]

    change --> bridge
    bridge -->|yes| runtime
    bridge -->|no| reject1["reject or relocate"]
    runtime -->|no| retirement
    runtime -->|yes| reject2["move to runtime ownership"]
    retirement -->|yes| accept
    retirement -->|no| reject3["reject or isolate"]

This page should stop the legacy bridge from accreting modern concerns by convenience. A dependency that makes the bridge feel more central is usually a dependency in the wrong place.

Review Rules¶

new dependencies need migration or compatibility justification
avoid binding modern packages more tightly to the legacy bridge
prefer runtime-owned solutions when a new dependency is really about execution

First Proof Check¶

packages/agentic-proteins/tests
src/agentic_proteins/interfaces/cli.py and api/app.py
src/agentic_proteins/runtime/

Design Pressure¶

The common drift is to accept a helper dependency that makes the bridge easier to extend today and harder to retire tomorrow.