Contract Detail

AIXE expects each endpoint to be able to describe itself in live, readable terms when the caller asks.

This is where the protocol moves beyond static documentation. An endpoint that can explain its purpose, method, fields, identity assumptions, and likely responses at runtime becomes materially easier to use and easier to evolve.

The endpoint turns into a live manual for itself.

Operational explanation

The caller can ask what the endpoint does before committing to it.

A useful self-description explains the job of the endpoint in plain language, not just the transport envelope around it. That means clarifying the action, the method, the expected effect, and the kinds of situations in which the route is appropriate or inappropriate.

This keeps capability discovery closer to decision-making instead of raw exploration.

Purpose disclosure

The endpoint explains the business action it performs and the kind of outcome it aims to produce.

Usage framing

The route description can also make clear whether it is a broad entry point, a workflow transition, or a highly specific operation.

Context disclosure

AIXE contracts reveal identity and context assumptions that materially change behavior.

An endpoint may behave differently depending on authentication, actor role, tenant scope, or execution context. Those differences matter to the caller and cannot be buried in hidden assumptions. A self-describing endpoint discloses enough of that context to help a caller reason correctly before it sends a request.

Identity context is part of the live contract, not a footnote.

Role awareness

The contract can declare whether the caller acts as itself, as a user, or under a delegated identity model.

Scope awareness

It can also describe whether permissions, tenant boundaries, or policy contexts affect what the route can do.

Discoverability mechanisms

The protocol supports simple, explicit ways to request self-description.

AIXE can accommodate pragmatic discovery patterns such as query-based description requests or content negotiation approaches, as long as the result is predictable and easy to implement. The key requirement is not ceremonial purity. It is that the caller can reliably ask the endpoint to explain itself.

A standard privileges clarity and usability over cleverness.

Predictable invocation

The caller needs a known, documented way to request the contract without ambiguity.

Readable payload

The returned discovery contract is structured enough for software and formatted cleanly enough for humans.

Related Protocol Paths

Move across the connected ideas that support this part of AIXE.

These related paths keep the larger structure visible while the current idea receives a focused, deeper treatment.

aixe.ai Discovery

How the minimal aixe.ai file acts as the first handshake into an AIXE-aware service.

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Endpoint Self-Description

How AIXE uses live endpoint description to replace brittle guesswork with runtime guidance.

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Field and Error Contracts

Why AIXE gives field semantics and corrective errors an elevated role in the contract.

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Protocol Continuation

A better contract surface

When endpoints can describe themselves well, more of the integration burden moves out of memory and back into the software surface where it belongs.

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