Runtime Contract Documentation

Use this page when you need to keep shared NeMo Relay runtime terminology aligned across documentation, examples, bindings, plugins, or integrations.

The Rust runtime remains the behavioral source of truth. These docs are the coordination point for user-facing language about ownership, execution ordering, cleanup, support boundaries, and observability semantics. Keep these pages aligned before changing examples or workflow-specific guides that depend on them.

Shared Contract Pages

These pages define or route the shared runtime model:

docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/index.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/scopes.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/middleware.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/subscribers.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/plugins.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/events.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/framework-integrations.mdx
docs/about-nemo-relay/concepts/codecs.mdx
docs/getting-started/agent-runtime-primer.mdx
docs/getting-started/installation.mdx
docs/getting-started/quick-start/index.mdx
docs/reference/api/index.mdx
docs/configure-plugins/observability/about.mdx
docs/configure-plugins/observability/atof.mdx
docs/configure-plugins/observability/atif.mdx
docs/configure-plugins/observability/opentelemetry.mdx
docs/configure-plugins/observability/openinference.mdx
docs/resources/glossary.mdx

Support-sensitive summaries should also stay aligned with:

README.md
docs/integrate-into-frameworks/about.mdx
docs/nemo-relay-cli/about.mdx
docs/supported-integrations/about.mdx

Contract Boundaries

Use these boundaries when reviewing documentation and examples.

Concepts Versus API Reference

Concept pages explain runtime semantics. Generated API reference pages are for symbol lookup after the reader already knows which concept or integration boundary they need.

Primary Versus Experimental Bindings

Rust, Python, and Node.js are the primary documented bindings. Go and raw C FFI are source-first experimental surfaces unless a page explicitly says otherwise.

ATOF Versus Projections

ATOF is the canonical event stream. ATIF, OpenTelemetry, and OpenInference are downstream projections over those events. Projection docs should not redefine scope ownership, middleware ordering, provider payload decoding, replay policy, or cost policy.

Codecs Versus Ownership

Codecs translate typed application values or provider-native payloads into stable runtime shapes. They do not decide ownership, middleware ordering, whether execution can continue, or which exporter is active.

Managed Versus Explicit Integration

Managed execution wrappers preserve the full runtime pipeline around a real tool or LLM callback. Explicit lifecycle APIs preserve observability and parentage when a framework owns the callback, but they do not run the full managed execution pipeline by themselves.

Page Responsibilities

Use this map to keep shared pages focused.

Page	Responsibility
Concepts hub	Shared runtime model and routing across core concepts, framework integrations, and codecs.
Scopes	Ownership, hierarchy, scope-local visibility, cleanup, and request isolation.
Middleware	Intercepts versus guardrails, managed execution ordering, streaming placement, and failure behavior that changes execution.
Subscribers	Downstream event consumption, async delivery, flush expectations, and exporter relationship.
Plugins	Process-level activation, config-driven behavior installation, validation, rollback, and component ownership boundaries.
Events	Canonical ATOF envelope, start/end pairing, marks, semantic payloads, category profiles, and annotated request or response data.
Framework integrations	What the framework owns, what Relay owns, preferred wrapper points, explicit fallbacks, and what semantics each fallback loses.
Codecs	Typed value codecs, provider request codecs for request intercepts and request-side middleware, and response codecs for end-event annotations, subscribers, exporters, and diagnostics.
Agent runtime primer	Compact runtime model and first routing choice by owned boundary.
Installation	Install-by-surface routing for CLI, primary bindings, and maintained integrations.
Quick Start index	Boundary-based routing that does not promise more than child pages demonstrate.
API index	Generated reference as symbol lookup, not runtime semantics.
Observability pages	Event consumption, raw ATOF export, downstream projections, exporter selection, and setup versus delivery failure behavior.
Glossary	Stable vocabulary shared across concepts, support pages, examples, and generated reference introductions.

Review Checklist

Before landing a change that touches shared runtime wording, check:

The changed page still says who owns the boundary: application, framework, plugin, subscriber, exporter, or NeMo Relay runtime.
Managed execution ordering is not implied on pages that only use explicit lifecycle APIs.
Sanitize guardrails are described as emitted-payload changes, not real callback argument or return-value changes.
Subscriber and exporter work remains downstream from event construction.
ATOF remains the raw canonical event format, while ATIF, OpenTelemetry, and OpenInference remain projections.
Examples consume shared terminology instead of defining new support or contract language locally.
Support matrices stay aligned across README, CLI docs, supported integrations, and install or quick-start routing pages.
Generated API reference pages are not used as the only explanation for runtime ownership, ordering, cleanup, or failure behavior.