shopdb-flask/docs/CONTRACT-STABILITY.md

Path to contract 1.0

This page is an honest read of how stable the plugin contract is today, for a sister site deciding how much to build on it. It is derived from the ADRs and the live code, not aspiration. The authoritative hook reference is PLUGIN-HOOKS.md; the versioning rules are in ADR-002.

Current version

The plugin contract version is declared in shopdb/__init__.py as __contract_version__, and the current value is in PROJECT-MAP.md, which is generated. It is pre-1.0, which under semver means any 0.x minor bump is allowed to break the contract, and this project has used that latitude - see 0.19.0 below.

The product release version (__version__) is a separate series with its own bump rules; see ADR-007. Do not pin against it for compatibility - pin against __contract_version__.

0.x history

Recorded in the comment block in shopdb/__init__.py:

Version	Change	Kind
0.3.0	shopdb.api expanded to the full plugin import surface (db, cache, model bases, core models, response + pagination helpers, employee_connection) so plugins stop importing internal core paths	additive (minor)
0.4.0	Removed the never-implemented get_searchable_fields hook (search is a core concern over the asset model) and wired get_dashboard_widgets to a real consumer (/api/dashboard/widgets)	pre-1.0 contract reduction
0.6.0	Added the get_reports hook, consumed by GET /api/reports to merge plugin report cards into the Reports hub	additive optional hook (minor)
0.7.0	Added the four ADR-010 frontend-contribution hooks (get_settings_cards, get_asset_panels, get_map_overlays, get_asset_presentation), consumed by the GET /api/pluginui/* endpoints	additive optional hooks (minor)
0.9.0	Exposed the dualpath pair-resolution helpers on shopdb.api for the machines plugin	additive surface (minor)
0.10.0	Added the get_permissions hook so plugins declare their own RBAC permissions; the catalog is resolved dynamically from core + enabled plugins	additive optional hook (minor)
0.11.0	Added service_token_authorized(scope) to shopdb.api so a plugin's unattended endpoints (e.g. the GE-Enforce fetch API) can authorize a scoped managed service token without importing core token internals	additive surface (minor)
0.12.0	Added the mailer helpers (send_email, send_alert) to shopdb.api	additive surface (minor)
0.13.0	Added the User model to the shopdb.api surface	additive surface (minor)
0.14.0	Added send_webhook to the shopdb.api surface	additive surface (minor)
0.15.0	Added authorized_service_token / the SupportTeam model to the shopdb.api surface	additive surface (minor)
0.16.0	Added the get_settings_defaults hook so a plugin declares the Setting rows it owns; the framework seeds them at install, at enable, and on flask plugin upgrade-all, files a first-time write under the declared category, and honours public: True for pages that render before login	additive optional hook (minor)
0.17.0	Added DashboardDefault to the shopdb.api surface, so a plugin can resolve a display without reaching into core	additive surface (minor)
0.18.0	Added DISPLAY_ROLES, DISPLAY_ROLE_PATHS and normalize_display_role, and finally exported DashboardDefault, which 0.17.0 imported but left out of __all__. The role vocabulary became the kiosk's own - Dashboard, Lobby, 3DPrintRoom - so a plugin holding its own copy of that map reads core's instead of drifting from it	additive surface (minor)
0.19.0	BREAKING. get_dashboard_widgets returns DATA AND SHAPE, not a component name. The old shape (name + component + size) named a Vue component per widget, which cannot survive a lean build - a plugin's component may never be staged into the frontend bundle (ADR-013) - and five plugins were declaring widgets that pointed at components nobody had written. A card now declares id / title / endpoint / render / severity / permission / empty / position; see PLUGIN-HOOKS.md. Also added send_upload so a plugin serving user-supplied bytes gets the headers that keep an SVG from running as script	contract change (minor, pre-1.0)

The source comment block documents 0.3.0, 0.4.0, 0.6.0, 0.7.0, 0.9.0, 0.10.0, 0.11.0, 0.16.0, 0.18.0 and 0.19.0; 0.12.0 through 0.15.0 and 0.17.0 are recorded in this table only.

0.19.0 is the one to read before pinning. It is the only entry in this series that took something away, and it shipped before it was recorded here - which is precisely the reason to pin tight rather than to trust that a minor bump is safe. Earlier points (0.1.x / 0.2.x) predate that recorded rationale; PluginMeta's fallback core_version default of >=0.2.0,<1.0.0 is the only remaining trace of the 0.2 baseline.

Settled surface

These are unlikely to break before 1.0. A plugin can depend on them with reasonable confidence; a breaking change to any would be a major bump and would land with a new or amended ADR.

Surface	What it is
meta / manifest schema	PluginMeta fields and manifest.json (ADR-002 single source of truth)
get_blueprint	Flask Blueprint registration at the manifest api_prefix
get_models	SQLAlchemy model classes the plugin owns
init_app	Custom init after blueprint + models are known
get_cli_commands	Click commands added to the Flask CLI
get_services	Named service classes, consumed by plugin_manager.get_service
Lifecycle hooks	on_install, on_uninstall, on_enable, on_disable
get_navigation_items	Sidebar menu entries
get_dashboard_widgets	Dashboard widgets, consumed by /api/dashboard/widgets
get_reports	Report cards, consumed by /api/reports (added 0.6.0)
get_permissions	Plugin RBAC permissions, merged into the catalog for roles and token scopes (added 0.10.0)
Frontend-contribution hooks	get_settings_cards, get_asset_panels, get_map_overlays, get_asset_presentation, consumed by /api/pluginui/* (added 0.7.0, ADR-010)
Collector pair	get_collector_schema + apply_collector_payload per ADR-006
Settings helpers	get_setting / set_setting, namespaced to the plugin
get_provisioning_note	Setup-wizard transparency note for extra tables
get_config_schema	Setup-wizard config field declarations
shopdb.api import surface	The only core module plugins may import (plus shopdb.plugins.base); adding a name is minor, removing one is major

The asset model itself - Asset, AssetType, AssetStatus, AssetRelationship, and the shared reference models - is the platform contract locked in ADR-001.

Expected churn before 1.0

Known-unstable areas. Building on these means expecting rework.

Area	Status	Reference
Frontend renderers (residual)	The four data-only hooks and their /api/pluginui/* consumers are settled (0.7.0). The generic core renderers are landing incrementally: the settings-cards rail/landing renderer ships with 0.7.0; the asset-panel, map-overlay, and search-presentation renderers are wired opt-in per the ADR adoption plan. Real component-backed panels (bespoke charts, custom overlays) remain deferred to Option C (build-time glob discovery).	ADR-010 (ACCEPTED)
Per-plugin migrations	Brand new. The per-plugin Alembic engine exists and every bundled plugin now carries a chain, but the pattern has one release of production mileage, not years.	ADR-008 (2026-07-10)
Pip distribution	Deferred to v2. External plugins install by clone / submodule / symlink; there is no entry-point discovery and no automatic update path yet.	ADR-003

Bump rules

From ADR-002, applied to __contract_version__:

Bump	Trigger
major	Breaking change to the BasePlugin ABC, the PluginMeta schema, or any model in the platform contract (Asset, AssetType, AssetStatus, AssetRelationship, Vendor, Location, BusinessUnit, Model, OperatingSystem). Removing a name from shopdb.api is major.
minor	Additive change: a new optional hook, a new field on a contract model with a default, a new name added to shopdb.api.
patch	Bug fix with no change to the contract surface.

Deprecation policy

ADR-002 defines the bump classification above but is silent on any deprecation window or notice period for pre-1.0 removals. In practice a removal is simply a major (or, pre-1.0, a breaking minor) bump: the hook or name is gone, and the loader fails loud in dev or excludes the mismatched plugin in prod (see the load-time table in PLUGIN-EXTERNAL-REPO.md). Because the ADR says nothing about a grace period, this document proposes none; the honest guidance for sister sites is the mitigation that already exists - pin a tight core_version range and re-test before widening it.

Criteria for declaring 1.0

Provisional. This is the maintainer's working list, not a committed checklist, and it will move. ADR-002's own open question ("When does the framework declare 1.0.0?") ties 1.0 to the Machine retirement from ADR-001 and the framework being "ready for sister sites"; the items below expand that intent.

• Frontend hook contract defined via its own ADR (asset-detail panels, map markers, search results), closing the biggest churn item above.
• Machine / legacy-model retirement complete per ADR-001, so the asset model is the only contract.
• At least two external plugins running in production at a second site - the bar ADR-003 already sets before pip distribution and sister-site readiness are considered justified.
• The per-plugin migration pattern (ADR-008) proven across real upgrades, not just fresh installs.
• No contract bump needed for N consecutive product releases (N to be fixed when the list is firmed up), showing the surface has actually settled.

Until then: pre-1.0, pin tight, re-test on every framework bump.