mk:sprint-contract — File-Based Sprint Contract Protocol

Negotiation protocol between generator and evaluator. Produces a signed contract file at tasks/contracts/{date}-{slug}-sprint-{N}.md BEFORE the generator writes any source code. Enforced by gate-enforcement.sh (Phase 4 extension).

For single-task plan validation (cook flow), use mk:validate-plan instead. mk:sprint-contract is for product-level specs feeding into mk:autobuild only.

When to Use

Activate when:

• User runs /mk:sprint-contract <action> [task-slug]
• Harness (Phase 5) needs to negotiate a sprint before invoking the generator
• Generator agent needs to read a signed contract before starting implementation
• A previously signed contract needs amendment due to mid-build scope discovery

Skip when:

• MEOWKIT_AUTOBUILD_MODE=LEAN (adaptive density bypass for COMPLEX/Opus 4.6 tier)
• The plan is --fast mode (overhead exceeds value)
• The task is /mk:fix simple (Gate 1 already bypassed; contract bypass too)

Subcommands

Subcommand	Owner	Effect
propose	generator (developer agent)	Drafts a contract from the product spec + rubric preset; status: draft → negotiating
review	evaluator	Critiques the proposed contract for testability + scope clarity; produces clarification requests
amend	generator	Iterates on the contract per evaluator feedback; status stays negotiating; rounds += 1
sign	both	Both agents commit to the contract via git commit messages; status: negotiating → signed
validate	anyone	Runs validate-contract.sh to check schema conformance
sprint-goal	user	Writes/reads/aligns sprint-LEVEL goal in tasks/contracts/sprint-state-{date}-sprint-{N}.md (Agile mode)

Workflow (Inline — monolithic, < 150 lines)

propose (generator)

1. Read active product spec from newest tasks/plans/*/plan.md
2. Load rubric preset via mk:rubric/scripts/load-rubric.sh --preset {preset}
3. Determine sprint N: max of existing tasks/contracts/*-{slug}-sprint-*.md + 1, default 1
4. Copy assets/contract-template.md → tasks/contracts/{YYMMDD-HHMM}-{slug}-sprint-{N}.md
5. Populate: 5–15 ACs in Given/When/Then form, each bound to one preset rubric, each with a Verification line. Every preset rubric should have ≥1 AC binding
6. Set frontmatter: status: negotiating, rounds: 0, created: {YYMMDD-HHMM}
7. Run validate-contract.sh; fix and re-validate until clean
8. Print: "Contract proposed at {path}. Awaiting evaluator review."

review (evaluator)

1. Read newest negotiating contract for the active task
2. Per AC check: Testable? (probable via browser/curl/CLI) Rubric-aligned? (binding matches content) Scope clear? (no ambiguity)
3. For each weak AC, append Round {N+1} (reviewer): AC-{NN} {clarification} to Negotiation Log
4. If clean, write Round {N+1} (reviewer): accepted and proceed to sign
5. If clarifications added, increment rounds and signal generator to amend
6. HARD CAP: 2 negotiation rounds. Round 3 escalates to human via AskUserQuestion

amend (generator)

1. Address every clarification from the previous round in the relevant ACs (replace, don't delete)
2. Append Round {N+1} (proposer): {summary of changes} to the log
3. Re-run validate-contract.sh
4. Signal evaluator to review again

sign (both agents in sequence)

The signature workflow uses two commits per agent to avoid the chicken-and-egg of "the SHA must be inside the file but the file's commit hasn't happened yet."

1. Generator (commit 1): git add tasks/contracts/{path}.md && git commit -m "contract: generator commits sprint {N} for {slug}". The contract file is committed with generator_signed: pending.
2. Generator (commit 2 — capture SHA): gen_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD). Edit the frontmatter: generator_signed: $gen_sha. Then git add + git commit -m "contract: generator signs sprint {N} for {slug} (sha=$gen_sha)". The captured SHA references the COMMIT THAT EXISTED WHEN THE GENERATOR APPROVED — its own first commit.
3. Evaluator (commit 1): verify the contract is unchanged from commit 2 above. Then git add + git commit -m "contract: evaluator commits sprint {N} for {slug}".
4. Evaluator (commit 2 — capture SHA): eval_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD). Edit the frontmatter: evaluator_signed: $eval_sha, status: signed. Then git add + git commit -m "contract: evaluator signs sprint {N} for {slug} (sha=$eval_sha)".
5. The git log IS the audit trail — every signature commit is verifiable via git log --oneline tasks/contracts/{path}.md.
6. After both sign, gate-enforcement.sh allows source edits for this sprint.

Validator enforcement: check-contract-signed.sh rejects placeholder values (null, pending, todo, empty, quoted variants of these). Only a real git rev-parse HEAD SHA passes.

validate

.claude/skills/sprint-contract/scripts/validate-contract.sh tasks/contracts/{path}.md

sprint-goal (Agile mode — gated by agile-sprint-commitment.md 1)

Sprint-LEVEL goal management. Writes to tasks/contracts/sprint-state-{date}-sprint-{N}.md — distinct from per-story sprint-CONTRACT files.

Action	Form	Effect
set	mk:sprint-contract sprint-goal set "<text>" --sprint N	Writes sprint_goal: (≤120 chars) to tasks/contracts/sprint-state-{YYMMDD}-sprint-{N}.md. Creates the file from assets/sprint-state-template.md if absent
show	mk:sprint-contract sprint-goal show --sprint N	Prints current sprint_goal: from the newest sprint-state file matching --sprint N
align	mk:sprint-contract sprint-goal align --plan <path>	Renders alignment between plan goal (frontmatter goal: or first H1) and sprint goal. Advisory — never blocks

Concurrent-write safety: sprint-goal set MUST acquire flock on the sprint-state file before any read-modify-write. YAML frontmatter append is non-atomic across shells; lock is the only mitigation. Release on completion or error.

Validator scope: the existing validate-contract.sh is for sprint-CONTRACT files only. Sprint-STATE files have NO validator; YAML is parsed inline by consuming skills (this skill, mk:agent-detector Step 0b, mk:jira-agile).

Why this lives here: tasks/contracts/ already belongs to this skill; co-locating sprint-goal avoids creating a sibling skill that duplicates path discipline.

Mid-build amendment (post-sign)

The amendment flow MUST null both signature fields BEFORE adding the amendment block. Otherwise stale SHAs from the prior signing round would falsely pass check-contract-signed.sh.

1. Generator opens amendment:
   • Edit the frontmatter: status: amended, generator_signed: null, evaluator_signed: null
   • Append ### Amendment N — {YYMMDD-HHMM} under ## Amendments describing the change
   • DO NOT edit the original signed criteria — append the revised version as a new AC or override note
   • git commit -m "contract: amendment N for sprint {N} ({slug})"
2. Both agents re-sign following the same two-commit pattern from sign action above. New SHAs replace the nulled fields.
3. gate-enforcement.sh enforcement: between step 1 and step 2 (sigs are null but status is amended), source edits are BLOCKED. The check-contract-signed.sh script rejects amended-status contracts that have null/placeholder sigs. This is the intended discipline — you can't push source code while an amendment is in-flight.

Original signed criteria stay visible — amendments are append-only history.

Adaptive Density Skip

When MEOWKIT_AUTOBUILD_MODE=LEAN:

• The contract negotiation is skipped entirely (per Phase 5 adaptive density policy for COMPLEX/Opus 4.6 tier — capable models self-derive criteria from the product spec)
• gate-enforcement.sh honors the env var and allows source edits without contract verification
• LEAN bypasses are logged to .meowkit/telemetry/lean-bypass.log for audit
• LEAN mode is a PROJECT-level setting, not per-file override

Gotchas

• Don't mutate signed criteria. Revisions go in the Amendments section, not by editing original ACs in place
• Don't exceed 2 negotiation rounds. Escalate to human on round 3 — agents that can't converge in 2 rounds won't converge in 5
• Don't skip the rubric tie-in. Each AC must reference one rubric in the active preset, otherwise the evaluator has no anchor for grading
• Don't write source code without checking the contract. gate-enforcement.sh will block; the developer agent's "Contract Discipline" section codifies this behavioral requirement too
• Don't sign without git commits. The git log is the audit trail — generator_signed and evaluator_signed fields hold real SHAs, not "yes" placeholders

References

File	Purpose
assets/contract-template.md	Canonical per-story sprint-contract schema with placeholder ACs
assets/sprint-state-template.md	Sprint-LEVEL state contract template (used by sprint-goal set; tracks goal + committed_tickets + amendments + closure summary)
scripts/validate-contract.sh	Schema + AC-form validator (POSIX-aware Bash 3.2+)
scripts/check-contract-signed.sh	Gate helper called by gate-enforcement.sh to block source edits before sign
references/bdd-to-ac-mapping.md	How Gherkin scenarios map to acceptance criteria
../../hooks/gate-enforcement.sh	Hook that enforces the contract gate on Edit/Write of source files
../../agents/developer.md	Generator agent — owns propose and amend actions
../../agents/evaluator.md	Evaluator agent — owns review action; also Phase 3 active-verification consumer
../mk:rubric/	Rubric library — provides composed presets the contract binds to
../mk:evaluate/	Evaluator skill — reads signed contract via step-01-load-rubrics.md

Related Rules

• .claude/rules/gate-rules.md — Gate 1 contract-signing requirement this skill enforces before source edits are allowed

Start

For interactive use, run /mk:sprint-contract propose <task-slug> to begin negotiation. For harness-driven use (Phase 5), the harness skill invokes propose → review → amend → sign automatically as a substep between Phase 2 (test red) and Phase 3 (build green).