Runtime Vs Protocol Contract

Separation Rule

• Protocol contract: the semantics that should hold for protocol state transitions.
• Reference runtime: the current executable implementation of a bounded subset of those semantics.

Do not collapse these into one object.

Why This Matters

This repository is published protocol-first:

• runtime is authoritative for current executable boundary
• runtime is still an implementation
• wallet integration and artifact machinery are separate layers

Current Bounded Position

Current direct-spend publication point:

• bounded two-input proof-aligned milestone is materially complete
• live first-hop and follow-on validations exist
• reserve sustainability and public observability limits remain explicit constraints

Non-Goals In This Layer

Not solved by runtime boundary alone:

• graph observability reduction
• shell economics visibility reduction
• topology concealment
• repeated-update correlation reduction

Those are later-layer concerns, expected to be reduced by optional aggregation designs.