Backend contract boundary

Skill: Backend Contract Boundary

Intent

Ensure backend requirements produce stable, testable contracts instead of ad-hoc implementation code.

This skill protects API boundaries, domain boundaries, persistence boundaries, adapter boundaries, and error semantics.

Use when

Use this skill when a REQ touches backend services, APIs, controllers, routes, workers, domain logic, persistence, queues, webhooks, adapters, SDK integrations, authentication, authorization, or service contracts.

Do not use when

Do not use this skill for purely frontend visual work, static documentation, or isolated scripts with no public or internal contract.

Signals

• The REQ mentions API, endpoint, service, route, FastAPI, Flask, Django, Express, NestJS, worker, queue, database, repository, adapter, webhook, schema, DTO, OpenAPI, contract, persistence, auth, or domain boundary.
• Generated files include backend source, migrations, service classes, adapters, routers, validators, or integration tests.
• Acceptance criteria depend on request/response behavior, events, persistence effects, or external integration semantics.

Required behavior

• Keep public contracts explicit: request schema, response schema, event payload, command shape, or adapter interface.
• Validate inputs at the boundary.
• Keep domain logic independent from transport details when practical.
• Keep external systems behind adapters or ports.
• Preserve backward compatibility unless the REQ explicitly allows a breaking change.
• Use typed errors or stable error responses where the stack supports them.
• When tests or CI scripts assert error semantics, access custom error metadata only through the active language's safe narrowing, casting, matching, downcast, typed-exception, or adapter mechanism.
• Include local deterministic tests for domain and boundary behavior.
• Mark real external service checks as opt-in unless infrastructure is available.

Forbidden behavior

• Do not call external SDKs directly from core domain logic.
• Do not change public API shape silently.
• Do not swallow errors without observable behavior.
• Do not hardcode credentials, regions, tenants, URLs, queue names, or database identifiers.
• Do not create migrations or persistence changes without documenting compatibility and rollback assumptions.
• Do not use broad exception handling as a substitute for contract design.
• Do not claim integration readiness without a local test or documented external check.

Evidence required

• Source code showing explicit boundaries.
• Tests covering success and failure contract behavior.
• HOWTO commands for backend tests, lint, type checks, and smoke checks when available.
• Contract documentation or generated schema notes when the REQ changes API/event behavior.
• External integration assumptions documented as blocking or non-blocking in LTC.

Repair guidance

• If transport logic and domain logic are mixed, introduce a minimal service or adapter boundary.
• If contract behavior is implicit, add typed schema or validation.
• If errors are unstable, add deterministic error mapping.
• If tests require real services, replace with fake/local adapter tests and document opt-in integration checks.
• If the change breaks existing contracts, either restore compatibility or explicitly update acceptance criteria and docs.

Gate implications

Gate should block promotion when:

• Public contract behavior changed without tests or documentation.
• Required backend checks fail.
• External calls are made from unit tests without local isolation.
• Auth, persistence, or webhook behavior lacks failure-path evidence.
• Boundary code hardcodes environment-specific values.

Gate may allow non-blocking warnings when:

• External smoke checks cannot run locally but are documented as opt-in.
• OpenAPI/schema export is unavailable but request/response tests provide evidence.

Examples

• A FastAPI route delegates to a service, validates input with schemas, returns stable errors, and has route-level tests.
• A queue integration uses an adapter interface with in-memory tests and documented cloud runtime configuration.
• A webhook handler verifies payload shape, handles duplicate events, and has deterministic tests.

Non-examples

• A route that directly instantiates a cloud client and writes to a database without tests.
• A worker that catches all exceptions and logs only "failed".
• A generated API that changes response fields without compatibility notes.

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CLike Promotable KIT Enforcement Layer

Purpose

This layer makes the skill operational for CLike /kit generation.

The goal is not to produce plausible code. The goal is to produce candidate artifacts that can be evaluated, repaired, and promoted through EVAL and GATE with minimal human rework.

Promotable Code Obligations

When this skill is selected for a REQ, the KIT must:

• respect main_module_boundary;
• respect functional_scope and technical_scope;
• generate the smallest complete implementation slice;
• prefer repository-native conventions over invented abstractions;
• produce source files only under the target KIT source root;
• produce tests only under the target KIT test root;
• keep canonical src/, test/, and tests/ read-only during candidate generation;
• document any intentional limitation instead of pretending completeness;
• avoid broad rewrites unless explicitly required by the REQ.

Required Candidate Artifacts

The KIT should produce or update:

runs/kit/<REQ-ID>/src/
runs/kit/<REQ-ID>/test/
runs/kit/<REQ-ID>/ci/LTC.json
runs/kit/<REQ-ID>/ci/HOWTO.md
runs/kit/<REQ-ID>/docs/KIT_<REQ-ID>.md

If the REQ is documentation-only or policy-only, the KIT must explicitly state why source/test artifacts are not required.

Code Shape Expectations

Generated code should favor:

• explicit boundaries;
• dependency injection or constructor/function injection where practical;
• small cohesive modules;
• deterministic local behavior;
• typed schemas/contracts when the stack supports them;
• error paths that are visible and testable;
• safe defaults;
• clear adapter seams for external systems.

Generated code must avoid:

• hidden global state;
• hardcoded environment assumptions;
• silent fallbacks;
• fake success;
• speculative framework layers;
• broad unrelated refactors;
• acceptance criteria implemented only in prose.

Test Expectations

Tests must map to acceptance criteria.

Prefer:

• deterministic unit tests;
• contract tests around adapters and payloads;
• failure-path tests;
• local fake/simulator tests for external dependencies;
• smoke checks only when deeper tests are not possible.

Avoid:

• placeholder tests;
• tests that only import modules when behavior is required;
• tests that require production credentials;
• network-dependent blocking tests unless explicitly scoped.

LTC Expectations

ci/LTC.json must be valid JSON and include enough information for EvalRunner or a local agent to execute checks.

It should include:

• target req_id;
• lane/runtime profile when known;
• blocking local commands;
• optional external commands;
• report paths when available;
• environment-blocked status for unavailable infrastructure;
• gate-relevant policy hints.

HOWTO Expectations

ci/HOWTO.md must be clear enough for a developer to run without guessing.

It should include:

• where to run commands from;
• prerequisites;
• local commands;
• expected result;
• troubleshooting;
• required environment variables;
• optional external validation steps;
• limitations and non-goals.

Gate Impact

GATE should BLOCK promotion when this selected skill is materially violated.

Blocking examples:

• source is not mapped to the target REQ;
• acceptance-critical behavior has no test or executable evidence;
• LTC/HOWTO are missing for runnable code;
• production services or credentials are required for local blocking checks;
• selected capability obligations are ignored;
• generated files modify forbidden canonical roots;
• code claims completeness without evidence.

GATE may WARN when:

• optional external validation is not available but a deterministic local contract check exists;
• documentation is thin but executable evidence is complete;
• future hardening is correctly documented as out of scope.