IMP-063: Align public skill authoring with requirements and composition

.agents/plugins/marketplace.json

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   "plugins": [
     {
       "name": "open-prose",
-      "description": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace.",
+      "description": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts.",
       "source": {
         "source": "local",
         "path": "./"

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "openprose",
   "metadata": {
-    "description": "Stop scripting agents. Declare them."
+    "description": "Express intent by composing requirements."
   },
   "owner": {
     "name": "OpenProse",
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     {
       "name": "open-prose",
       "source": "./",
-      "description": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace."
+      "description": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts."
     }
   ]
 }

.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "open-prose",
-  "description": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace.",
+  "description": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts.",
   "version": "0.18.0",
   "license": "MIT",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/openprose/prose",

.codex-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "open-prose",
   "version": "0.18.0",
-  "description": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace.",
+  "description": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts.",
   "license": "MIT",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/openprose/prose",
   "repository": "https://github.com/openprose/prose",
@@ -22,10 +22,13 @@
   "interface": {
     "displayName": "OpenProse",
     "developerName": "OpenProse",
-    "shortDescription": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace.",
-    "longDescription": "OpenProse is a programming language for AI sessions. Write a Markdown contract: an agent reads it, wires the services, runs the subagents, passes artifacts through the filesystem, and leaves a durable trace under the active OpenProse root. Plain prompts are great for one-off work; they get messy when the same process needs roles, handoffs, retries, memory, or a receipt. The plugin activates on `prose ...`, on `.prose.md` files, and on requests for reusable multi-agent orchestration.",
+    "shortDescription": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts.",
+    "longDescription": "Contract authoring is expressing intent by composing requirements. State what an agent must accomplish, which conditions it must satisfy, and where it can choose its approach. Reusable Markdown contracts provide the building blocks; composition determines how their requirements apply together. The public OpenProse skill supplies Contract Markdown and ProseScript instructions for a compatible agent host. Tools, permissions, execution evidence, and enforcement depend on that host. The plugin activates on `prose ...`, on `.prose.md` files, and on requests for reusable multi-agent orchestration.",
     "category": "Productivity",
-    "capabilities": ["Read", "Write"],
+    "capabilities": [
+      "Read",
+      "Write"
+    ],
     "logo": "./assets/plugin/logo.png",
     "composerIcon": "./assets/plugin/composer-icon.png",
     "brandColor": "#8a6b2e",

.plugin-meta.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "tagline": "Stop scripting agents. Declare them.",
-  "shortDescription": "Write a Markdown contract (`.prose.md`). Your agent reads it, wires services, runs subagents, and leaves an auditable trace.",
-  "longDescription": "OpenProse is a programming language for AI sessions. Write a Markdown contract: an agent reads it, wires the services, runs the subagents, passes artifacts through the filesystem, and leaves a durable trace under the active OpenProse root. Plain prompts are great for one-off work; they get messy when the same process needs roles, handoffs, retries, memory, or a receipt. The plugin activates on `prose ...`, on `.prose.md` files, and on requests for reusable multi-agent orchestration.",
+  "tagline": "Express intent by composing requirements.",
+  "shortDescription": "State what an agent must accomplish and which requirements it must satisfy. Reuse and combine Markdown contracts.",
+  "longDescription": "Contract authoring is expressing intent by composing requirements. State what an agent must accomplish, which conditions it must satisfy, and where it can choose its approach. Reusable Markdown contracts provide the building blocks; composition determines how their requirements apply together. The public OpenProse skill supplies Contract Markdown and ProseScript instructions for a compatible agent host. Tools, permissions, execution evidence, and enforcement depend on that host. The plugin activates on `prose ...`, on `.prose.md` files, and on requests for reusable multi-agent orchestration.",
   "targets": {
     "tagline": [
       { "path": ".claude-plugin/marketplace.json", "pointer": "metadata.description" }

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Contributing to OpenProse
 
-OpenProse is a programming language for AI sessions, expressed as durable
-Markdown contracts. Good contributions make agent workflows more readable,
+OpenProse supports contract authoring: expressing intent by composing
+requirements in Markdown. Good contributions make agent work more readable,
 reviewable, versioned, reusable, inspectable, and cheaper to trust over time.
 
 This repository is the open-source language, skill, standard library, and
@@ -33,11 +33,10 @@ A strong OpenProse PR should:
 
 Use these when deciding whether a change belongs:
 
-- **Markdown source defines intent.** Authored `*.prose.md` files say what must
-  be true; runtime and harness code should not smuggle in semantic policy.
-- **Outcomes stay decoupled from implementation.** Users declare the result or
-  desired state; OpenProse can improve models, retries, and program structure
-  beneath that contract without changing the user's intent.
+- **Markdown source defines intent.** Authored `*.prose.md` files state requirements; runtime and harness code should not smuggle in semantic policy.
+- **Requirements remain distinct from approaches.** Users state required results,
+  conditions, and steps. Models, retries, and program structure may change
+  within those requirements without changing the user's intent.
 - **The skill and interpreter docs define semantics.** Contract Markdown,
   Forme, Prose VM, ProseScript, and Responsibility Runtime are the load-bearing
   language/framework surface.

README.md

@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 <p align="center">
-  <img src="assets/readme-header.png" alt="OpenProse" width="100%" />
-</p>
-
-<p align="center">
-  <strong>Standing AI jobs, declared in Markdown.</strong>
+  <strong>State the requirements. Reuse and combine contracts.</strong>
 </p>
 
 <p align="center">
@@ -18,11 +14,23 @@
 
 ## What this is
 
-**OpenProse is a declarative language for standing AI work.** Instead of scripting a sequence of instructions and hoping the run lands where you wanted, you declare the world as it should be: an _ideal world state_, written as familiar structured **Markdown contracts** (`*.prose.md`). You say what must stay true, and the system works out how much model work it takes to keep it that way. When order, loops, or exact choreography genuinely matter, optional imperative **ProseScript** plans drop in. Declarative by default, imperative where you want the control.
+**With OpenProse, you state what an agent must accomplish, which requirements it
+must satisfy, and where it can choose its approach.** Contract authoring is
+expressing intent by composing requirements. Reusable contracts provide the
+building blocks; composition determines how their requirements apply together.
 
-This is the oldest good idea in software, pointed at agents. SQL, Terraform, Kubernetes, React: you declare the desired state, and a reconciler is responsible for making reality match it. A thermostat is the one-sentence version. You set the temperature you want and it holds the room there; you never tell it when to fire.
+This public repository supplies the **Contract Markdown and ProseScript**
+format, the `open-prose` skill, and reusable libraries. A `responsibility`
+expresses requirements for state maintained over time. A `function` performs a
+one-time call. ProseScript specifies required steps when their order or method
+matters. See [requirements and composition](skills/open-prose/guidance/authoring.md#requirements-and-composition)
+for how these fit together.
 
-OpenProse is a language, not a platform. The contracts are plain files that run on **any Prose-Complete agent harness** (any agent host that can spawn sessions, read and write files, and call tools): the language ships as a Skill your coding agent runs directly, and any conforming harness (see [Harnesses](#harnesses)) can compile and serve the same contracts as a standing process.
+Contracts are readable `*.prose.md` files. A compatible agent harness runs them
+using the skill and its own tools. The requirements remain the reference for
+success; execution depends on the host's inputs, capabilities, and permissions.
+Serving a standing responsibility requires a host that supports continuous
+operation. See [Harnesses](#harnesses) and [Honest status](#honest-status).
 
 ## Run it where your agent lives
 
@@ -35,9 +43,9 @@ npx skills add openprose/prose
 That installs OpenProse into any Prose-Complete coding agent (Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and friends). From there, point your agent at a contract and say `prose run <file>`: the session itself embodies the VM; there is no separate binary. The [`examples/`](skills/open-prose/examples/) directory is the tour; start small and read the contract before you run it.
 
 For a new program, say `prose init`, then use `prose compose` to shape its
-purpose, topology, Contract boundaries, and outside-in semantic tests. Compose
+purpose, topology, contract boundaries, and outside-in semantic tests. Compose
 progressively materializes one directory package; use `prose write` when a
-single Contract is already understood and needs focused authoring.
+single contract is already understood and needs focused authoring.
 
 Your first contract is a Markdown file away: `kind: responsibility` frontmatter, a `### Goal` that states what should stay true, and the sections below. The skill teaches your agent the rest.
 
@@ -64,7 +72,7 @@ The deep truth lives in the skill ([`skills/open-prose/`](skills/open-prose/)) a
 
 ## Nothing is held hostage
 
-The contracts in this repo are **harness-agnostic**: OpenProse Markdown runs on any Prose-Complete agent host (a fresh `git clone` is a first-class experience). The contract is the public artifact; the deployment's secrets and data stay private. A contract and its trail can leave for any compliant host with no lost meaning. OpenProse stays free, MIT, and portable, forever.
+The contracts in this repo target **compatible Prose-Complete agent hosts**. The same authored requirements can be reused with a different host that supports the required operations. A contract and its trail are portable artifacts; deployment secrets and private data need not be published with them. Portability does not imply identical model results or provide missing tools. OpenProse remains MIT-licensed.
 
 ## Harnesses
 

assets/README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Static assets for the OpenProse language specification repository.
 
 ## Contents
 
-- `readme-header.png`: Header banner shown at the top of the root README. Carries the OpenProse brand hero: the wordmark, the headline, and the install command.
+- `readme-header.png`: Retained legacy README banner with the former headline and install command. The root README now introduces the current requirements and composition language in text.
 
 ## Plugin assets
 

packages/co/README.md

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ OpenProse-native repository.
 `co` sits next to `std` under `packages/`, not inside it. `std` is the
 low-level standard library: roles, patterns, output adapters, memory, evals,
 and ops primitives. `co` is an opinionated starter kit for a specific domain:
-a company whose operating system is made of Prose services and systems.
+a company whose operating requirements are expressed through reusable contracts.
 
-Reference services and systems in `co` with the `co/` shorthand (analogous to
+Reference contracts in `co` with the `co/` shorthand (analogous to
 `std/`):
 
 ```markdown
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ packages/co/
     company-repo-checker.eval.prose.md
 ```
 
-## Services and Systems
+## Starter contracts
 
 - **`agent-readiness`** — narrow intake a founder can run in under a minute:
   scores how accessible their site is to AI agents (well-known paths,
@@ -60,13 +60,12 @@ OpenProse, Inc.'s private business logic:
 ## std vs co — the split
 
 - **std** — use-case-agnostic primitives. Inspector, contract-grader, retry,
-  fan-out, worker-critic, human-gate. Things that make *Prose services and
-  systems work*.
+  fan-out, worker-critic, human-gate. Things that make *reusable Prose contracts work*.
 - **co** — company-operations-shaped patterns. Starter repo checkers,
   scheduled intake, windowed analytics, GTM pipelines, fleet monitors.
-  Things that make *Prose services and systems produce business value*.
+  Things that make *reusable Prose contracts support company operations*.
 
-## Running Services and Systems
+## Running contracts
 
 `prose run` is an agent-session command. It is not assumed to be a shell binary.
 If a host provides a native Prose CLI, use it. Otherwise wrap the command in an
@@ -91,8 +90,8 @@ instruction the agent session interprets as the OpenProse VM.
 
 - Keep this package generic. Do not include OpenProse, Inc. leads, accounts,
   GTM logic, release logic, or private operating assumptions.
-- Prefer composable services and systems with inline starter services until a
-  service earns a stable public API.
+- Prefer reusable contracts with explicit requirements and interfaces. Keep
+  helper contracts local until they earn a stable public interface.
 - Put universal primitives in `std/`; put company-operating-system patterns
   here.
 - Keep generated runtime state out of this package. Useful lessons can become

packages/std/README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 # OpenProse Standard Library
 
-Reusable OpenProse functions, responsibilities, patterns, roles, delivery adapters, memory contracts, and operational tools.
+Reusable contracts provide building blocks for requirements. This library
+includes OpenProse functions, responsibilities, patterns, roles, delivery
+adapters, memory contracts, and operational tools. Combine them through their
+declared interfaces; see [contract authoring](../../skills/open-prose/guidance/authoring.md#requirements-and-composition).
 
 ## Usage
 

packages/std/ops/compose/compose.test.prose.md

@@ -15,17 +15,17 @@ subject: compose
 - `authority_scope`: openprose-maintainer
 - `framework_maturity`: experimental
 - `request`: |
-    The architect previously selected an obligation-centered directory package,
+    The architect previously selected a directory package organized by requirements,
     then explored topology guidance and supplied framework feedback. Continue
     from the settled package decision without losing the topology findings.
 
 ### Expects
 
-- `mental_model_sync`: identifies the obligation-centered package as settled
+- `mental_model_sync`: identifies the package organized by requirements as settled
 - `active_frontier`: resurfaces its pending materialization before opening a new
   conceptual frontier
-- `source_projection`: contains `index.prose.md` plus obligation-owned sibling
-  Contracts
+- `source_projection`: contains `index.prose.md` plus sibling contracts
+  organized around their requirements
 - `test_strategy`: begins with the package promise and orders later testing
   through Contract boundaries, interaction topology, failure behavior, harness
   portability, and only then performance

packages/std/ops/compose/tests.prose.md

@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ iteration without freezing internal details too early.
 - Prefer the smallest test that rules out the largest incorrect region of the
   design space.
 - A test failure is evidence about the program first. Classify framework
-  pressure separately and publish it through the feedback obligation.
+  pressure separately and publish it through the feedback contract.
 - Do not encode topology as an implementation snapshot when the same promise
   can be tested through observable behavior.
 - Do not claim cross-harness portability until the same test sources have run

packages/std/ops/prose-author.prose.md

@@ -354,8 +354,9 @@ Normalize the caller's rough request into an explicit authoring intent.
 - Treat page, notify, create channel, publish, execute, rollback, feature flag,
   status update, and issue creation as side-effect signals that require an
   explicit sub-unit boundary and safety gate.
-- Extract obligations before implementation details. Desired outputs and
-  invariants matter more than proposed step order.
+- Extract requirements before implementation details. Desired outputs and
+  invariants matter more than proposed step order. Preserve any steps or
+  ordering the caller requires.
 - When the request says "always", "keep", "monitor", "every", "when event
   happens", or "before deadline", consider whether a responsibility plus
   gateway is appropriate.

skills/README.md

@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ Bundled OpenProse skill definitions shipped with the language specification repo
 
 ## Contents
 
-- `open-prose/` — the OpenProse VM skill; defines the `*.prose.md` service/system/test/pattern contract format, Forme wiring, ProseScript, state backends, primitives, package libraries, examples, and VM guidance. This skill is the canonical definition of what the OpenProse VM is; OpenProse Cloud is the hosted execution service that implements this spec.
+- `open-prose/` — the OpenProse VM skill; defines the `*.prose.md` responsibility/function/gateway/test/pattern contract format, Forme wiring, ProseScript, state backends, primitives, package libraries, examples, and VM guidance. Start with [contract authoring](open-prose/guidance/authoring.md#requirements-and-composition) to express intent through reusable requirements. The skill defines VM semantics; execution and enforcement depend on the selected host.

skills/open-prose/SKILL.md

@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ description: |
 
 # OpenProse Skill
 
+Contract authoring is expressing intent by composing requirements. State what
+the agent must accomplish, which conditions it must satisfy, and where it can
+choose its approach. Reuse and combine contracts through the interfaces in
+this skill; see [requirements and composition](guidance/authoring.md#requirements-and-composition).
+
 OpenProse has five load-bearing pieces:
 
 | Piece | File | Role |
@@ -92,7 +97,11 @@ If the user declines, drop it and don't re-propose on the same task. If they acc
 
 ### A cognitive model you can borrow
 
-Think of OpenProse as a type system for agent workflows. A bare prompt is `any` — it runs, but nothing is checked. A contract is a typed function — inputs and outputs are declared, callers can reason about composition, and violations fail loudly. You would not write a 2,000-line TypeScript system in `any`. Multi-step agent workflows are the same.
+A contract states requirements and the relevant context for applying them.
+Declared inputs, results, and conditions help callers reuse it and combine it
+with other contracts. Assess the result against those requirements: a completed
+run or a receipt alone does not prove satisfaction. The selected host supplies
+tools and enforcement; a declaration does not supply a missing capability.
 
 ### When OpenProse is the wrong answer