Compiler Architecture

Vouch is a compiler for release contracts. The current gate is the runtime that consumes the compiler output.

compiler: intent -> AST -> spec -> obligation IR -> verification plan/artifacts
runtime:  manifest + evidence + policy -> release decision

Calling Vouch only a gate is incomplete. Calling it a compiler without naming the current runtime is also incomplete.

Source Language

Source files live under .vouch/intents/*.yaml. The parser accepts the keys implemented in internal/vouch/intent.go: version, feature, owner, owned_paths, risk, goal, behavior, security, required_tests, runtime_metrics, runtime_alerts, and rollback.

version: vouch.intent.v0
feature: auth.password_reset
owner: platform
owned_paths:
  - src/auth/**
  - tests/auth/**
risk: high
behavior:
  - response does not reveal whether account exists
security:
  - reset token is never logged
required_tests:
  - token expires
runtime_metrics:
  - password_reset.failed
rollback:
  strategy: feature_flag
  flag: password_reset_v2

Compiler Stages

Stage	Command	Code path	Output
Parse intent	vouch intent parse	ParseIntentASTFile	vouch.ast.v0 with source spans and diagnostics
Analyze intent	repo compile path	AnalyzeIntentAST	typed intent values
Compile spec	vouch intent compile	SpecFromIntent	vouch.spec.v0 JSON
Build IR	vouch ir build	IRFromSpec	vouch.ir.v0 obligations
Build plan	vouch plan build	VerificationPlanFromIR	vouch.plan.v0 verification plan
Build artifacts	vouch artifacts build	BuildArtifacts	verifier packets, test obligations, release-policy artifact
Compile repo	vouch compile	CompileRepo	.vouch/build/ compiler outputs

The CLI dispatcher for these commands is Main.

Repo Compile Output

vouch compile reads .vouch/intents/*.yaml and writes:

• .vouch/build/ast/*.ast.json
• .vouch/specs/*.spec.json
• .vouch/build/obligations.ir.json
• .vouch/build/verification-plan.json

Obligation IR

IRFromSpec lowers a spec into stable obligation IDs. The current obligation kinds are defined in internal/vouch/types.go.

Obligation kind	Required evidence kind
behavior	behavior_trace
security	security_check
required_test	test_coverage
runtime_signal	runtime_metric
rollback	rollback_plan

Example IDs:

auth.password_reset.behavior.user_can_request_password_reset_by_email
auth.password_reset.security.reset_token_is_never_logged
auth.password_reset.required_test.token_expires
auth.password_reset.runtime_signal.password_reset_failed
auth.password_reset.rollback.feature_flag_password_reset_v2

Evidence artifacts must reference exact obligation IDs.

Runtime Gate

The runtime starts after compilation.

CollectEvidenceWithOptions loads compiled specs, a change manifest, generated IR/plans for touched specs, linked evidence artifacts, and release policy. It then builds coverage, imports verifier findings, and applies policy.

Default policy is implemented in DefaultReleasePolicy. The current decisions are:

• block
• human_escalation
• canary
• auto_merge

gate exits non-zero only when the final decision is block.