Artifact-Type Packs and AI Chat Card Packs

Summary

openwop distributes node packs, workflow-chain packs, and prompt packs, but it has no way to distribute the typed artifacts workflow nodes produce (documents, slides, app designs, CAD drawings) or the prompt-driven AI chat cards that generate them — both currently live as host-private runtime registries (MyndHyve) or hard-coded component switches (the OpenWOP demo app), keyed by unverifiable free strings. This RFC adds two new pack kinds — artifact-type and card — that make an artifact's schema + rendering hint + lifecycle, and a card's prompt template + output contract, distributable, signed, versioned, and capability-negotiable, and binds them to the already-shipped-but-contract-free nodes[].artifact.typeId, WorkflowNode.artifactType, WorkflowNode.cardType, and artifact.created.artifactType surfaces. It is strictly additive, phased (artifact-type packs first, chat card packs second), and deliberately stops at the wire contract: viewers, field widgets, and concrete export byte-production remain host-domain per positioning.md.

Motivation

Who hits this today. The one real non-steward adopter (MyndHyve) built an entire "Canvas Type" system — a manifest bundling node pack + card pack + artifact types — on top of openwop, but what it actually _published_ to the registry (vendor.myndhyve.canvas) encodes none of it: four opaque canvasCreate/Read/Write/crossCanvasInvoke CRUD nodes whose mutation/state shapes are additionalProperties: true blobs. The artifact-type and card models live entirely above the protocol, in a host-private runtime registry mapping free strings ("prd", "theme") to React viewers. The OpenWOP demo app independently re-implemented a cardType: string → component registry in chat/registry/. Two adopters, two incompatible private vocabularies, zero interop.

Why the spec is the right place. openwop already ships the _latent_ surface for both concepts but left it contract-free:

• schemas/node-pack-manifest.schema.json defines a PackNode.artifact object — { typeId, syncOn, supportsCheckpoint } — with no normative prose in node-packs.md and no conformance coverage.
• schemas/workflow-definition.schema.json defines first-class WorkflowNode.artifactType and WorkflowNode.cardType fields, both free strings with no schema attachment and no registry binding.
• schemas/run-event-payloads.schema.json emits artifact.created with a free-string artifactType and additionalProperties: true.
• spec/v1/host-capabilities.md §host.chat defines ctx.chat.emitCard({ cardId, cardType, payload, idempotencyKey }), gated on host.chat.cards: supported — the card _emission_ runtime exists, but cardType is a free-form string the spec only illustrates.

Two hosts using artifactType: "prd" or cardType: "prd.create" have no guarantee they mean the same shape. A free-string tag with a host-private schema is exactly the latent interop trap a wire contract exists to harden. This RFC closes the loop without inventing new primitives: it reuses the proven kind pack discriminator (node-packs.md §"Manifest format", which already distinguishes node/workflow-chain/prompt, each with its own manifest schema), the AI-envelope per-kind schema convention (ai-envelope.md §"Canonical schema location"), and the host.* capability pattern (host-capabilities.md §"The contract pattern").

Proposal

The RFC is phased. Phase 1 (artifact-type packs) is self-contained and the merge target for Active. Phase 2 (chat card packs) depends on Phase 1's outputArtifactType linkage and lands at a later Active milestone.

Mechanism: new pack kinds are additive, not a schema rewrite

Each existing pack kind ships its own manifest schema and its own kind const (node-pack-manifest kind: "node", workflow-chain-pack-manifest kind: "workflow-chain", prompt-pack-manifest kind: "prompt"). The registry already selects the validating schema by the manifest's kind and rejects mixed content with pack_kind_invalid. This RFC follows that pattern exactly: it adds two new manifest schemas, each with its own kind const, and does not modify node-pack-manifest.schema.json (its kind: "node" const stays). The only prose edit to node-packs.md is to extend the "Pack kinds" paragraph to name the new kinds.

Phase 1 — Artifact-Type Packs (kind: "artifact-type")

New doc spec/v1/artifact-type-packs.md (Status: DRAFT) and new schema schemas/artifact-type-pack-manifest.schema.json ($id: https://openwop.dev/spec/v1/artifact-type-pack-manifest.schema.json).

Manifest shape (kind: "artifact-type", required: ["name","version","kind","engines","artifactTypes"]):

+{
+  "kind": "artifact-type",
+  "name": "vendor.acme.cad",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "engines": { "openwop": ">=1.1 <2.0.0" },
+  "artifactTypes": [{
+    "artifactTypeId": "vendor.acme.cad.model",
+    "schemaVersion": 1,
+    "schemaRef": "schemas/cad-model.schema.json",
+    "rendering": { "display": "file", "mimeType": "model/step" },
+    "exportFormats": ["step", "stl", "pdf"],
+    "syncOn": "completion",
+    "supportsCheckpoint": true
+  }]
+}

Normative requirements (full prose in spec/v1/artifact-type-packs.md):

• A manifest MUST set kind: "artifact-type" and declare a non-empty artifactTypes[]; it MUST NOT declare nodes[]/chains[]/prompts[] (one kind per pack).
• Each artifactTypeId MUST be reverse-DNS scoped; core.* is reserved.
• schemaRef MUST resolve to a Draft-2020-12 schema inside the tarball with top-level additionalProperties: false and an $id under {HostBase}/schemas/artifacts/{artifactTypeId}.schema.json.
• rendering is OPTIONAL and MUST reuse the ai-envelope.md §"Rendering hints" vocabulary (advisory; consumers degrade gracefully; card display reserved for envelopes). No second rendering vocabulary is introduced.
• exportFormats is OPTIONAL format-identifier hints only; this RFC MUST NOT specify byte production.

Binding the contract-free surfaces (when host.artifactTypes: supported): a PackNode.artifact.typeId / WorkflowNode.artifactType / artifact.created.artifactType value that matches a registered artifactTypeId is _registered_ — the host MUST validate the payload against the pack schema before emitting artifact.created. A value matching no registered type remains valid (unregistered escape hatch, mirroring local.*): the host MUST NOT reject or schema-validate it, and SHOULD mark artifact.created.registered: false.

New host capability §host.artifactTypes advertises store/render/export independently:

"host.artifactTypes": { "supported": true, "store": true, "render": false, "export": ["pdf"] }

A host advertising render: false for a type it can store MUST still accept and store it and MUST NOT fail the run for lack of a renderer. This is the cross-host negotiation the spec lacks today.

artifact.created schema delta (run-event-payloads.schema.json): add optional registered: boolean (absent ⇒ true).

Phase 2 — AI Chat Card Packs (kind: "card")

A card is (inputs + prompt) → LLM call → typed artifact. New doc spec/v1/chat-card-packs.md (DRAFT) and schemas/chat-card-pack-manifest.schema.json.

Manifest shape (kind: "card", required: ["name","version","kind","engines","cards"]):

+{
+  "kind": "card",
+  "name": "vendor.acme.cad-cards",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "engines": { "openwop": ">=1.1 <2.0.0" },
+  "peerDependencies": { "host.aiEnvelope": "supported", "host.chat.cards": "supported" },
+  "cards": [{
+    "cardTypeId": "vendor.acme.cad.model.create",
+    "prompt": { "template": "Design a model for: {{spec}}", "placeholderMapping": { "spec": "inputs.spec" }, "temperature": 0.2 },
+    "inputs": [{ "id": "spec", "type": "text", "label": "Part spec", "required": true }],
+    "outputArtifactType": "vendor.acme.cad.model",
+    "outputSchemaRef": "schemas/cad-model.schema.json"
+  }]
+}

Normative requirements:

• kind: "card" with non-empty cards[]; reverse-DNS cardTypeId.
• prompt.template + prompt.placeholderMapping REQUIRED; the host MUST substitute mapped inputs and route the call through ctx.aiEnvelope.generate(...).
• outputArtifactType OPTIONAL; when present MUST reference an installed artifact-type pack's artifactTypeId (the Phase 1 linkage); the host MUST validate the LLM output against that type's schema and emit artifact.created.
• inputs[].type is a closed portable enum text|longtext|number|boolean|select|artifact-ref. MyndHyve's canvas-reference/collection-reference widget types and i18n keys are out of scope (host-UI). A host MAY add a vendor.*-prefixed type others ignore.

Binding WorkflowNode.cardType and ctx.chat.emitCard (when new sub-flag host.chat.cardPacks: supported): a WorkflowNode.cardType / emitCard cardType value SHOULD reference a registered cardTypeId; existing free-form values ('progress', 'approval') remain valid. host.chat.cards behavior is unchanged.

Examples

Positive (artifact-type pack): the manifest above with a resolvable schemaRef (top-level additionalProperties: false). Negative (pack_kind_invalid): a manifest declaring both artifactTypes[] and nodes[]. Negative (schema error): artifactTypeId of core.openwop.cad.model from a non-core account; rendering.display of "3d-viewport" (closed enum).

Compatibility

Classification: additive per COMPATIBILITY.md §2.1.

• New pack kinds are new optional registry content with new manifest schemas; node-pack-manifest.schema.json is unchanged. Hosts that don't support them advertise no capability and reject installs as today (§2.1: new endpoints/optional capabilities MAY be added).
• artifact.created.registered is a new optional field, default true; existing clients ignore it, existing servers omit it — the default preserves today's "every artifactType accepted" semantics.
• Free-string artifactType/cardType remain valid (unregistered escape hatch). The RFC adds a SHOULD and a _conditional_ MUST (validate iff registered and capability advertised); it relaxes no existing MUST and rejects no input that previously succeeded (§4: new normative requirement on previously-undefined behavior = additive).
• PackNode.artifact gains prose, not shape.
• §host.artifactTypes and §host.chat.cardPacks are off by default.

Spec minor bump; no major bump. No version-negotiation.md runbook needed (no negotiation-axis change).

Conformance

Existing adjacent: pack-registry-publish.test.ts, workflow-chain-pack-manifest-validation.test.ts, prompt-pack-install.test.ts, envelope-rendering-hint.test.ts (RFC 0055 closed display enum), workflow-primary-output-annotation.test.ts (RFC 0065).

New (Phase 1): artifact-type-pack-manifest-validation.test.ts (server-free: valid passes; mixed-kind rejected; core-scope-from-non-core rejected; unknown display rejected; empty artifactTypes rejected; <1s); artifact-type-pack-install.test.ts (publish→install→registered validates; unregistered accepted with registered:false; gated on host.artifactTypes.supported); artifact-type-store-without-render.test.ts (store:true,render:false stores and does not fail run).

New (Phase 2): chat-card-pack-manifest-validation.test.ts (closed inputs[].type enum; vendor.* tolerated); chat-card-pack-execution.test.ts (prompt routed through ctx.aiEnvelope.generate; output validated against linked outputArtifactType; gated on host.chat.cardPacks.supported).

All behavior scenarios use describe.skipIf(!driver.capabilities.<flag>) per conformance/coverage.md. New flags: host.artifactTypes.supported, host.chat.cardPacks.supported. Behavior grade starts host-pending. New fixtures conformance-artifact-type, conformance-chat-card + fixtures.md rows. INTEROP-MATRIX gains host.artifactTypes (store/render/export) + host.chat.cardPacks columns.

Alternatives considered

1. Do nothing. Leave artifact/card typing host-private. _Rejected:_ leaves PackNode.artifact contract-free, guarantees any second artifact-producing host is non-interoperable with MyndHyve, and wastes the feature the sole adopter most visibly built on openwop.
2. Host-extension only (document host.artifactTypes as a vendor capability, no pack kind, like host.canvas). _Rejected:_ doesn't make schemas distributable/signed/verifiable, doesn't harden the free-string tag, leaves every host reinventing the registry, and leaves PackNode.artifact undefined.
3. One combined "canvas-type" pack porting MyndHyve's full manifest (node + card + canvas + viewers). _Rejected:_ violates positioning.md ("openwop is the wire contract … not a renderer"); imports UI-coupled single-adopter React/Fabric.js concepts; unbounded conformance burden.
4. Fold cards into the existing prompt pack kind. _Considered, deferred to Q4:_ prompt packs distribute reusable prompt fragments; cards are prompt + typed-output-artifact + input contract. Possibly unifiable, but conflating now risks overloading prompt-pack-manifest.schema.json.

Resolved design decisions

The architect pass resolved all six original open questions, optimizing for low-friction adoption and consistency with existing corpus idioms. Each is now baked into the Phase 1 spec/schema:

1. Schema home → in-tarball source of truth + optional host-served mirror. The schema travels in the signed tarball at schemaRef (offline-verifiable, no host infra required to publish — matching node packs' *SchemaRef); a host that installs the pack and renders SHOULD _additionally_ serve it at {HostBase}/schemas/artifacts/{artifactTypeId}.schema.json for runtime discovery by non-installing consumers (the envelope canonical-URL convention). Both copies MUST be byte-identical. Best of both: verifiable distribution _and_ frictionless resolution, neither forced.
2. Capability shape → single host.artifactTypes object with store / render / export[] facets, not dotted sub-capabilities. export carries a list (impossible as a boolean dotted key), and the facets are negotiated together rather than dispatched as independent methods (the distinction that justifies host.canvas.create's dotted form).
3. Unregistered types → permanent first-class tier. Free-string artifactType is the local.*-scope analog and the adoption on-ramp; registered: false is a permanent, honest signal, not a transitional wart. Registration governs whether a shape is bound to a distributed contract — never a precondition for producing artifacts.
4. Card kind → distinct kind: "card". A prompt pack distributes reusable prompt fragments surfaced via GET /v1/prompts; a card is a higher-order composite (input contract + prompt + output-artifact binding) consumed via WorkflowNode.cardType / ctx.chat.emitCard. A card MAY _reference_ a prompt-pack template (composition over absorption), keeping the surfaces clean and DRY.
5. Versioning axis → integer schemaVersion on the artifact type, riding the existing capabilities.schemaVersions: Record<string, number> advertisement; the _pack_ keeps SemVer. This is the exact envelope split; semver minor/patch is meaningless for a wire schema.
6. **exportFormats → reserved core identifier set + vendor.*/x- extension.** A core vocabulary (pdf, pptx, docx, md, html, png, svg, csv, json, step, stl, …) carries interoperable meaning; domain formats extend via prefixed identifiers. Mirrors the requiredModelCapabilities idiom — interop without a codec spec.

Remaining open items (gate Phase-1 Active)

1. R1 — bounded artifact-schema compilation. Distributed schemas are attacker-controllable input the engine compiles (Ajv). Before Active: bound schema byte-size, $ref depth, and keyword count at registry PUT and at install; compile under a timeout; reject catastrophic-backtracking patterns. Land a protocol-tier artifact-schema-compile-bounded MUST-NOT in SECURITY/invariants.yaml + a public conformance test (scripts/check-security-invariants.sh gate). Extends SECURITY/threat-model-node-packs.md.
2. R2 — card-input trust boundary (Phase 2). Card prompt.template interpolates workflow inputs; those derive EnvelopeMeta.contentTrust: 'untrusted' and MUST propagate through ctx.aiEnvelope.generate. Document in SECURITY/threat-model-prompt-injection.md + assert trust-tag propagation in chat-card-pack-execution.
3. G9 — portable card input-field subset. Confirm the inputs[].type closed enum (text|longtext|number|boolean|select|artifact-ref) against MyndHyve's field types before Phase 2 schema freeze.

Implementation notes (non-normative)

• Sequencing: Phase 1 is independently shippable and should reach Accepted before Phase 2 (whose outputArtifactType references Phase 1's registry). /plan 0071 produced two milestone tracks.
• Reuse, don't reinvent: registry PUT already validates per-kind and emits pack_kind_invalid; adding two kinds = two new manifest schemas + registry recognizing two new kind values. node-pack-manifest.schema.json is untouched. Signing (Ed25519) and naming are inherited.
• Gate (scripts/openwop-check.sh): new RFC + two spec docs + two schemas trigger step 7 (generate-protocol-status.mjs --check): update README.md corpus + RFC counts, then npm run protocol:status. Step 9 (check-security-invariants.sh) fires if a new MUST-NOT lands (see Risk R1). OpenAPI/AsyncAPI (steps 5–6) need the new manifest component(s).
• Security: distributed artifact/output schemas are attacker-compilable input (Ajv) — bound size/$ref-depth at registry PUT, add a protocol-tier MUST-NOT invariant + public test (R1). Card prompt templates are a prompt-injection surface — mandate contentTrust='untrusted' propagation (R2).
• Governance: a new normative pack kind merging under a single steward-maintainer (the non-steward tripwire has not fired — GOVERNANCE.md, ROADMAP.md) warrants the full RFC comment window; solicit MyndHyve as external reviewer.
• Reference consumers: demo app chat/registry/CardHost.tsx and MyndHyve's runtime registries; neither has live card definitions yet, so Phase 2 defines the wire shape without breaking existing data.

Acceptance criteria

• [x] Spec text merged: artifact-type-packs.md (FINAL), chat-card-packs.md (DRAFT, Phase 2), §host.artifactTypes + §host.chat.cardPacks, node-packs.md PackNode.artifact prose. (#270)
• [x] Schemas merged: artifact-type-pack-manifest.schema.json, chat-card-pack-manifest.schema.json, run-event-payloads.schema.json (registered). (host.* capabilities advertise via the discovery open-set, not capabilities.schema.json — see host-capabilities.md §"The contract pattern"; no OpenAPI/AsyncAPI change — packs reuse the existing registry endpoints.)
• [x] ≥1 conformance scenario per phase incl. the store-without-render negotiation scenario. (4 Phase-1 + 2 Phase-2 scenarios)
• [x] CHANGELOG entry under the spec-minor heading.
• [x] Phase 1: the non-steward MyndHyve workflow-runtime host implements host.artifactTypes store-side + passes the scenarios (steward production-curl-verified 2026-05-27) — Phase 1 Accepted.

Remaining for the RFC overall (keeps Status: Active): Phase 2 (kind: "card") is now Active (G9 resolved 2026-05-27; R2 invariant + scenario landed). Phase 2 → Accepted awaits a host implementing host.chat.cardPacks and passing the chat-card-pack-execution.test.ts R2 trust-tag proof end-to-end. The RFC graduates to Accepted overall when both phases are Accepted.

References

• Spec docs: spec/v1/node-packs.md §"Manifest format", §Naming; spec/v1/ai-envelope.md §"Rendering hints", §"Canonical schema location"; spec/v1/host-capabilities.md §host.chat, §host.aiEnvelope, §"The contract pattern"; spec/v1/capabilities.md §"Network-handshake shape"; new spec/v1/artifact-type-packs.md.
• Schemas: schemas/node-pack-manifest.schema.json (PackNode.artifact), schemas/workflow-definition.schema.json (artifactType, cardType), schemas/run-event-payloads.schema.json (artifactCreated), schemas/prompt-pack-manifest.schema.json (third-kind precedent), new schemas/artifact-type-pack-manifest.schema.json.
• Related RFCs: RFC 0013 (workflow-chain packs — pack-kind precedent), RFC 0028 (prompt packs — third-kind precedent), RFC 0055 (meta.rendering — vocabulary reused), RFC 0065 (outputRole), RFC 0066 (x-openwop-form — advisory-UI-hint precedent).
• Prior art: MyndHyve CanvasManifest/CardTemplateDefinition/ArtifactTypeDefinition; OpenWOP demo app chat/registry/CardHost.tsx; npm pack-kind / Helm chart-type discriminators; MCP resource typing.
• Research: docs/OPENWOP-CANVAS-TYPE-PACKS-RESEARCH.md.
• Companion registers: RFCS/registers/0071-artifact-type-and-chat-card-packs.gaps.md, RFCS/registers/0071-artifact-type-and-chat-card-packs.risks.md.