---
title: "Software Constitution Standard · KYE Protocol™"
description: "Language-agnostic, provider-agnostic standard for enforcing your project's design principles at CI time. Apache 2.0. KYE Protocol™ is the reference implementation."
url: https://kyeprotocol.com/software-constitution/
lang: en
source: "KYE Protocol"
---

> Language-agnostic, provider-agnostic standard for enforcing your project's design principles at CI time. Apache 2.0. KYE Protocol™ is the reference implementation.

Open standard · Apache 2.0 · v1.1

# Software Constitution.

A **language-agnostic, provider-agnostic, domain-agnostic** standard for projects that want to enforce their own design principles at CI time — versioned rules, an implementation registry, drift gates that block merges on violation, zero-deviation mandate. Apache 2.0. KYE Protocol™ is the canonical reference implementation.

[softwareconstitution.com →](https://softwareconstitution.com/) [Read the spec →](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app/tree/main/public/oss/software-constitution) [Run the SCCT →](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app/tree/main/public/oss/software-constitution/scct) [Constitution Kit →](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app/tree/main/public/oss/software-constitution/kit) [★ Star on GitHub](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app)

Drop it into any repo in seconds: `node public/oss/software-constitution/kit/init.mjs /path/to/target`. The kit scaffolds your `constitution-kit.json` manifest with the registry, single-value-concept, recipe and drift-gate seams declared by the standard; from then on, every PR that violates your declared rules fails CI.

If this is useful, a star helps other engineering teams find the standard.

## What it is

A specification you point at your repo to answer: **"is this project governed by an explicit, machine-enforceable constitution?"**

The standard ships with:

- **The spec** — 12 sections, 6 required rule classes, 5 conformance levels (L0 / L1 / L2 / L3 / L4).
- **Templates** — copy-paste starting points for the four required canonical artefacts (00-INDEX, DEVIATIONS, DECAY-WINDOWS, implementation-registry).
- **Schemas** — JSON Schema 2020-12 files that validate the structured artefacts.
- **Reference gates** — drop-in CI implementations in multiple languages. Node.js and Python shipping today; Go and Rust ports planned.
- **SCCT** — Software Constitution Conformance Test CLI. Runs against any candidate repo and emits a JSON verdict (L0 / L1 / L2 / L3 / L4).

## The six rule classes

Every conforming constitution MUST address all six. Naming and numbering of individual rules is project-specific; the existence of at least one rule per class is the conformance bar. Canonical definitions live in [SPEC.md §4](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app/blob/main/public/oss/software-constitution/SPEC.md#4-the-six-rule-classes-any-constitution-must-address-all-six).

| Class | What it locks |
| --- | --- |
| **§RULE-1 — Zero Competing Systems** | Single-Implementation Mandate: every named capability has EXACTLY ONE canonical implementation. |
| **§RULE-2 — Zero Repo↔Prod Drift** | What runs in production MUST be exactly what's in the repo. No out-of-band deploys. |
| **§RULE-3 — Zero Stubs / Placeholders / Mocks** | No TODO, FIXME, "coming soon", mock data in any production-reachable code path. |
| **§RULE-4 — Self-Governance + Canonical-First** | Every privileged action emits a canonical evidence event. Every event family declared before the code that references it. |
| **§RULE-5 — Zero-Deviation Mandate** | Active deviations are a regression. DEVIATIONS.md MUST keep its Active section empty by default. |
| **§RULE-6 — Coherent Integration / No Orphans** | Every named component is bidirectionally referenced — registry → component AND component → registry. Orphans on either side are violations. |

## Why standard, not framework

- **Protocol** doesn't fit: there's no wire format, no two parties communicating through it.
- **Framework** is too low-stakes: implies "install this and inherit conventions" — people upgrade past frameworks.
- **Standard** is right: a spec that says "to call yourself a conforming software constitution, you MUST have …". Multiple implementations can conform. Procurement teams understand "standard"; engineers understand the conformance bar.

**Closest analogues:** 12-Factor App (heroku.com, 2011), OpenAPI (Linux Foundation), ADR (Architecture Decision Records).

## Adoption path

```
# 1. Copy the templates into your repo
cp -r software-constitution/templates/* your-repo/constitution/

# 2. Author your rules (one document per rail, numbered 01..NN)
$EDITOR your-repo/constitution/00-INDEX.md
$EDITOR your-repo/constitution/01-YOUR-FIRST-RAIL.md

# 3. Declare your implementation registry
$EDITOR your-repo/internal

# 4. Wire the reference gates into your CI
cp software-constitution/gates/*.mjs your-repo/scripts/gates/

# 5. Run the conformance test
npx scct your-repo
```

## Reference implementation: KYE Protocol™

The KYE Protocol™ monorepo is the canonical reference implementation. Current state (validated by SCCT on this repo): **L4 (Platform-bijected)** — every named surface is tracked in a generated meta-index, and every privileged action emits a canonical evidence event. Precise live counts ship in the auto-generated registry, not in prose.

[Browse the reference implementation →](https://github.com/KYE-Protocol/app)

## IP safety

The Apache 2.0 license grants explicit IP rights for the methodology, schemas, templates, and reference gates published here. This is general engineering methodology — like 12-Factor or ADR — not IP-sensitive.

The reference implementation (KYE Protocol™) carries its own trademarks and IP portfolio covering AI-agent governance mechanisms — those are licensed separately and are NOT covered by this standard.

Canonical KYE™ surfaces referenced on this page: [KYE Protocol™](https://kyeprotocol.com/) · [Self-Governance](https://kyeprotocol.com/self-governance/).