tenet
Markdown ↗

Contracts

Place each contract in a numbered directory:

.contracts/
  001-database-failures/
    CONTRACT.md
---
name: database-failures
message: Preserve database failures for the caller.
---

## Rules

If a database operation fails, preserve that failure for the caller.
Do not return a successful empty result.

## Applies to

Code that performs database operations or handles their failures.

## Examples

```typescript tenet:example expect=pass path=src/users.ts name=propagated-error
async function listUsers() {
  return await db.users.list();
}
```

```typescript tenet:example expect=fail path=src/users.ts name=swallowed-error
async function listUsers() {
  try {
    return await db.users.list();
  } catch {
    return [];
  }
}
```

name, message, and a nonempty Rules section are required. Names are unique throughout the selected project. Numbers have at least three digits, start at 001, and are unique within a scope. Unknown frontmatter fields are errors.

Applies to is optional guidance for relevance. Both decision passes receive the rules and this guidance. Rationale, examples, expected answers, and other sections do not enter the model prompt. Write exceptions in Rules. Shell commands in prose are not executed.

Scope

A .contracts directory covers files beneath its parent directory. Root contracts run first, followed by deeper scopes. Contracts within each scope run in numeric order. Each contract finishes before the next starts; file checks within a contract run concurrently. Numbers do not override contradictory requirements.

tenet contracts list
tenet contracts list --for src/users.ts
tenet contracts view database-failures

Examples

tenet:example fences require a language, path, and expect. An optional name identifies the case in reports. The path is relative to the contract's scope and cannot escape it. Examples are evaluated independently, without sibling file contents.

Expectations are pass, fail, not_applicable, and uncertain. See evaluation for interpreting the results.