• conforms_to::[[Gloss Form Contract]]
• authored_by::[[Deep Context Community]]
• has_lifecycle::[[Seed Stage]]
• has_curation::[[Working Draft]]
• in_domain::[[Deep Context Architecture]]

Form Contract

A specification nodes conform to by declaring conforms_to::[[X Form Contract]] in their identity predicate block. A Form Contract names a node shape ([[Gloss Form Contract]], [[Decision Form Contract]], [[Reference Form Contract]]) and makes the shape's requirements explicit enough that a validator — a build-time script, a curation-time agent, or a human reviewer — can check a candidate node against them. The requirements use RFC 2119 keywords (MUST, MUST NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, MAY) so the obligation level of each clause is unambiguous.

Form Contracts form a shallow inheritance tree. [[Markdown Node Contract]] is the root: every node conforms to it, and it specifies file-form basics every other contract assumes. A specializing contract declares extends_contract::[[Parent Contract]] and adds requirements on top of the parent's without silently overriding them. A conforming node satisfies the parent's requirements and the child's requirements. Contracts themselves are Markdown Nodes, and every Contract declares conforms_to::[[Contract Form Contract]] — the meta-contract — which makes the Contract form self-describing.

The reason for conformance rather than identity (is_a::[[X]]) is pluralism. A single node may conform to multiple Form Contracts when its role bridges forms — a case-study-shaped decision, a gloss that also functions as a reference stub. Conformance is additive; identity is exclusive. Conformance is revisable when the contract evolves; identity becomes entangled with the node's meaning. The graph accommodates the first; the second forces premature commitment every time a form's definition shifts.

Relations

• grounded_in::[[Contract Form Contract]]

  • Contract Form Contract is the meta-specification for what Form Contracts look like — parseable Requirements section, self-conformance, inheritance declaration, filename ending in Contract. Every Form Contract conforms to it, including itself.

• grounded_in::[[Markdown Node Contract]]

  • Markdown Node Contract is the file-form substrate every Form Contract extends. The base requirements (filename rules, identity block, Relations section, named-edge syntax) apply to Form Contracts the same way they apply to any other node.

• informed_by::[[Wikilinks and Named Edges Gist (Christopher Allen, 2026)]]

  • The gist specifies conforms_to::[[X Form Contract]] over is_a::[[X]] as the classification move. Form Contract as a concept is the local elaboration of that move into named node shapes with checkable requirements.