@orkestrel/scaffold 0.0.67 → 0.0.69

package/dist/host/guides/qualifier.md

@@ -0,0 +1,854 @@
+# Qualifier
+
+> A synchronous, deterministic eligibility engine that runs a pure,
+> JSON-serializable `QualificationDefinition`'s ordered `passes` against one
+> subject through one `@orkestrel/reason` engine and returns a fresh
+> `QualificationResult` carrying global and scoped eligibility, evidence-rich
+> `findings`, and quantitative `derivations`.
+
+`Qualifier` stops at eligibility: it reports whether and where a subject may proceed,
+and never calculates line amounts, builds worksheets, totals rates, emits notices,
+decides authority, or aggregates a batch. Qualification never mutates its inputs, so
+every result is a fresh object, and the internal working projection under
+`QUALIFICATION_KEY` is discarded after each call and must never be forwarded to a
+downstream consumer. A failed qualification, a global `ineligible`, and a global
+`referral` are terminal — a caller that runs qualification ahead of a downstream step
+stops there. A scoped restriction removes only that named scope from what the caller
+selects next, so an excluded scope is never evaluated merely to discard its outcome.
+`Qualifier` either receives an injected `ReasonInterface`, which it never destroys, or
+builds and owns its own engine (`bail: false`), destroyed in `destroy()`. An injected
+engine must be able to dispatch both quantitative and logical definitions — one it
+cannot dispatch surfaces `QualifierError('ENGINE')` wrapping the engine's throw. Every
+`qualify` call fires through `Qualifier`'s typed `emitter`. Source:
+[`src/core`](../src/core). Surfaced through the `@src/core` barrel.
+
+## Surface
+
+Create a qualifier, author a definition, and qualify a subject:
+
+```ts
+import { createQualificationDefinition, createQualifier, createRuling } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import { createAtom, createLogicalDefinition, createRule } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'licensed',
+		[createAtom('licensed', 'equals', false)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition('standard', 'Standard eligibility', [gates], {
+	rulings: [
+		createRuling('license', 'gates', 'licensed', 'restriction', {
+			message: 'A license is required',
+		}),
+	],
+})
+
+const qualifier = createQualifier()
+const result = qualifier.qualify({ id: 'risk-1', licensed: false }, definition)
+
+result.eligibility // 'ineligible'
+result.findings[0]?.message // 'A license is required'
+result.derivations // [] — no quantitative pass ran
+
+qualifier.destroy()
+```
+
+`qualify` accepts exactly one subject per call — there is no batch-of-subjects
+overload. A caller that must qualify many subjects loops and calls `qualify` once
+per subject.
+
+### Types
+
+A `Shape` cell holds an interface's data members as bare names in braces, `?` marking an optional member and `plus` introducing its call-signature members, and a type alias's own type literal with a union's arms escaped as `\|`.
+
+| Type                      | Kind      | Shape                                                                              | Summary                                                                                              |
+| ------------------------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `Eligibility`             | type      | `'eligible' \| 'ineligible' \| 'referral'`                                         | Represents the eligibility outcome axis.                                                             |
+| `QualificationEffect`     | type      | `'restriction' \| 'referral' \| 'condition'`                                       | Represents an authored ruling's eligibility impact.                                                  |
+| `QualificationPass`       | type      | `QuantitativeDefinition \| LogicalDefinition`                                      | Represents one ordered derivation or rule pass.                                                      |
+| `QualificationProjection` | type      | `number \| boolean \| Readonly<Record<string, unknown>>`                           | Represents one pass's internal working projection.                                                   |
+| `QualificationContext`    | type      | `Readonly<Record<string, QualificationProjection>>`                                | Represents the internal projection record stored under `QUALIFICATION_KEY`.                          |
+| `RulingInput`             | interface | `{ scope?, message? }`                                                             | Carries the optional fields `createRuling` accepts.                                                  |
+| `QualificationInput`      | interface | `{ description?, rulings?, metadata? }`                                            | Carries the optional fields `createQualificationDefinition` accepts.                                 |
+| `Ruling`                  | interface | `{ id, pass, rule, effect, scope?, message? }`                                     | Represents an authored consequence for one rule in one logical pass.                                 |
+| `Premise`                 | interface | `{ field?, label?, description?, comparison?, expected?, actual?, met? }`          | Represents display-neutral evidence for one condition, authored as a checked or a described premise. |
+| `Finding`                 | interface | `{ id, pass, rule, effect, scope?, applied, message?, premises }`                  | Represents one resolved ruling.                                                                      |
+| `Derivation`              | interface | `{ id, value, success, trace, errors }`                                            | Represents one quantitative pass's audit result.                                                     |
+| `QualificationDefinition` | interface | `{ id, name, description?, passes, rulings?, metadata? }`                          | Represents a pure authored qualification definition.                                                 |
+| `QualificationResult`     | interface | `{ id, name, eligibility, scopes, findings, derivations, success, trace, errors }` | Represents one subject's complete qualification outcome.                                             |
+| `QualifierErrorCode`      | type      | `'DEFINITION' \| 'MISMATCH' \| 'DESTROYED' \| 'ENGINE'`                            | Represents a coded `QualifierError` programmer-error code.                                           |
+| `QualifierErrorContext`   | interface | `{ pass?, definition?, cause? }`                                                   | Represents the structured payload a `QualifierError` carries.                                        |
+| `QualifierEventMap`       | type      | `{ derive, finding, qualify, destroy }`                                            | Represents the push observation surface of a `QualifierInterface`.                                   |
+| `QualifierOptions`        | interface | `{ engine?, validate?, labels?, on?, error? }`                                     | Carries the options for `createQualifier` and the `Qualifier` constructor.                           |
+| `QualifierInterface`      | interface | `{ emitter } plus qualify, validate, destroy`                                      | Owns or borrows one reason engine and returns eligibility.                                           |
+
+Every public data member is `readonly`, every optional key is omitted rather than
+`undefined`, and each name is single-word within its entity. Reason
+supplies the pass primitives (`QuantitativeDefinition`, `LogicalDefinition`,
+`Subject`, `Comparison`) and the `ReasonValidationResult` type `validate` returns;
+contract supplies `FieldPath` and `JSONValue`; the emitter supplies the observation
+types.
+
+### Constants
+
+A `Shape` cell holds the constant's declared type.
+
+| API                          | Kind  | Shape                                                | Summary                                                                                                                                             |
+| ---------------------------- | ----- | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `DEFAULT_QUALIFIER_VALIDATE` | const | `boolean`                                            | Holds the default definition validation policy for `createQualifier` and `Qualifier.qualify`, `true`.                                               |
+| `QUALIFICATION_KEY`          | const | `string`                                             | Names `'qualification'`, the reserved internal projection namespace a pass's working projection is written under.                                   |
+| `ELIGIBILITY_PRECEDENCE`     | const | `readonly Eligibility[]`                             | Lists the eligibility severities most to least severe: `ineligible`, `referral`, `eligible`.                                                        |
+| `EFFECT_ELIGIBILITIES`       | const | `Readonly<Record<QualificationEffect, Eligibility>>` | Maps each `QualificationEffect` to its eligibility impact — `restriction` to `ineligible`, `referral` to `referral`, and `condition` to `eligible`. |
+
+`ELIGIBILITY_PRECEDENCE` and `EFFECT_ELIGIBILITIES` are frozen. A `condition` never blocks
+its subject, so a conditional ruling contributes evidence without changing eligibility.
+
+### Errors
+
+| API                | Kind     | Summary                                                                                                                            |
+| ------------------ | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `QualifierError`   | class    | Represents a coded programmer error thrown by the qualifier layer, carrying a `QualifierErrorCode` and an optional context record. |
+| `isQualifierError` | function | Narrows a caught value to a `QualifierError`.                                                                                      |
+
+`context` is a `QualifierErrorContext` or `undefined`, so a caught error's payload
+needs no narrowing of its own. `ENGINE` marks an underlying reason engine throw that
+fits no other code (for example, a missing reasoner) — `context.pass` names the pass
+and `context.cause` preserves the original throw. A `DEFINITION`/`INVALID` or
+`DESTROYED` engine throw maps to the matching code instead, and a `DEFINITION` throw
+raised by `qualify`'s own validation carries `context.definition`.
+
+```ts
+import { isQualifierError, QualifierError } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+
+try {
+	throw new QualifierError('DESTROYED', 'Qualifier has been destroyed')
+} catch (error) {
+	if (isQualifierError(error)) {
+		error.code // 'DESTROYED'
+		error.context // undefined
+	}
+}
+
+const engine = new QualifierError('ENGINE', "Pass 'gates' engine failure", { pass: 'gates' })
+engine.context?.pass // 'gates'
+```
+
+### Validators
+
+A validator is exact or open, split by who produces the value. Authored-input guards are exact:
+they reject unknown keys because this package owns the stored record. Result guards are open: they
+admit unknown members, prototypes, and class instances while checking every published member this
+package reads. This matters when a package borrows a `QualifierInterface`; the implementation that
+produces `qualify` results may live outside this package. Every validator remains total, refuses
+arrays where a record is required, returns `false` for hostile reads, and never throws. A `validate`
+result belongs to `@orkestrel/reason`, so narrow one with the `isReasonValidationResult` guard from
+that package.
+
+In a guard table a `Shape` cell holds the type the guard narrows to.
+
+| API                         | Kind     | Shape                                   | Summary                                                                                     |
+| --------------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `isEligibility`             | const    | `Eligibility`                           | Determines whether a value is an `Eligibility` literal.                                     |
+| `isQualificationEffect`     | const    | `QualificationEffect`                   | Determines whether a value is a `QualificationEffect` literal.                              |
+| `isEligibilityRecord`       | function | `Readonly<Record<string, Eligibility>>` | Determines whether a value is an open string-keyed record of `Eligibility` values.          |
+| `isPremise`                 | function | `Premise`                               | Determines whether a value is an open result-side `Premise`.                                |
+| `isFinding`                 | function | `Finding`                               | Determines whether a value is an open result-side `Finding`.                                |
+| `isDerivation`              | function | `Derivation`                            | Determines whether a value is an open result-side `Derivation`.                             |
+| `isQualificationResult`     | function | `QualificationResult`                   | Determines whether a value is an open `QualificationResult` returned by a qualifier.        |
+| `isRuling`                  | function | `Ruling`                                | Determines whether a value is an exact `Ruling` record.                                     |
+| `isQualificationPass`       | function | `QualificationPass`                     | Determines whether a value is a `QualificationPass` (a quantitative or logical definition). |
+| `isQualificationDefinition` | function | `QualificationDefinition`               | Determines whether a value is an exact `QualificationDefinition` record.                    |
+
+```ts
+import {
+	isEligibility,
+	isEligibilityRecord,
+	isFinding,
+	isDerivation,
+	isPremise,
+	isQualificationDefinition,
+	isQualificationEffect,
+	isQualificationPass,
+	isQualificationResult,
+	isRuling,
+} from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import { createLogicalDefinition } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+isEligibility('referral') // true
+isQualificationEffect('condition') // true
+isEligibilityRecord({ wind: 'ineligible' }) // true
+isPremise({ field: 'age', comparison: 'above', actual: 30, met: true }) // true
+isFinding({
+	id: 'f',
+	pass: 'gates',
+	rule: 'adult',
+	effect: 'condition',
+	applied: true,
+	premises: [],
+}) // true
+isDerivation({ id: 'cap', value: Number.NaN, success: true, trace: [], errors: [] }) // true
+isQualificationResult({
+	id: 'd',
+	name: 'D',
+	eligibility: 'eligible',
+	scopes: {},
+	findings: [],
+	derivations: [],
+	success: true,
+	trace: [],
+	errors: [],
+}) // true
+isQualificationPass(createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Gates', [])) // true
+isRuling({ id: 'r', pass: 'gates', rule: 'licensed', effect: 'restriction' }) // true
+isQualificationDefinition({ id: 'd', name: 'D', passes: [] }) // true
+```
+
+### Helpers
+
+Pure exported helpers form the functional core. `Qualifier` retains only the ordered
+orchestration and ownership lifecycle.
+
+| API                              | Kind     | Summary                                                                                                                                            |
+| -------------------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `interpolateMessage`             | function | Interpolates `{{dotted.path}}` tokens in a message template against a subject.                                                                     |
+| `renderComparison`               | function | Renders a `Premise` comparison as a display-neutral verb phrase.                                                                                   |
+| `renderValue`                    | function | Renders a structured or scalar expected value display-neutrally.                                                                                   |
+| `renderPremise`                  | function | Renders one `Premise` into a display-neutral sentence.                                                                                             |
+| `checkToPremise`                 | function | Builds a `Premise` from an authored `Check` and its evaluated `CheckResult`.                                                                       |
+| `ruleToPremises`                 | function | Builds rich premises for one fired `Rule` by walking its premise atoms and re-evaluating each against the working subject.                         |
+| `findRule`                       | function | Locates an authored `Rule` by id.                                                                                                                  |
+| `reasonResultToProjection`       | function | Projects one reason result into the internal qualification namespace.                                                                              |
+| `quantitativeResultToDerivation` | function | Projects a quantitative result into a `Derivation` audit record.                                                                                   |
+| `qualificationToRecord`          | function | Wraps a `QualificationContext` under `QUALIFICATION_KEY`.                                                                                          |
+| `mergeQualificationContext`      | function | Merges one pass projection into the context, copy-on-write.                                                                                        |
+| `rulingToFinding`                | function | Joins a ruling, its logical rule result, the pass, the pre-projection subject, and an evaluator into a `Finding`.                                  |
+| `deriveFindingEligibility`       | function | Derives global eligibility from applied, unscoped findings.                                                                                        |
+| `combineEligibilities`           | function | Returns the most severe `Eligibility` in a list.                                                                                                   |
+| `deriveScopeEligibilities`       | function | Derives one eligibility per finding scope.                                                                                                         |
+| `describeMissingReferences`      | function | Describes each ruling whose pass or rule does not exist or whose pass is not logical, and each pass id shadowing the reserved `QUALIFICATION_KEY`. |
+| `hasReservedKey`                 | function | Determines whether a subject already owns the reserved `QUALIFICATION_KEY`.                                                                        |
+| `assertSubject`                  | function | Asserts a value is a valid qualification `Subject`, narrowing it in place.                                                                         |
+| `mapEngineError`                 | function | Maps an engine throw caught while running one pass to a typed `QualifierError`.                                                                    |
+| `describeEmptyLogicalPasses`     | function | Describes each logical pass carrying no rulings.                                                                                                   |
+| `describeUnreadDerivations`      | function | Describes each quantitative pass never read by a later pass.                                                                                       |
+
+Every helper carries a worked `@example` in source and is composed by `Qualifier`
+rather than reimplemented by it.
+
+The projection and derivation core turns one reason result into a working projection,
+a `Derivation`, and — for logical passes — findings and eligibility:
+
+```ts
+import {
+	createRuling,
+	deriveFindingEligibility,
+	deriveScopeEligibilities,
+	mergeQualificationContext,
+	qualificationToRecord,
+	quantitativeResultToDerivation,
+	reasonResultToProjection,
+	rulingToFinding,
+} from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import {
+	createAtom,
+	createEvaluator,
+	createFactorGroup,
+	createLogicalDefinition,
+	createLogicalReasoner,
+	createQuantitativeDefinition,
+	createQuantitativeReasoner,
+	createReason,
+	createRule,
+	createStaticFactor,
+} from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const engine = createReason({
+	reasoners: [createQuantitativeReasoner(), createLogicalReasoner()],
+	bail: false,
+})
+const evaluator = createEvaluator()
+
+const cap = createQuantitativeDefinition('cap', 'TIV cap', [
+	createFactorGroup('limit', 'sum', [createStaticFactor('base', 500_000)]),
+])
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'licensed',
+		[createAtom('licensed', 'equals', false)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+
+const subject = { licensed: false }
+
+// A quantitative pass projects its numeric value under the pass id, and audits as a Derivation.
+const capResult = engine.reason(subject, cap)
+const context = mergeQualificationContext({}, 'cap', reasonResultToProjection(cap, capResult))
+qualificationToRecord(context) // { qualification: { cap: 500000 } }
+if (capResult.reasoning === 'quantitative') {
+	quantitativeResultToDerivation('cap', capResult) // { id: 'cap', value: 500000, success: true, ... }
+}
+
+// A logical pass joins each ruling to a Finding, then eligibility follows by severity.
+const gatesResult = engine.reason(subject, gates)
+if (gatesResult.reasoning === 'logical') {
+	const ruling = createRuling('license', 'gates', 'licensed', 'restriction')
+	const finding = rulingToFinding(ruling, gates, gatesResult, subject, evaluator)
+	deriveFindingEligibility([finding]) // 'ineligible'
+	deriveScopeEligibilities([finding]) // {} — the finding is unscoped
+}
+```
+
+The projections stay inside the qualification namespace and the working subject is
+discarded after each call. The reference-describing and subject-guard helpers back
+`validate` and the reserved-key rejection:
+
+```ts
+import {
+	assertSubject,
+	createQualificationDefinition,
+	createRuling,
+	describeMissingReferences,
+	hasReservedKey,
+} from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import { createAtom, createLogicalDefinition, createRule } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'licensed',
+		[createAtom('licensed', 'equals', false)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition('standard', 'Standard', [gates], {
+	rulings: [createRuling('license', 'gates', 'absent', 'restriction')],
+})
+
+describeMissingReferences(definition)
+// ["Ruling 'license' references missing rule 'absent' in pass 'gates'"]
+hasReservedKey({ id: 's1', qualification: {} }) // true
+assertSubject({ id: 's1' }) // narrows to Subject; throws QualifierError('MISMATCH') on a reserved key
+```
+
+### Factories
+
+| API                             | Kind     | Summary                                                                        |
+| ------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
+| `createQualifier`               | function | Creates one `QualifierInterface` over a reason engine.                         |
+| `createQualificationDefinition` | function | Creates a fresh `QualificationDefinition`, omitting every absent optional key. |
+| `createRuling`                  | function | Creates a fresh `Ruling` from the rule it reacts to and the effect it applies. |
+
+#### Create a qualifier
+
+This fence adds to the quickstart what the factory family itself contributes: the
+optional `message` and `rulings` inputs, and the fresh value each factory returns
+with every absent optional key omitted.
+
+```ts
+import { createQualificationDefinition, createQualifier, createRuling } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import { createAtom, createLogicalDefinition, createRule } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'licensed',
+		[createAtom('licensed', 'equals', false)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+
+const bare = createRuling('license', 'gates', 'licensed', 'restriction')
+const messaged = createRuling('license', 'gates', 'licensed', 'restriction', {
+	message: 'A license is required',
+})
+
+'message' in bare // false — an absent optional key is omitted, never written as undefined
+messaged.message // 'A license is required'
+
+const passes = [gates]
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition('standard', 'Standard eligibility', passes, {
+	rulings: [messaged],
+})
+
+'description' in definition // false
+definition.passes === passes // false — the factory copies what it is handed
+
+const qualifier = createQualifier()
+qualifier.qualify({ id: 'risk-1', licensed: false }, definition)
+qualifier.destroy()
+```
+
+Every factory returns a fresh value and omits absent optional keys.
+
+### Classes
+
+| API         | Kind  | Summary                                                             |
+| ----------- | ----- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `Qualifier` | class | Runs ordered passes over one reason engine and returns eligibility. |
+
+## Methods
+
+#### `QualifierInterface`
+
+`qualify` takes exactly one subject and one definition — there is no
+batch-of-subjects overload. `destroy` destroys the reason engine only when the
+qualifier created it; an injected engine remains caller-owned. The emitter is
+destroyed last.
+
+| Method     | Returns                  | Summary                                                             |
+| ---------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `qualify`  | `QualificationResult`    | Qualifies one subject against one authored definition.              |
+| `validate` | `ReasonValidationResult` | Validates one authored definition semantically, without running it. |
+| `destroy`  | `void`                   | Destroys this qualifier, idempotently.                              |
+
+```ts
+import { createQualificationDefinition, createQualifier, createRuling } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import { createAtom, createLogicalDefinition, createRule } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'licensed',
+		[createAtom('licensed', 'equals', false)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition('standard', 'Standard eligibility', [gates], {
+	rulings: [createRuling('license', 'gates', 'licensed', 'restriction')],
+})
+
+const qualifier = createQualifier()
+
+qualifier.validate(definition) // { valid: true, errors: [], warnings: [] }
+qualifier.qualify({ id: 'a', licensed: false }, definition) // eligibility: 'ineligible'
+qualifier.destroy()
+```
+
+## Contract
+
+### Qualification order
+
+Pass order is load-bearing.
+
+1. Begin with a fresh working subject copied from the caller's subject.
+2. Run the first pass through the shared reason engine.
+3. Resolve rulings against the exact subject snapshot the pass evaluated.
+4. Project the result under `qualification[pass.id]`.
+5. Rebuild the working subject copy-on-write for later passes.
+6. Continue with the next pass.
+7. Derive global eligibility, scoped eligibility, and success.
+8. Return a fresh result and discard the working subject.
+
+A quantitative pass exposes its numeric value directly:
+
+```ts
+qualification.cap // 500000
+```
+
+A logical pass exposes a record containing `conclusion` and applied conclusion fields:
+
+```ts
+qualification.gates // { conclusion: true, blocked: true }
+```
+
+Author qualification conclusion fields as flat string keys. `reason` formats an array-path conclusion into one dotted key, so an array-path conclusion does not create a nested object in the projection.
+
+Nested reads use `FieldPath` arrays:
+
+```ts
+createAtom(['qualification', 'cap'], 'below', 1_000_000)
+```
+
+A dotted string remains one literal field key and is not equivalent.
+
+### Eligibility
+
+Global eligibility is derived only from **unscoped** applied findings:
+
+| Effect        | Eligibility  |
+| ------------- | ------------ |
+| `restriction` | `ineligible` |
+| `referral`    | `referral`   |
+| `condition`   | `eligible`   |
+
+A failed pass adds a synthetic referral impact. Operational failure is therefore
+fail-closed: a subject with incomplete eligibility evidence must not proceed to
+any downstream decision step.
+
+Severity is deterministic:
+
+```text
+ineligible > referral > eligible
+```
+
+The qualifier may stop after an unscoped restriction because no later finding can
+be more severe. It must not stop after a referral if later passes can still establish
+an ineligible restriction.
+
+### Scopes
+
+A ruling with no `scope` affects global eligibility — whether the caller may
+proceed past qualification for the whole subject. A ruling with a `scope` affects
+only that named scope.
+
+```ts
+createRuling('coastal-wind', 'wind-gates', 'coastal', 'restriction', {
+	scope: 'wind',
+	message: 'Wind coverage is unavailable in the coastal band',
+})
+```
+
+The result is explicit:
+
+```ts
+result.eligibility // 'eligible'
+result.scopes.wind // 'ineligible'
+```
+
+The caller removes `wind` from the selected scope ids before any downstream
+step. It does not evaluate the wind scope and then suppress its outcome.
+
+A missing scope entry means `eligible`. A scoped `condition` leaves the scope
+eligible and contributes evidence a later consumer may act on.
+
+### Validation
+
+Structural validation and semantic validation remain separate.
+
+`isQualificationDefinition` checks exact record shape. `Qualifier.validate` checks:
+
+- non-empty definition id and name
+- each pass is a valid quantitative or logical definition
+- each ruling is a well-formed ruling record
+- unique pass ids
+- unique ruling ids
+- every ruling references an existing pass
+- every ruling references a logical pass
+- every ruling references an existing rule in that pass
+- no pass id equals `QUALIFICATION_KEY`
+- warnings for definitions with no passes
+- warnings for logical passes with no rulings
+- warnings for quantitative derivations never read by a later pass
+
+`qualify` throws `QualifierError('DEFINITION')` for a semantically invalid authored
+definition when `validate` is enabled. A malformed reason result is an operational
+qualification failure and returns a referral result instead of throwing. A
+definition with no passes is valid (a warning only) — every subject qualifies
+vacuously eligible against it.
+
+## Patterns
+
+### Quantitative derivation before logical eligibility
+
+The common pattern is to derive a threshold, derive the excess, then evaluate rules.
+The derived values remain inside the qualifier namespace.
+
+```ts
+import { createQualificationDefinition, createQualifier, createRuling } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+import {
+	createAtom,
+	createFactorGroup,
+	createFieldFactor,
+	createLogicalDefinition,
+	createQuantitativeDefinition,
+	createRule,
+	createStaticFactor,
+	createTransform,
+} from '@orkestrel/reason'
+
+const cap = createQuantitativeDefinition('cap', 'TIV cap', [
+	createFactorGroup('limit', 'sum', [createStaticFactor('base', 1_000_000)]),
+])
+
+const excess = createQuantitativeDefinition('excess', 'TIV excess', [
+	createFactorGroup('amount', 'sum', [
+		createFieldFactor('total', 'total'),
+		createFieldFactor('cap', ['qualification', 'cap'], {
+			transforms: [createTransform('multiply', -1)],
+		}),
+	]),
+])
+
+const gates = createLogicalDefinition('gates', 'Eligibility gates', [
+	createRule(
+		'tiv',
+		[createAtom(['qualification', 'excess'], 'above', 0)],
+		createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true),
+	),
+])
+
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition(
+	'property',
+	'Property eligibility',
+	[cap, excess, gates],
+	{
+		rulings: [
+			createRuling('tiv', 'gates', 'tiv', 'restriction', {
+				message: 'TIV exceeds the maximum',
+			}),
+		],
+	},
+)
+
+const qualifier = createQualifier()
+const result = qualifier.qualify({ total: 1_250_000 }, definition)
+
+result.eligibility // 'ineligible'
+result.derivations.map((entry) => [entry.id, entry.value])
+// [['cap', 1000000], ['excess', 250000]]
+```
+
+The caller's subject stays `{ total: 1_250_000 }` — not polluted with `cap`,
+`excess`, `blocked`, rule ids, or internal projection fields.
+
+### Scoped exclusion
+
+A scope is an opaque string to the qualifier. The caller is responsible for
+matching scope ids to whatever it selects for downstream work.
+
+```ts
+const wind = createLogicalDefinition('wind', 'Wind eligibility', [
+	createRule('coastal', [createAtom('distance', 'to', 2)], createAtom('blocked', 'equals', true)),
+])
+
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition('property', 'Property eligibility', [wind], {
+	rulings: [
+		createRuling('coastal', 'wind', 'coastal', 'restriction', {
+			scope: 'wind',
+			message: 'Wind coverage is unavailable within two miles of saltwater',
+		}),
+	],
+})
+
+const result = qualifier.qualify({ distance: 1.5 }, definition)
+
+result.eligibility // 'eligible'
+result.scopes.wind // 'ineligible'
+```
+
+The caller then filters by scoped eligibility:
+
+```ts
+const selected = items.filter((item) => {
+	const eligibility = result.scopes[item.id]
+	return eligibility === undefined || eligibility === 'eligible'
+})
+```
+
+### Conditions do not block downstream work
+
+A conditional ruling is authored like a blocking one, with a scope and a message:
+
+```ts
+const condition = createRuling('vacant', 'gates', 'vacant', 'condition', {
+	scope: 'exWind',
+	message: 'Vacancy terms apply',
+})
+```
+
+An applied condition produces:
+
+```ts
+result.scopes.exWind // 'eligible'
+result.findings.find((finding) => finding.id === 'vacant')?.effect // 'condition'
+```
+
+A `condition` does not block qualification for its scope — it surfaces evidence
+only. Any downstream status derived from that evidence is outside this package.
+
+### Referral blocks downstream work
+
+A referral ruling names the review a subject needs, and takes no scope here:
+
+```ts
+const referral = createRuling('roof', 'gates', 'roof', 'referral', {
+	message: 'Roof age requires manual review',
+})
+```
+
+An unscoped applied referral returns `eligibility: 'referral'`. A caller that runs
+qualification ahead of a downstream step must treat that outcome as terminal and
+skip that step.
+
+### Engine injection
+
+A standalone `Qualifier` creates and owns a reason engine containing quantitative and
+logical reasoners, destroying it on `destroy()`. When a caller composes multiple
+packages over one engine it injects that engine through the `engine` option; an
+injected engine is caller-owned and never destroyed by the qualifier. This mirrors
+`QualifierOptions.engine` and the `#owned` flag on the implementation.
+
+```ts
+import { createLogicalReasoner, createQuantitativeReasoner, createReason } from '@orkestrel/reason'
+import { createQualifier } from '@orkestrel/qualifier'
+
+const engine = createReason({
+	reasoners: [createQuantitativeReasoner(), createLogicalReasoner()],
+	bail: false,
+})
+
+const qualifier = createQualifier({ engine })
+qualifier.destroy() // does not destroy the injected engine
+engine.destroy()
+```
+
+Premise evidence is rendered through an internal, stateless `@orkestrel/reason`
+evaluator (`createEvaluator()`). Because that evaluator is deterministic and holds no
+state, a finding can never disagree with the pass that produced it, whether the engine
+is owned or injected — so there is no separate `evaluator` option to keep in sync.
+
+The `labels` option overrides the display name a premise field renders under. Key it by
+the dot-joined field path — `age`, `qualification.cap` — and the override wins over the
+premise's own `label`, which in turn wins over the raw path.
+
+### Observing
+
+The `on` option carries the initial emitter hooks, and `error` handles a listener
+throw:
+
+```ts
+const qualifier = createQualifier({
+	on: {
+		derive: (derivation) => audit.record('derive', derivation.id),
+		finding: (finding) => audit.record('finding', finding.id),
+		qualify: (result) => audit.record('qualify', result.eligibility),
+	},
+	error: (error, event) => logger.warn(event, error),
+})
+```
+
+Events are synchronous and observational. A throwing listener is isolated by the
+emitter and never changes qualification semantics.
+
+### Caller composition
+
+Qualification is typically the first step in a larger pipeline. The caller owns
+orchestration — `Qualifier` only reports eligibility:
+
+```ts
+const qualification = qualifier.qualify(subject, definition)
+
+if (!qualification.success || qualification.eligibility !== 'eligible') {
+	return { qualification }
+}
+
+const selected = items.filter((item) => {
+	const eligibility = qualification.scopes[item.id]
+	return eligibility === undefined || eligibility === 'eligible'
+})
+
+return { qualification, selected }
+```
+
+When `qualification.eligibility` is not `'eligible'`, the caller skips downstream
+work. That skip is auditable proof that eligibility stopped the pipeline.
+
+### Batch aggregates
+
+When qualification must consider totals across many subjects, the caller builds a
+temporary aggregate subject for `qualify` and still passes the original subject to
+any downstream step:
+
+```ts
+const qualified = {
+	...subject,
+	aggregate: {
+		count: subjects.length,
+		sums,
+	},
+}
+
+const qualification = qualifier.qualify(qualified, definition)
+```
+
+`aggregate`, `outcome`, tallies, notices, authority, status, and decision never
+belong in the qualification subject the caller forwards downstream.
+
+### Scoped eligibility drives selection
+
+A single qualification definition can carry both global gates and per-scope scoped
+rulings. Scoped restrictions remove only the named scope before downstream work; a
+global restriction stops the pipeline entirely.
+
+```ts
+const definition = createQualificationDefinition(
+	'property',
+	'Property eligibility',
+	[cap, excess, wind, gates],
+	{
+		rulings: [
+			createRuling('frame', 'wind', 'frame', 'restriction', {
+				scope: 'wind',
+				message: 'No wind coverage for Frame construction',
+			}),
+			createRuling('saltwater', 'wind', 'saltwater', 'restriction', {
+				scope: 'wind',
+				message: 'No wind coverage within two miles of saltwater',
+			}),
+			createRuling('excluded', 'gates', 'excluded', 'restriction', {
+				message: 'Occupancy type is ineligible',
+			}),
+		],
+	},
+)
+```
+
+The caller never evaluates an excluded scope merely to discard its outcome:
+
+```ts
+const result = qualifier.qualify(subject, definition)
+
+if (result.eligibility !== 'eligible') {
+	return { qualification: result }
+}
+
+const selected = ['wind', 'exWind'].filter((id) => {
+	const eligibility = result.scopes[id]
+	return eligibility === undefined || eligibility === 'eligible'
+})
+// ['exWind'] when wind is scoped ineligible
+```
+
+No synthetic `windBlocked` field enters the caller's subject, and no downstream work
+runs for a scope the qualifier already excluded.
+
+## Tests
+
+Tests mirror the source structure and drive real reasoners.
+
+- [`tests/src/core/Qualifier.test.ts`](../tests/src/core/Qualifier.test.ts) — proves pass
+  order, terminal and scoped eligibility, the untouched caller subject, fresh frozen
+  results, reserved-key rejection, semantic validation, engine ownership, event order and
+  listener isolation, and each `QualifierError` code.
+- [`tests/src/core/helpers.test.ts`](../tests/src/core/helpers.test.ts) — proves each
+  exported helper alone: interpolation, premise rendering, projection, derivation, finding
+  and eligibility derivation, reference and warning messages, and engine-error mapping.
+- [`tests/src/core/validators.test.ts`](../tests/src/core/validators.test.ts) — proves each
+  guard's posture against cyclic, deeply nested, and prototype-hostile records.
+- [`tests/src/core/factories.test.ts`](../tests/src/core/factories.test.ts) — proves each
+  factory returns a fresh value, copies what the caller supplies, and omits every absent
+  optional key.
+- [`tests/setup.test.ts`](../tests/setup.test.ts) — proves the shared fixtures the suites
+  are built on: the qualification definition builders, the adversarial records, the
+  orderings builder, and the failing engine.
+- [`tests/guides.test.ts`](../tests/guides.test.ts) — proves this guide against the barrel:
+  every documented name resolves, every export is documented, each flagship fence returns the
+  value its comments claim, and the equality gate holds — every `Summary` cell against its
+  declaration's description paragraph, the titled `Create a qualifier` fence against the
+  `@example` block of that title (pinned so the titled pair cannot be retired silently), and
+  the README pitch against this guide's tagline.
+
+## Practices
+
+- Qualify before any downstream work or decision step.
+- Treat `success: false` as terminal and fail closed to referral.
+- Use unscoped rulings for global eligibility and scoped rulings for per-scope selection.
+- Keep quantitative derivations under `qualification`; never flatten them onto the caller's subject.
+- Pass the original subject to downstream consumers — never the working projection.
+- Let the caller own aggregation, notices, authority, status, and decision.
+- Inject one shared reason engine when composing multiple packages over the same engine.
+- Validate untrusted definitions structurally, then semantically.
+- Store plain definitions and results, never live entities.
+- Destroy owned entities and emitters in dependency order.
+- Add no compatibility aliases or cross-package re-exports.