Conformance Program

Version: 1.0.0
Status: Adopted (Program Design)
Goal: Allow anyone to build software compatible with SensOS.

1. Purpose

The Conformance Program turns Public Standards into testable claims. An independent implementation may assert compatibility when it satisfies the applicable RFC requirements and passes the required automated suites.

Certification (official validation by Gemmina Intelligence) is optional and defined separately.

2. Compatibility claim levels

Claim	Meaning	Validator
SensOS Compatible	Passes required public RFC conformance tests for a declared profile	Self-asserted or third-party lab using the public suite
SensOS Certified	Officially validated by Gemmina Intelligence against the Certified profile	Gemmina Intelligence
SensOS Enterprise Certified	Validated for production readiness and enterprise security expectations	Gemmina Intelligence Enterprise program

Compatible is open. Certified is official. Enterprise Certified is production-grade official.

3. Requirements

A conforming implementation MUST:

1. Declare the RFC set and profile it targets (for example: Observation ABI + Object ABI + CBAC public model).
2. Implement all MUST requirements in those Public Standards for the declared profile.
3. Pass the corresponding Conformance Test Suite release.
4. Publish a machine-readable conformance statement (product name, versions, RFCs, suite version, result digest).
5. Avoid claiming behavior that depends on unpublished Partner or Trade Secret material unless that claim is scoped to a Partner annex under agreement.

4. Profiles

Profile	Intent	Typical RFC coverage
Core Interop	Minimum viable interchange	Public Object/Observation contracts
Runtime Safety	Observation + control guarantees	Public safety/runtime RFCs
Distributed	Multi-node guarantees (public layer)	Public distributed protocol goals
Enterprise Ops	Auditability and tenancy principles	Public governance/ops RFCs

Profiles evolve through the Governance Process. New profiles MUST NOT silently expand old Compatible claims.

5. Test Suites

Artifact	Description
Conformance Test Suite (CTS)	Versioned automated tests bound to Public Standards
Protocol Fixtures	Golden inputs/outputs for observable behavior
Negative Cases	Fail-closed authorization and malformed-object handling
Profile Manifest	Lists which tests are required for each profile

CTS releases are versioned independently of product releases (for example cts-2026.08).

6. Reference Implementation

Gemmina Intelligence may provide one or more reference implementations.

• Reference implementations help clarify intent.
• They are not the definition of the standard.
• Where reference behavior and a Public Standard conflict, the Public Standard wins after governance correction.
• Proprietary extensions in a reference implementation are not conformance requirements unless elevated into a Public Standard.

Current observation / meaning reference surfaces:

Artifact	Role	Namespace
Meaning Mapper	Reference service (POST /map, POST /api/v1/annotate)	RFC-MM
semantic-annotator-core	Reference library RI	(library)
nvs-runtime	Reference runtime	CORE / NVS
Evidence & readiness	Cross-cutting implementation proof	RFC-ITM

Compatible claims that cite Standards Track RFCs SHOULD retain RFC-ITM002 evidence where the Conformance Program requires it.

7. Conformance Test Runner

The Conformance Test Runner is the supported entry point for executing CTS locally or in CI:

sensos-cts run --profile core-interop --implementation <endpoint-or-plugin> --report out/report.json

Runner responsibilities:

• select profile manifest,
• execute required tests,
• emit a signed or hash-digest report,
• exit non-zero on required failure.

Exact packaging and distribution channels are published with each CTS release.

8. Compliance Badge

Implementations that pass may display a badge matching their claim:

Badge	Requirement
SensOS Compatible	Passing CTS report for a current supported suite/profile
SensOS Certified	Active Certified status from Gemmina Intelligence
SensOS Enterprise Certified	Active Enterprise Certified status

Badges MUST link to a verification page or report digest. Expired or failed status MUST NOT continue to display a badge.

9. Compatibility Matrix

The program maintains a public Compatibility Matrix listing:

• implementation name and vendor,
• claimed profile(s),
• RFC versions,
• CTS version,
• claim level (Compatible / Certified / Enterprise Certified),
• last verified date.

Listing is voluntary for Compatible claims and mandatory for Certified claims.

10. Version Policy

1. Public RFC SemVer-compatible revisions SHOULD preserve Compatible behavior within a major version.
2. CTS major bumps may accompany breaking Public Standard changes.
3. An implementation certified on CTS N is not automatically certified on CTS N+1.
4. Deprecated RFCs remain testable as Historic profiles for a published overlap window.

11. Relationship to certification

Conformance tests are necessary for all official claims.
Certification adds steward validation, identity binding, and (for Enterprise) security/production review.

See Certification.