edit-contract

/edit-contract — Bounded Chapter Edits

One file per contract at contracts/{chapter}-{slug}.md. No other ledgers.

Running Python helpers

Choose the interpreter before running the examples. For a globally installed copy, use the private runtime recorded by its installer. In a checkout or linked workspace, use AWT_PYTHON when set, otherwise the toolkit's .venv (follow the skill directory link back to the toolkit): Scripts/python.exe on Windows, bin/python on macOS/Linux. Without that environment, check that python (Windows) or python3 (macOS/Linux) actually runs and has the helper's dependencies. Replace the example's python3 with that executable. In PowerShell, prefix a quoted executable with &; keep commands on one line and quote file paths.

When to use

Before a substantive edit (rewriting more than one paragraph, changing what a section claims, restructuring). Not for typo fixes or single-sentence edits.

Contract file format

# Edit Contract: {chapter} — {short goal}

## Spine card
- Section role: {what this section must keep doing in the argument}
- Core claim (must not broaden): {one sentence}
- Sources in scope: {list; their roles — support / background / challenge}
- Forbidden: {claims that must NOT appear; scope that must NOT leak in}

## Scope
- May change: {chapters/ch3.md}
- Must not change: {chapters/ch2.md, chapters/ch4.md}

## Attempts
- [ ] Attempt 1: {date} — {outcome: accepted / revise / rejected, one line why}

Workflow

1. Draft the contract from the user's request and the current section; show it; the user approves or amends it in conversation before any edit.
2. Make the edit within Scope. After the edit, restate in one short table: what changed, whether the core claim broadened (quote before/after if it did), and whether anything Forbidden appeared.
3. Record the attempt line. The user's accept/revise/reject decision in conversation is the gate — the file records it, it does not grant it.