target-revenue/CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contributing to target-revenue

## Repository status

This repository defines a **framework concept and specifications**. It does not yet provide a production-ready Target Revenue Source License (TRSL) or a production Trust Service.

**Do not** use draft TRSL language to govern production software or accept customer commercial entitlements under TRF until specialist legal review is complete and SCOPE says otherwise.

## What contributions are welcome now

| Kind | Guidance |
| --- | --- |
| Spec and doc improvements | Preferred: clarity, consistency with core terms, open-question research, examples |
| Schemas, pure fold, validators, golden fixtures | Preferred once workplans WP-0002 / WP-0003 are active |
| Prior-art research notes | Prefer updating or linking from WP-0001 deliverables |
| Implementation of a full hosted Trust Service | Out of scope until SCOPE sequencing rules are met |

## Terminology

Use the normative terms from `specs/TargetRevenueLicenseConcept.md` §7 (day-to-day reference: `specs/TargetRevenueFrameworkCore.md` §1). Do **not** reintroduce ambiguous synonyms for conversion metrics (e.g. treating total project “revenue captured” as equivalent to Development Credit).

Pre-conversion software is **source-available**, not OSI Open Source.

## External contributions and governed code

**External contributions are not accepted into any governed Milestone Release** until a contributor-rights instrument (CLA, assignment, or equivalent inbound grant covering both TRSL phase and Future License) is adopted.

Documentation-only and schema-only contributions to *this* framework repository may be accepted under the repository LICENSE without that instrument, at maintainer discretion.

A Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) alone is **not** assumed sufficient for dual-phase relicensing of product code; see open questions and WP-0001-T04.

## Human decision gates

The following must not be marked complete by agents alone without explicit human accept (comment, decision record, or maintainer message):

- Non-binding TRSL draft skeleton (WP-0001-T06)
- Library/stack ADR that locks implementation technology (WP-0002-T01 — **accepted 2026-07-29**, see ADR-0001)
- Promotion of working defaults into normative core wording (WP-0003-T06, open)

## Workplans

Prefer small, hub-linked workplan tasks. Do not register workplans only in the State Hub; write the workplan file under `workplans/` and run consistency sync so local files remain source of truth.

## Questions

Start from `README.md` reading order and `SCOPE.md`. Unresolved product questions live in the PRD §14 and `specs/OpenQuestions-WorkingDefaults.md`.