FAQ

Is Retornatus an agent framework?

No. It is a governance harness. The host runs the model; Retornatus structures obligations, proof, and memory.

Do I need a cloud account?

No. V1 is local and repository-native. No mandatory SaaS runtime or remote database.

Must every Change use Skills and Tasks?

No. Ceremony scales with complexity. Use skill need and only add Tasks when decomposition helps.

Why did verify fail when tests passed?

Assurance needs Evidence bound to Claims (--claim). Unbound test_result artifacts do not automatically satisfy DONE Claims.

Can I delete the SQLite database?

Yes. Run retornatus wake to rebuild. Do not delete canonical JSON/Markdown under .retornatus/changes/ unless you intend to discard history.

How is this different from Spec Guardrails?

Spec Guardrails is the direct predecessor. Retornatus is a separate successor architecture informed by building and dogfooding Spec Guardrails — not a fork or rename.

Spec Guardrails proved repo-native gates, memory, evidence, and human checkpoints in practice (npm / .specs/ / skill-driven phases). Retornatus preserves those guarantees while rethinking mechanisms: structured Demand→Situation→Contract→Action, Evidence ≠ Assurance, Finding→Question→Resolution, native-first Python harness under .retornatus/.

Command 1:1 parity with Spec Guardrails is not a goal. Provenance detail: Credits & lineage.

What does native-first mean for sandboxes?

Isolation Boundaries are advisory projections toward host worktrees/sandboxes. Retornatus does not enforce OS-level sandboxes in V1.

How do Rules reach Cursor / Claude / Codex?

On rule activate and integrate / bridge refresh, active Rules are upserted into host bridge files. Canonical Rules stay in .retornatus/.

Who can activate a Rule?

Only a recorded Human Decision of kind APPROVE_RULE_ACTIVATION for that Rule id (with matching confirmation token).

Where is the product contract?

prd/PRD.md. Guides in this folder explain; the PRD decides.