Agent output expectations (spec)

This document describes what downstream code is allowed to assume about agent outputs.

Required fields

An agent output MUST include:

• text: non-empty string
• confidence: float in [0, 1]
• metadata.contract_version: must equal the runtime CONTRACT_VERSION

Optional fields

An agent output MAY include:

• artifacts: structured payloads for consumers
• scores: named numeric judgments
• additional metadata (provenance, citations, etc.)

Why this is strict

Without a stable output contract:

• the decision layer becomes brittle,
• traces become hard to validate,
• replay tooling cannot safely reason about the run.

If you need a new output shape, extend artifacts rather than weakening the schema.