@sanity/workflow-engine 0.16.0 → 0.17.0

package/dist/index.d.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { analyzeCondition } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
 import { AtomInsight } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
+import { atomReadsDataset } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
 import { AtomRequirement } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
 import { checklistLines as checklistLines_2 } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
 import { ComparisonOp } from "@sanity/groq-condition-describe";
@@ -312,6 +313,13 @@ declare const ACTIVITY_STATUSES: readonly [
   "failed",
 ];
 
+/** The activity slice of a stage rollup — total by construction, like
+ *  {@link stageAutonomyOf}. */
+export declare function activityAutonomyOf(
+  stageAutonomy: StageAutonomy,
+  activityName: string,
+): AutonomyAnswer;
+
 /** An activity's gates, each described — absent keys mirror undeclared gates. */
 export declare interface ActivityDescription {
   requirements?: Record<string, ConditionDescription>;
@@ -360,11 +368,19 @@ export declare interface ActivityEvaluation {
    */
   kind: ActivityKind;
   /**
-   * Who, if anyone, the activity waits on — derived from the definition
+   * Who, if anyone, fires the activity's actions — derived from its shape
    * alone: `autonomous` (every action cascade-fired), `interactive` (only
    * fireAction-fired actions), `off-system` (`target` present), or `hybrid`.
    */
   classification: ExecutorClassification;
+  /**
+   * The causal refinement of {@link ActivityEvaluation.classification}:
+   * whether this activity completes without a caller, derived by
+   * {@link deriveWorkflowAutonomy}'s dataflow over the definition — a
+   * mechanically `autonomous` activity whose triggers only read
+   * caller-written state still reports the caller it waits on.
+   */
+  autonomy: AutonomyAnswer;
   /** Whether this activity is the current actor's responsibility right now. */
   pendingOnActor: boolean;
   /**
@@ -445,9 +461,9 @@ export declare type ActorKind = (typeof ACTOR_KINDS)[number];
 
 export { analyzeCondition };
 
-/** The definition surface applicability reads — structural, so authored,
+/** The definition surface the start contexts read — structural, so authored,
  *  stored, and deployed definition shapes all fit. `name` binds
- *  `$definition` and names the definition in a broken-filter error. */
+ *  `$definition` and names the definition in a broken-predicate error. */
 export declare interface ApplicabilitySource {
   name?: string | undefined;
   lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
@@ -456,6 +472,7 @@ export declare interface ApplicabilitySource {
     | {
         kind?: StartKind | undefined;
         filter?: string | undefined;
+        allowed?: string | undefined;
       }
     | undefined;
 }
@@ -470,7 +487,7 @@ export declare function applicableDefinitions<
   definitions: readonly T[];
   document: CandidateDocument;
   /** Caller-side filter bindings, shared by every definition's evaluation. */
-  scope?: StartFilterScope;
+  scope?: StartScope;
 }): Promise<T[]>;
 
 /**
@@ -511,6 +528,8 @@ export declare type Assignee =
 
 export { AtomInsight };
 
+export { atomReadsDataset };
+
 export { AtomRequirement };
 
 /**
@@ -607,6 +626,11 @@ export declare type AuthoringGuard = v.InferOutput<typeof AuthoringGuardSchema>;
 
 declare const AuthoringGuardSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
   {
+    /**
+     * Lake-id-segment grammar (`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$`, deploy-enforced): the
+     * guard's lake `_id` derives from `(instanceId, name)` at stage entry.
+     * Unique per definition.
+     */
     name: v.SchemaWithPipe<
       readonly [
         v.StringSchema<undefined>,
@@ -768,8 +792,9 @@ declare const AuthoringGuardSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
     /**
      * Lake GROQ predicate — a distinct eval context: delta-mode GROQ
      * reading the `before()`/`after()` natives, `mutation`, `guard`, and
-     * `identity()`. Bare ids/fields only. Omitted or empty means
-     * UNCONDITIONAL DENY.
+     * `identity()`. Bare ids/fields only. Polarity: a result of strictly
+     * `true` ALLOWS the matched mutation; anything else (false, null, an
+     * evaluation error) DENIES. Omitted or empty means UNCONDITIONAL DENY.
      */
     predicate: v.OptionalSchema<v.StringSchema<undefined>, undefined>;
     /**
@@ -1221,6 +1246,85 @@ export declare type AuthoringWorkflow = WorkflowFields<
   AuthoringStartBlock
 >;
 
+/** The narratable answer at one rollup level: the verdict plus what it waits
+ *  on. `waitsOn` may be non-empty on a `yes` verdict (an effect settle is a
+ *  wait the engine resolves itself) — consumers choose what to surface. */
+export declare interface AutonomyAnswer {
+  completesWithoutCaller: AutonomyVerdict;
+  waitsOn: AutonomyWait[];
+}
+
+/** The workflow-level autonomy narrative: fully self-running, or the stages
+ *  where a run is held. */
+export declare function autonomySummary(
+  autonomy: WorkflowAutonomy,
+  ctx: DescribeContext,
+): InsightPhrase;
+
+/**
+ * Whether a node resolves without a caller: `yes` — engine machinery alone
+ * (the cascade plus the host's effect drain/ticker) gets it there; `no` —
+ * someone outside the engine must act (a caller fires an action, an editor
+ * writes a field or content); `conditional` — it may resolve either way
+ * depending on values the analysis can't see (start-time seeds, mixed
+ * alternative routes, unresolvable children, cyclic gates).
+ *
+ * `yes` still leans on the host: effects settle only if a drain runs, and
+ * time only passes for a ticker. A cascade-fired action's `roles` pin is a
+ * DEPENDENCY, not an assumption — the runtime leaves a pinned trigger armed
+ * until a capable token cascades, and whether the deployment's tokens fulfil
+ * the pin is configuration the analysis can't see, so a pinned trigger
+ * reports `conditional` with the pin as its wait.
+ */
+export declare type AutonomyVerdict = "yes" | "no" | "conditional";
+
+/** One narratable dependency a non-`yes` verdict rests on. */
+export declare type AutonomyWait =
+  | {
+      kind: "caller-action";
+      stage: string;
+      activity: string;
+      action: string;
+      roles?: string[];
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "execute-pin";
+      stage: string;
+      activity: string;
+      action: string;
+      roles: string[];
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "editor-field";
+      field: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "editor-content";
+      condition: Condition;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "effect";
+      effect: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "start-input";
+      field: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "context";
+      key?: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "subworkflow";
+      definition: string;
+      resolved: boolean;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: "unwritten-field";
+      field: string;
+      handlerPossible: boolean;
+    };
+
 export declare interface AvailableAction {
   activity: string;
   activityStatus: ActivityStatus;
@@ -1648,11 +1752,14 @@ export declare interface ConditionVar {
  *    the rest evaluate to `undefined` — and deploy rejects them at these
  *    sites; a cascade-fired action's per-token gate is `roles`, never its
  *    conditions.
- * 3. **The start-filter context** — a definition's `start.filter` evaluates
- *    against a CANDIDATE (no instance exists yet): the candidate document is
- *    the root, {@link START_FILTER_VARS} are the only bound vars, and
- *    `*[...]` reads the WORKFLOW resource's dataset. None of the rendered
- *    condition vars exist there.
+ * 3. **The start contexts** — a definition's `start.filter` and
+ *    `start.allowed` evaluate against a CANDIDATE (no instance exists yet):
+ *    `*[...]` reads the WORKFLOW resource's dataset and none of the rendered
+ *    condition vars exist. The two split on what a surface can know:
+ *    `filter` is browse-time-pure (candidate document as root,
+ *    {@link START_FILTER_VARS} — no `$fields`, which cannot exist before
+ *    inputs do), `allowed` is the start-time permission predicate
+ *    ({@link START_ALLOWED_VARS} — `$fields` bound, never a root).
  * 4. **Guard predicates** — NOT conditions. A lake mutation guard's
  *    `predicate` is groq-js **delta-mode** GROQ over a document mutation:
  *    `before()`/`after()`/`identity()` are dialect natives, and the wire
@@ -1666,7 +1773,7 @@ export declare interface ConditionVar {
  *   instance and its snapshot.
  * - `'caller'` — rides the acting caller; without one the var is `undefined`
  *   (conditions referencing it fail closed). Author predicates may not read
- *   these — they pre-evaluate once per instance, caller-free.
+ *   these — they pre-evaluate caller-free, per evaluation context.
  * - `'spawn'` — bound only at spawn sites (the per-row `$row`).
  */
 export declare type ConditionVarBinding = "always" | "caller" | "spawn";
@@ -1808,10 +1915,11 @@ export declare function contextMap(
 
 /**
  * A caller broke a public-API contract — a call the engine rejects
- * before touching the lake: an invalid `tag`, a `workflow.query` GROQ that
+ * without writing anything: an invalid `tag`, a `workflow.query` GROQ that
  * never binds `$tag`, a bare id where a GDR URI is required, an action,
- * activity, or field the definition never declared. Fix the call site;
- * retrying cannot succeed.
+ * activity, or field the definition never declared, or a `startInstance`
+ * `instanceId` reused for a different start (or a discarded one). Fix the
+ * call site; retrying cannot succeed.
  */
 export declare class ContractViolationError extends WorkflowError<"contract-violation"> {
   constructor(message: string);
@@ -2229,11 +2337,13 @@ export declare interface DeployDefinitionsArgs<
 > {
   /**
    * Resource-alias bindings for this deploy (alias name → physical resource).
-   * Every `@<alias>:` reference in a definition is expanded to its bound
-   * physical resource at deploy, so the deployed definition holds only physical
-   * references. Deploy fails closed when a definition references an alias this
-   * map doesn't bind. Omit for single-resource workflows (definitions that
-   * reference no aliases).
+   * A deploy-time abstraction ONLY: every `@<alias>:` reference in a
+   * definition is expanded to its bound physical resource before the
+   * deployed definition is fingerprinted and stored, and deploy fails closed
+   * on an unbound alias. Aliases never exist past deploy — no stored
+   * document carries one, the runtime never sees the map, and an
+   * alias-shaped ref reaching a runtime boundary is rejected as malformed.
+   * Omit for single-resource workflows (definitions referencing no aliases).
    */
   resourceAliases?: ResourceAliases;
   /** Authored definitions (the default — full compile-time checking) or
@@ -2308,18 +2418,37 @@ export declare interface DeployTarget {
  */
 export declare function deriveActivityKind(activity: Activity): ActivityKind;
 
+export declare interface DeriveAutonomyOptions {
+  /** Child definitions for `spawn` recursion, by definition `name` — the
+   *  deploy batch or previously deployed set. An unresolvable child reports
+   *  `conditional` with an unresolved wait. */
+  children?: ReadonlyMap<string, WorkflowDefinition>;
+}
+
 /**
- * Who, if anyone, the activity waits on — derived ahead-of-time from the
- * definition alone: `off-system` when `target` is present; else `autonomous`
- * (every action cascade-fired — no caller ever needed), `interactive` (only
- * fireAction-fired actions), or `hybrid` (mixed). An actionless activity
- * classifies `autonomous` vacuously — nothing waits on a caller (deploy's
- * terminal-reachability invariant rejects it anyway).
+ * Who, if anyone, fires the activity's actions — derived ahead-of-time from
+ * the activity's shape alone: `off-system` when `target` is present; else
+ * `autonomous` (every action cascade-fired — no caller fires anything),
+ * `interactive` (only fireAction-fired actions), or `hybrid` (mixed). An
+ * actionless activity classifies `autonomous` vacuously (deploy's
+ * terminal-reachability invariant rejects it anyway). Shape-only: whether
+ * the activity actually RESOLVES without a caller is the causal question
+ * `deriveWorkflowAutonomy` answers.
  */
 export declare function deriveExecutorClassification(
   activity: Activity,
 ): ExecutorClassification;
 
+/**
+ * Derive the causal autonomy of a stored definition. Pure and instance-free;
+ * conditions must parse (they did at define/deploy time — an unparseable one
+ * throws groq-js's syntax error rather than guessing).
+ */
+export declare function deriveWorkflowAutonomy(
+  definition: WorkflowDefinition,
+  options?: DeriveAutonomyOptions,
+): WorkflowAutonomy;
+
 export declare type Describable =
   | ConditionInsight
   | FieldInsight
@@ -2337,6 +2466,12 @@ export declare function describeAtom(
   fallback: boolean;
 };
 
+/** One {@link AutonomyWait} as a phrase in the workflow vocabulary. */
+export declare function describeAutonomyWait(
+  wait: AutonomyWait,
+  ctx: DescribeContext,
+): InsightPhrase;
+
 /** Render one condition's insight as a checklist + frontier summary, in the
  *  workflow vocabulary. */
 export declare function describeCondition(
@@ -2920,6 +3055,15 @@ export declare type EditMode = "set" | "append" | "unset";
 
 export declare type Effect = v.InferOutput<typeof EffectSchema>;
 
+/**
+ * Every terminal state an effect run can record. `done` and `failed` are
+ * reported through completion ({@link EffectCompletionStatus}); `cancelled`
+ * is engine-stamped only — an abort cancelling the entry before dispatch.
+ * A cancellation is not a failure: anything counting failures (dashboards,
+ * retry tooling) must not count aborted-away effects among them.
+ */
+declare const EFFECT_RUN_STATUSES: readonly ["done", "failed", "cancelled"];
+
 /** The outcomes a completer may report through `completeEffect` — a run
  *  either succeeded or failed. `cancelled` is not reportable: only an abort
  *  stamps it, on entries that never dispatched. */
@@ -3095,14 +3239,7 @@ export declare function effectOutputsMap(
   instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "effectHistory">,
 ): Record<string, unknown>;
 
-/**
- * Every terminal state an effect run can record. `done` and `failed` are
- * reported through completion ({@link EffectCompletionStatus}); `cancelled`
- * is engine-stamped only — an abort cancelling the entry before dispatch.
- * A cancellation is not a failure: anything counting failures (dashboards,
- * retry tooling) must not count aborted-away effects among them.
- */
-export declare type EffectRunStatus = "done" | "failed" | "cancelled";
+export declare type EffectRunStatus = (typeof EFFECT_RUN_STATUSES)[number];
 
 declare const EffectSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
   {
@@ -3257,18 +3394,30 @@ export declare interface Engine {
   /** The startable half of {@link Engine.instancesForDocument}: the latest
    *  deployed version of every definition that applies to the LOADED candidate
    *  document — startable, a required subject entry accepts its `_type`, and
-   *  `start.filter` passes. All matches, name ascending; advisory — a start
-   *  picker's filter, never enforcement. */
+   *  `start.filter` (browse-time-pure — `$fields` never binds) passes. All
+   *  matches, name ascending; advisory — a start picker's filter, never
+   *  enforcement. */
   definitionsForDocument: (
     args: DefinitionsForDocumentArgs,
   ) => Promise<DeployedDefinition[]>;
+  /** Pre-flight `startInstance`'s gates for a definition + the
+   *  `initialFields` gathered so far: the `start.allowed` verdict with its
+   *  insight (disable the start affordance on a definitive false AND say
+   *  why) plus the still-missing required inputs. Bindability-aware — a
+   *  predicate reading a not-yet-supplied entry reports `'unevaluable'`
+   *  with the entries named in `unboundReads`, never a collapsed verdict.
+   *  Pure read; the enforcement moment is `startInstance` itself. */
+  evaluateStart: (args: EvaluateStartArgs) => Promise<StartEvaluation>;
   /** GROQ query against the engine's workflow resource. `$tag`
    *  is bound for tag-scoped filtering. */
   query: <T = unknown>(args: QueryArgs) => Promise<T>;
   /** Snapshot-aware GROQ — runs against the same in-memory view the
-   *  engine's filters see for the supplied instance. The rendered scope's
-   *  instance-derived vars ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}) are bound, ids in
-   *  GDR URI form to match the snapshot's keying. */
+   *  engine's filters see for the supplied instance. The caller-free
+   *  rendered scope cascade gates evaluate in is bound — the
+   *  instance-derived vars ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}) with the open
+   *  stage's overlay merged into `$fields`, `$assigned` at its caller-free
+   *  `false`, plus the author's pre-evaluated `$<predicate>` booleans —
+   *  ids in GDR URI form to match the snapshot's keying. */
   queryInScope: <T = unknown>(args: QueryInScopeArgs) => Promise<T>;
   /** List every pending effect on an instance. */
   listPendingEffects: (args: InstanceRefArgs) => Promise<PendingEffect[]>;
@@ -3347,8 +3496,9 @@ export declare interface EngineScopeArgs {
    * docs that live in a different Sanity resource than the workflow). Called
    * with a parsed GDR; return a client for that resource, or undefined to let
    * the engine route it — `client` for the workflow resource itself, a
-   * sibling derived from `client`'s credentials for anything else. Engine-scope
-   * configuration — see `CreateEngineArgs`.
+   * sibling derived from `client`'s credentials for anything else. A served
+   * resource is also part of the declared surface for runtime-supplied refs.
+   * Engine-scope configuration — see `CreateEngineArgs`.
    */
   resourceClients?: ResourceClientResolver;
   /**
@@ -3368,6 +3518,16 @@ export declare interface EngineScopeArgs {
   idempotencyTtlMs?: number;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Pull the {@link GlobalDocumentReference} values out of `doc.ref` /
+ * `doc.refs` (content) field entries. Content only — release field entries come
+ * from {@link entryReleaseRefs}, so guard discovery (which reads this via
+ * `collectEntryDocUris`) stays scoped to content docs.
+ */
+export declare function entryDocRefs(
+  entries: unknown,
+): GlobalDocumentReference[];
+
 /**
  * Pure error helpers — no client, no I/O. The one home for the engine's
  * "coerce an unknown caught value" + "rethrow with context" idioms, so the
@@ -3465,10 +3625,30 @@ export declare function evaluateMutationGuard(args: {
   context: MutationContext;
 }): Promise<boolean>;
 
+/** Args for `evaluateStart` — the pre-flight read of `startInstance`'s gates
+ *  for a definition + the `initialFields` gathered so far (possibly none). */
+export declare interface EvaluateStartArgs {
+  /** The definition's `name` — which deployed workflow would be started. */
+  definition: string;
+  /** Optional explicit version. Defaults to the highest deployed version. */
+  version?: number;
+  /**
+   * The candidate seed, in `StartInstanceArgs.initialFields` shape. Partial
+   * mid-form input is expected and safe: the verdict is BINDABILITY-AWARE —
+   * when the predicate reads a declared entry these inputs don't supply,
+   * `outcome` reports `'unevaluable'` and {@link StartEvaluation.unboundReads}
+   * names the entries, instead of the collapsed answer GROQ equality would
+   * otherwise produce (`null == x` is false, not null — a definitive-looking
+   * verdict one more input could overturn, in either direction).
+   */
+  initialFields?: InitialFieldValue[];
+}
+
 /**
- * Evaluate one `start.filter` in the start-filter context: `document` (may be
- * absent — root reads then fail closed) as the GROQ root, the
- * {@link StartFilterScope} bindings plus `$definition`, and — only when
+ * Evaluate one `start.filter` in the start-filter context: `document` (may
+ * be absent — a root read is then GROQ null, fail-closed or vacuous-pass by
+ * shape) as the GROQ root, the {@link StartScope} bindings plus
+ * `$definition`, and — only when
  * `analyzeCondition` says the filter reads the dataset — the scope's fetched
  * slice as `*`. Cheap pure evaluation otherwise: no I/O rides a filter that
  * never scans. GROQ null ("can't decide") is `false` — every consumer of
@@ -3482,7 +3662,7 @@ export declare function evaluateStartFilter(args: {
   filter: string;
   definition: Pick<ApplicabilitySource, "name">;
   document?: CandidateDocument | undefined;
-  scope?: StartFilterScope | undefined;
+  scope?: StartScope | undefined;
 }): Promise<boolean>;
 
 /**
@@ -3532,8 +3712,8 @@ export declare interface ExecutionContext {
 }
 
 /**
- * Executor classifications — who, if anyone, an activity waits on
- * (derived; see `./activity-kind.ts`).
+ * Executor classifications — who, if anyone, fires an activity's actions
+ * (shape-derived; see `./activity-kind.ts`).
  */
 export declare const EXECUTOR_CLASSIFICATION_DISPLAY: {
   autonomous: {
@@ -3568,6 +3748,35 @@ export { explainCondition };
 
 export { ExplainConditionArgs };
 
+/**
+ * Explain one `start.allowed` in the start-allowed context: no root (the
+ * subject rides `$fields.<entry>.id` — deploy rejects a root read), the
+ * {@link StartScope} bindings plus `$definition` and the caller's `$fields`
+ * map, and the scope's fetched slice as `*` when the predicate reads the
+ * dataset. Returns the full {@link ConditionInsight} — `outcome` is the
+ * verdict (`'satisfied'` allows; `'unsatisfied'`/`'unevaluable'` refuse,
+ * fail-closed) and the atom breakdown is what lets a surface disable its
+ * start affordance AND say why. One evaluator serves both moments:
+ * `startInstance` enforces the outcome, the `evaluateStart` verb pre-flights
+ * it.
+ *
+ * A dataset-reading predicate with no slice provider THROWS instead of
+ * failing closed: unlike a picker that merely hides a row, this verdict
+ * refuses starts — evaluating over an empty `*` would let a `count()`-style
+ * rule pass vacuously, and a silent "not allowed" would misreport a caller
+ * bug as an author verdict. Parse/evaluation throws rethrow naming the
+ * definition, like the filter's; a failed slice FETCH propagates as itself.
+ */
+export declare function explainStartAllowed(args: {
+  allowed: string;
+  definition: Pick<ApplicabilitySource, "name">;
+  /** The caller's input entries as a `$fields` map — the engine verbs build
+   *  it with `startFieldsParam` (field resolution's projection), so the
+   *  predicate can only see values the resolution would persist. */
+  fields: Record<string, unknown>;
+  scope?: StartScope | undefined;
+}): Promise<ConditionInsight>;
+
 /**
  * Extract the bare document `_id` from a GDR URI — what
  * `*[_id == $docId]` in GROQ needs.
@@ -3987,6 +4196,35 @@ export declare function gdrUri(
 ): GdrUri;
 
 /**
+ * The engine's reference value — deliberately NOT a lake reference, and
+ * spelled differently on purpose (`id`/`type`, never `_ref`/`_id`):
+ *
+ * - **`id` is a URI, not a bare doc id**, because workflow references cross
+ *   resources (another dataset, a media library) and a bare `_id` is only
+ *   meaningful inside one dataset. Everything resource-aware — client
+ *   routing, spawn discovery, guard target resolution — reads the resource
+ *   out of this URI. It is stripped to a bare lake id at exactly one
+ *   boundary: `paramsForLake` (core/params.ts), when a query actually runs
+ *   against a lake.
+ * - **`type` carries the target's schema type so consumers don't need a
+ *   fetch — as stamped by the ref's constructor, never verified against the
+ *   target.** Engine-built refs stamp it from real data (a projection row's
+ *   `_type`, the `releaseRef` constructor); a caller-supplied ref's `type`
+ *   is a trusted claim. Three advisory surfaces read it: the declared-subject-type
+ *   contract (an entry's `types: [...]` accepts/rejects incoming refs —
+ *   `refTypeIssues` at start `initialFields` and spawn `with`), start
+ *   applicability ("which definitions accept a doc of this `_type`" —
+ *   `acceptsDocumentType`), and guard `match.types` inference from resolved
+ *   targets (`resolveMatchTypes`). All must work when the target lives in a
+ *   resource the reader can't (or shouldn't) fetch from.
+ *
+ * In rendered GROQ this shape is what a reference-held value exposes
+ * (`$fields.<entry>.id` / `.type`) — whereas `_id`/`_type` belong to
+ * documents you hold (lake rows, `$row`, a dereferenced singular `doc.ref`).
+ * The spelling is not a namespace guarantee: a content document can carry
+ * its own `id`/`type` fields — what you're reading follows what the entry's
+ * declared kind puts in your hand, never the key's spelling.
+ *
  * `TType` preserves the `type` literal the constructors ({@link refDataset},
  * {@link gdrRef}, …) were called with, so a constructed ref satisfies
  * literal-typed targets (e.g. a `release.ref` value's `"system.release"`).
@@ -4243,6 +4481,11 @@ declare const GuardReadSchema: v.VariantSchema<
 /** Stored guards carry the printed string reads (the deploy resolver's input). */
 declare const GuardSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
   {
+    /**
+     * Lake-id-segment grammar (`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$`, deploy-enforced): the
+     * guard's lake `_id` derives from `(instanceId, name)` at stage entry.
+     * Unique per definition.
+     */
     name: v.SchemaWithPipe<
       readonly [
         v.StringSchema<undefined>,
@@ -4314,8 +4557,9 @@ declare const GuardSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
     /**
      * Lake GROQ predicate — a distinct eval context: delta-mode GROQ
      * reading the `before()`/`after()` natives, `mutation`, `guard`, and
-     * `identity()`. Bare ids/fields only. Omitted or empty means
-     * UNCONDITIONAL DENY.
+     * `identity()`. Bare ids/fields only. Polarity: a result of strictly
+     * `true` ALLOWS the matched mutation; anything else (false, null, an
+     * evaluation error) DENIES. Omitted or empty means UNCONDITIONAL DENY.
      */
     predicate: v.OptionalSchema<v.StringSchema<undefined>, undefined>;
     /**
@@ -4760,6 +5004,16 @@ export declare type InsightSite =
       activity?: string;
     };
 
+/**
+ * Mint the Sanity document `_id` for a workflow instance — a fresh
+ * {@link randomKey} suffix, so every instance (root or spawned child) gets a
+ * unique doc id under its tag. Lives in the shell, not `core/`, because it
+ * draws randomness; the deterministic {@link definitionDocId} is the pure-core
+ * counterpart. Bare form — Sanity rejects `:` in document IDs, so this is
+ * never a GDR URI.
+ */
+export declare function instanceDocId(tag: string): string;
+
 /**
  * The per-instance guard filter — the single definition of "this instance's
  * guards in one datasource". The engine's verdict load
@@ -4815,7 +5069,10 @@ export declare interface InstanceSession {
   /** Replace the held content with the current values the consumer observed
    *  (last-write-wins, scoped). A self-doc updates the held instance only when
    *  its `_updatedAt` is strictly newer — an older or timestamp-equal echo is
-   *  ignored. Buffered if a commit is in flight. */
+   *  ignored. Buffered if a commit is in flight; a BUFFERED push that fails
+   *  validation surfaces on the NEXT `update` call (after that call's own
+   *  docs are processed), never from the commit itself — the commit's
+   *  outcome is never masked by a store echo's failure. */
   update(docs: LoadedDoc[]): void;
   /** Replace the held live guards (the consumer's guard stream,
    *  last-write-wins). Guards are a separate stream from the watch-set:
@@ -4858,10 +5115,11 @@ export declare interface InstanceSession {
    *  replace the target's staged rows (last write wins); appends accumulate.
    *  Tolerant where commits are loud: a target that doesn't resolve in the
    *  current stage (it moved under a mounted editor), a closed edit window
-   *  (a skipped activity's field), or a value that doesn't
-   *  fit the field's shape yet (a half-typed date) stages an INERT preview —
-   *  no echo, no throw; the commit at the semantic boundary is the loud
-   *  surface. Never persisted — commit via {@link InstanceSession.editField}. */
+   *  (a skipped activity's field), a value that doesn't fit the field's
+   *  shape yet (a half-typed date), or a ref outside the declared resource
+   *  surface stages an INERT preview — no echo, no throw; the commit at the
+   *  semantic boundary is the loud surface. Never persisted — commit via
+   *  {@link InstanceSession.editField}. */
   previewField(args: {
     target: EditFieldTarget;
     mode?: EditMode;
@@ -4879,8 +5137,10 @@ export declare interface InstancesForDocumentArgs {
 
 /**
  * The instance-list GROQ for a {@link InstancesQueryFilter}, ordered by
- * `startedAt` ascending. Adapters subscribe to it; {@link workflow.query}
- * -style one-shot reads fetch it — both see the same rows.
+ * `startedAt` ascending (descending + sliced under
+ * {@link InstancesQueryFilter.limit}). Adapters subscribe to it;
+ * {@link workflow.query}-style one-shot reads fetch it — both see the same
+ * rows.
  */
 export declare function instancesQuery(args: {
   tag: string;
@@ -4924,6 +5184,14 @@ export declare interface InstancesQueryFilter {
   stage?: string;
   /** Include completed/aborted instances (default: in-flight only). */
   includeCompleted?: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Cap the read to the NEWEST `limit` instances — the query flips to
+   * `startedAt desc` and slices, so a bounded consumer (a dashboard over an
+   * unbounded dataset) reads the most recent rows instead of the oldest.
+   * Unlimited reads keep the ascending order adapters index by. Must be a
+   * positive integer.
+   */
+  limit?: number;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -4978,7 +5246,7 @@ export declare function isDefinitionApplicable(args: {
   definition: ApplicabilitySource;
   document: CandidateDocument;
   /** Caller-side filter bindings — omit for the bare candidate-doc context. */
-  scope?: StartFilterScope;
+  scope?: StartScope;
 }): Promise<boolean>;
 
 /**
@@ -5098,6 +5366,19 @@ export declare function isTodoListEntry(
  *  as null). The remaining columns stay loose (field validation owns them). */
 export declare function isTodoListItem(row: unknown): row is TodoListItem;
 
+/**
+ * True when the instance document exists but its start never finished: the
+ * `create` committed, yet priming (stage entry, activities, guard deploy)
+ * did not. The shape is legal and resumable — `startInstance` with the same
+ * `instanceId` completes the outstanding commits. Readers should present it
+ * as an incomplete start, never as a normal run sitting at its initial
+ * stage. Terminal instances are excluded: an aborted never-primed husk
+ * reads as aborted, not as still-resumable.
+ */
+export declare function isUnprimed(
+  instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "stages" | "completedAt" | "abortedAt">,
+): boolean;
+
 /**
  * Deterministic id so deploy/retract are query-free and idempotent. Derived
  * from the guard's authored `name` — an author-controlled handle that stays
@@ -5396,6 +5677,8 @@ export declare interface MutationGuardDoc extends MutationGuardBody {
   _updatedAt?: string;
 }
 
+export declare const MutationGuardDocSchema: v.GenericSchema<MutationGuardDoc>;
+
 export declare interface MutationGuardMatch {
   types?: string[];
   /** Bare document ids (resource-local; both published and `drafts.` forms). */
@@ -5404,6 +5687,14 @@ export declare interface MutationGuardMatch {
   actions: MutationGuardAction[];
 }
 
+/** Every wait narrated, de-duplicated by phrase: same-named actions on
+ *  sibling activities are distinct waits that tell one story — consumers
+ *  want one line per story, not one per site. */
+export declare function narrateAutonomyWaits(
+  waits: readonly AutonomyWait[],
+  ctx: DescribeContext,
+): string[];
+
 /** The default logger: emit nothing. The engine's twin of `@sanity/telemetry`'s `noopLogger`. */
 export declare const noopTelemetry: WorkflowTelemetryLogger;
 
@@ -5555,6 +5846,23 @@ export declare interface ParsedGdr {
  */
 export declare function parseGdr(uri: string): ParsedGdr;
 
+/**
+ * Parse a fetched guard document, failing hard with a
+ * {@link PersistedDocShapeError} naming the document and every offending
+ * field. No model-version gate: the guard doc carries no stamp by design —
+ * its `_type` cutover is its versioning event.
+ */
+export declare function parseGuardDocument(doc: unknown): MutationGuardDoc;
+
+/**
+ * Parse a fetched `sanity.workflow.instance` document, failing hard with a
+ * {@link PersistedDocShapeError} naming the document and every offending
+ * field. The caller's model-version gate (`assertReadableModel`) comes
+ * FIRST — a doc from beyond the reader floor is a governed
+ * `ModelVersionAheadError`, not a shape error.
+ */
+export declare function parseInstanceDocument(doc: unknown): WorkflowInstance;
+
 /**
  * Parse a resource-shaped GDR (`<type>:<id>`, no document part) into the
  * {@link WorkflowResource} it names. The one grammar for resource addresses —
@@ -5643,6 +5951,26 @@ export declare interface PendingEffectClaim {
   leaseExpiresAt?: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * A persisted engine-owned document failed its shape parse — the stored
+ * field tree does not match what this engine's data model declares for the
+ * doc type. Distinct from {@link ModelVersionAheadError} (a declared,
+ * governed fence: upgrade the engine); this is UNGOVERNED corruption — a
+ * document no conforming engine wrote — and the read fails hard instead of
+ * letting the malformed value corrupt behavior downstream. The issues name
+ * every offending field path.
+ */
+export declare class PersistedDocShapeError extends WorkflowError<"persisted-doc-shape"> {
+  readonly documentId: string;
+  readonly documentType: string;
+  readonly issues: ValidationIssue[];
+  constructor(args: {
+    documentId: string;
+    documentType: string;
+    issues: ValidationIssue[];
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * One row of the instance's idempotency ledger — a caller-supplied
  * `idempotencyKey` a state-changing verb already committed under. Recorded in
@@ -5711,6 +6039,14 @@ export declare interface QueryInScopeArgs extends InstanceRefArgs, QueryArgs {}
 
 export { quoted };
 
+/**
+ * The one spelling of the instance read discipline — model gate
+ * ({@link assertReadableModel}) first, shape parse
+ * ({@link parseInstanceDocument}) second — shared by the point-read funnel
+ * above and the list-read sites that fetch instance rows in bulk.
+ */
+export declare function readInstanceDoc(doc: SanityDocument): WorkflowInstance;
+
 /**
  * Whether a watched ref reads RAW — never perspective-scoped. The
  * instance, its ancestors, and its spawned children (all instance docs), and
@@ -5768,6 +6104,18 @@ export declare function refMediaLibrary<TType extends string = string>({
   type,
 }: ResourceRefArgs<TType>): GlobalDocumentReference<TType>;
 
+/**
+ * Thrown when a field write carries a ref to a resource outside the
+ * declared surface. The write does not commit; the engine has not mutated
+ * state.
+ */
+export declare class RefResourceUndeclaredError extends WorkflowError<"ref-resource-undeclared"> {
+  readonly entryType: string;
+  readonly entryName: string;
+  readonly issues: string[];
+  constructor(args: { entryName: string; entryType: string; issues: string[] });
+}
+
 /**
  * The GDR `type`s in a `doc.ref` / `doc.refs` value that the entry's declared
  * accepted `types` reject — empty when the value conforms, the entry declares
@@ -5959,9 +6307,10 @@ export declare function resolveFieldEntry(
 export declare type ResourceAliases = Record<string, WorkflowResource>;
 
 /**
- * Collapse a deployment's `resourceAliases` bindings into the engine's
- * {@link ResourceAliases} map (handle name → physical resource) — the shape
- * {@link deployDefinitions} consumes.
+ * Collapse a deployment's `resourceAliases` bindings into the
+ * {@link ResourceAliases} map (handle name → physical resource) that
+ * `deployDefinitions` expands `@<handle>:` references against. Deploy-time
+ * only — the map never reaches any other verb.
  */
 export declare function resourceAliasesToMap(
   resourceAliases: WorkflowDeployment["resourceAliases"],
@@ -5974,6 +6323,10 @@ export declare function resourceAliasesToMap(
  * engine route it — its own client for the workflow resource, a derived
  * sibling ({@link WorkflowClient.withConfig}) for anything else.
  *
+ * Serving a resource also DECLARES it on the written-ref surface: the write
+ * boundaries probe this resolver per ref, so narrowing a resolver rejects
+ * refs to the resources it stops serving.
+ *
  * Resolved clients ride the engine's API version like every other engine
  * client: the verb scope rebinds them onto `ENGINE_API_VERSION` when they
  * carry {@link WorkflowClient.withConfig} (one without it is used as
@@ -6008,6 +6361,13 @@ declare interface ResourceRefArgs<TType extends string> {
   type: TType;
 }
 
+export declare interface ResourceSurface {
+  /** True when the parsed GDR targets a declared resource. */
+  allows: (parsed: ParsedGdr) => boolean;
+  /** Prose rendering of the declared surface, for rejection messages. */
+  description: string;
+}
+
 /**
  * Retract every guard for a stage being exited (lift predicate to allow), but
  * only once the instance has genuinely moved off that stage — or was aborted
@@ -6079,6 +6439,23 @@ declare const RoleAliasesSchema: v.RecordSchema<
   undefined
 >;
 
+/** Whether two workflow resources address the same place. */
+export declare function sameResource(
+  a: WorkflowResource,
+  b: WorkflowResource,
+): boolean;
+
+/**
+ * The DECLARED field tree of a runtime schema — every entry key (optional
+ * keys marked `key?`), every enum vocabulary, every variant arm — walked out
+ * of valibot's runtime shape. The declared twin of `fieldTreeShape` (which
+ * walks a CONCRETE document): the model-surface gate pins persisted doc
+ * types by what their schema declares, so an optional field no fixture
+ * reaches is still ledger-visible. Recursive grammars (a field shape nesting
+ * field shapes) close with a `'(circular)'` marker.
+ */
+export declare function schemaTreeShape(schema: v.GenericSchema): unknown;
+
 export { ScopeAssignment };
 
 export { sentenceCase };
@@ -6123,6 +6500,21 @@ export declare type Stage = StageFields<
   Editable
 >;
 
+/** A stage's rollup: progress through any exit transition, plus each
+ *  activity's own completion answer. */
+export declare interface StageAutonomy extends AutonomyAnswer {
+  stage: string;
+  activities: Record<string, AutonomyAnswer>;
+}
+
+/** The stage slice of a rollup. Total by construction — the rollup derives
+ *  from the same `definition.stages` consumers iterate, so a miss is an
+ *  engine bug worth failing loud on. */
+export declare function stageAutonomyOf(
+  autonomy: WorkflowAutonomy,
+  stageName: string,
+): StageAutonomy;
+
 export declare interface StageEntry {
   _key: string;
   name: StageName;
@@ -6138,6 +6530,9 @@ export declare interface StageEvaluation {
   stage: Stage;
   activities: ActivityEvaluation[];
   transitions: TransitionEvaluation[];
+  /** The stage's causal-autonomy rollup — will it progress without a caller,
+   *  and what does it wait on. Definition-derived, identical for every actor. */
+  autonomy: StageAutonomy;
 }
 
 /** Type-mirror of {@link stageFields}, parameterised over field/activity/transition/guard/editable. */
@@ -6170,15 +6565,33 @@ declare interface StageGuardArgs {
 
 export declare type StageName = string;
 
+/**
+ * The vars a definition's `start.allowed` reads — the start-time permission
+ * dialect: everything the filter context binds ({@link START_FILTER_VARS})
+ * plus `$fields`, which start time always has. No candidate root ever binds
+ * here (the subject rides `$fields.<entry>.id`; a root read is
+ * deploy-rejected), so a false/GROQ-null verdict is genuinely fail-closed —
+ * there is no unbound-binding ambiguity to caveat. Bound in one place:
+ * `startContextParams` in the applicability evaluator.
+ */
+export declare const START_ALLOWED_VARS: readonly {
+  name: string;
+  description: string;
+}[];
+
 /**
  * The vars a definition's `start.filter` reads — the start-filter dialect,
  * not the rendered condition scope (no {@link ConditionVarBinding}: these
  * bind only while the filter is evaluated on the READ side — the
  * `definitionsForDocument` derivation and the Studio start control).
- * `startInstance` never evaluates the filter. An absent binding evaluates to
- * GROQ null, so a read of it fails closed: a picker with no `initialFields`
- * in hand hides a `$fields`-reading definition rather than guessing. Bound in
- * one place: `startFilterParams` in the applicability evaluator.
+ * `startInstance` never evaluates the filter. BROWSE-TIME-PURE: every var is
+ * knowable before any inputs exist, so `$fields` is deliberately absent — a
+ * `$fields` read in a filter is deploy-rejected with a pointer to
+ * `start.allowed`, the context that binds it. An absent binding evaluates to
+ * GROQ null; the VERDICT-level coercion (null result ⇒ not applicable) is
+ * what fails closed — what a null read does inside the expression depends on
+ * its shape. Bound in one place: `startContextParams` in the applicability
+ * evaluator.
  */
 export declare const START_FILTER_VARS: readonly {
   name: string;
@@ -6203,44 +6616,66 @@ export declare type StartBlock = StartFields & {
  */
 export declare type StartContext = Record<string, unknown>;
 
+/**
+ * What `evaluateStart` projects — the same gates `startInstance` enforces,
+ * as renderable state. `allowed` and `missingRequired` are deliberately
+ * orthogonal: a missing required input is a caller mistake (the verb throws
+ * `RequiredFieldNotProvidedError` for it), never a `start.allowed` verdict.
+ */
+export declare interface StartEvaluation {
+  /** The `start.allowed` verdict — `outcome === 'satisfied'`. Vacuously true
+   *  when the definition declares no `allowed`, exactly like the verb. */
+  allowed: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Three-valued, BINDABILITY-AWARE verdict: `'unsatisfied'` is a definitive
+   * no for these inputs (disable and explain), `'unevaluable'` means the
+   * predicate can't be decided yet — either a null operand reached an
+   * ordered comparison, or the predicate reads an entry `initialFields`
+   * doesn't supply ({@link StartEvaluation.unboundReads} non-empty). Keep
+   * the affordance enabled on `'unevaluable'`; `startInstance` still
+   * enforces the final verdict, where absence is final rather than
+   * provisional.
+   */
+  outcome: ConditionOutcome;
+  /** The `start.allowed` atom breakdown over the SUPPLIED inputs — what to
+   *  render next to a disabled start affordance. Present iff the definition
+   *  declares `allowed`. With `unboundReads` non-empty its own `outcome` may
+   *  be a collapsed provisional answer — the top-level `outcome` is the
+   *  trustworthy one. */
+  insight?: ConditionInsight;
+  /** The `$fields` entries the predicate reads that `initialFields` doesn't
+   *  supply — "fill these to decide". Non-empty forces `outcome:
+   *  'unevaluable'`. Empty when the definition declares no `allowed`. */
+  unboundReads: string[];
+  /** Required input entries `initialFields` doesn't fill yet — the rows a
+   *  `startInstance` now would throw `RequiredFieldNotProvidedError` about. */
+  missingRequired: {
+    name: string;
+    type: FieldEntry["type"];
+  }[];
+}
+
 /** Type-mirror of {@link startFields}: how standalone runs of this workflow
  *  begin. Stored requires `kind` (desugar fills the `'interactive'` default);
  *  authoring may omit it — so each variant declares it. */
 declare type StartFields = {
   filter?: string | undefined;
+  allowed?: string | undefined;
 };
 
 /**
- * The caller-side half of the start-filter context — everything the
- * evaluating surface knows that the definition doesn't. Every member is
- * optional because the surfaces genuinely differ (a picker holds no
- * `initialFields`; a pure consumer may hold no clock): an absent binding
- * evaluates to GROQ null, so a filter reading it FAILS CLOSED rather than
- * guessing. The vars themselves are inventoried in `START_FILTER_VARS`.
+ * Project caller-supplied `initialFields` into the `$fields` map the
+ * start-allowed context binds: one key per declared `input`-sourced entry,
+ * resolved through {@link suppliedFieldFor} — the predicate can only ever see
+ * a value the input resolution would persist, and an undeclared supplied name
+ * never leaks in. Unsupplied (or null-supplied) entries stay unbound, so a
+ * read of one is GROQ null. Document references bind as their GDR envelopes
+ * (`$fields.<entry>.id` is the GDR URI).
  */
-export declare interface StartFilterScope {
-  /** The engine's tag partition — binds `$tag`. */
-  tag?: string | undefined;
-  /** ISO clock reading — binds `$now`. */
-  now?: string | undefined;
-  /**
-   * The candidate initialFields by entry name — binds `$fields`. Document
-   * references bind as their GDR envelopes (`$fields.<entry>.id` is the GDR
-   * URI). A surface that holds the caller's inputs (the Studio start control)
-   * supplies them; a per-doc picker does not.
-   */
-  fields?: Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
-  /**
-   * The WORKFLOW resource's dataset, for filters that read it (`*[...]` or a
-   * deref) — invoked lazily, only when `analyzeCondition` says the filter
-   * needs it. A slice is fine as long as it covers what filters scan;
-   * `definitionsForDocument` supplies EVERY instance of the tag, completed
-   * included — `*` carries no hidden predicate, so authors qualify in-flight
-   * themselves (`!defined(completedAt)`). Absent ⇒ a dataset-reading filter
-   * fails closed (this surface cannot see the dataset, so it cannot decide).
-   */
-  fetchDataset?: (() => Promise<unknown[]>) | undefined;
-}
+export declare function startFieldsParam(args: {
+  entryDefs: readonly FieldEntry[];
+  initialFields: readonly InitialFieldValue[];
+}): Record<string, unknown>;
 
 export declare interface StartInstanceArgs {
   /** The definition's `name` — which deployed workflow to instantiate. */
@@ -6275,7 +6710,14 @@ export declare interface StartInstanceArgs {
    * entry, so all forms read back the same under `$context.<name>`.
    */
   context?: StartContext;
-  /** Caller-supplied id; auto-generated otherwise. */
+  /**
+   * Caller-supplied id; auto-generated otherwise (mint one with
+   * `instanceDocId`). This is start's idempotency key: a retry carrying the
+   * same id resumes the earlier attempt's outstanding commits instead of
+   * creating a duplicate — the per-instance request ledger can't cover the
+   * create (it lives on the instance document), so id identity is the rail.
+   * Inputs bind on the create only; a resume never re-reads them.
+   */
   instanceId?: string;
   /**
    * URL path on the supplied client where the engine fetches the
@@ -6329,6 +6771,55 @@ export declare function startKindOf(definition: {
     | undefined;
 }): StartKind;
 
+/**
+ * Thrown by `startInstance` when the definition's `start.allowed` predicate
+ * is not satisfied for the supplied `initialFields` — evaluated false, or
+ * GROQ null ("can't decide"; fail-closed, `insight.outcome` tells the two
+ * apart). Carries the full {@link ConditionInsight} so a consumer renders
+ * the same explanation the `evaluateStart` pre-flight would have shown.
+ * There is no override arg — like `fireAction`, you don't bypass a verdict,
+ * you change what produces it. Advisory under races like every engine-side
+ * check.
+ */
+export declare class StartNotAllowedError extends WorkflowError<"start-not-allowed"> {
+  readonly definition: string;
+  readonly insight: ConditionInsight;
+  constructor(args: { definition: string; insight: ConditionInsight });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Thrown when a start fails AFTER its create committed but BEFORE priming:
+ * the instance document exists, unprimed (see {@link isUnprimed}) — a
+ * genuinely failed start, but a RESUMABLE one. The error names the id so
+ * every surface's failure message can point at the retry rail: retrying
+ * `startInstance` with this `instanceId` finishes the start instead of
+ * creating a duplicate; aborting the instance discards it.
+ */
+export declare class StartNotPrimedError extends WorkflowError<"start-not-primed"> {
+  readonly instanceId: string;
+  constructor(args: { instanceId: string; cause: unknown });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Thrown when a start's first cascade fails AFTER the instance was created
+ * and primed: the run exists — stage entered, activities active, guards
+ * deployed — it just hasn't auto-advanced to a stable stage yet. Callers
+ * must not present this as a failed start: the workflow IS running, and a
+ * `tick` (or retrying `startInstance` with the same `instanceId`) resumes
+ * the settling.
+ */
+export declare class StartNotSettledError extends WorkflowError<"start-not-settled"> {
+  readonly instanceId: string;
+  /** The primed instance re-read after the cascade failure — absent when
+   *  that best-effort read also failed. */
+  readonly instance?: WorkflowInstance;
+  constructor(args: {
+    instanceId: string;
+    instance?: WorkflowInstance;
+    cause: unknown;
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * Why a definition can't be started standalone, or `undefined` when it can.
  * Advisory — the engine itself does not refuse ({@link isStartableDefinition})
@@ -6339,6 +6830,38 @@ export declare function startRefusal(definition: {
   lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
 }): string | undefined;
 
+/**
+ * The caller-side half of the start contexts — everything the evaluating
+ * surface knows that the definition doesn't. Every member is optional
+ * because the surfaces genuinely differ (a pure consumer may hold no clock):
+ * an absent binding evaluates each read of it to GROQ null, and where that
+ * null lands decides the verdict — a predicate that can't decide without
+ * the binding fails closed, while a count-of-matches clause over values
+ * every row stores passes vacuously (in GROQ null equals only null, so the
+ * unbound read matches no stored value). The vars themselves are
+ * inventoried in `START_FILTER_VARS` / `START_ALLOWED_VARS`; the caller's
+ * `$fields` map is NOT scope — `start.filter` never binds it, and
+ * `explainStartAllowed` takes it as its own argument.
+ */
+export declare interface StartScope {
+  /** The engine's tag partition — binds `$tag`. */
+  tag?: string | undefined;
+  /** ISO clock reading — binds `$now`. */
+  now?: string | undefined;
+  /**
+   * The WORKFLOW resource's dataset, for predicates that read it (`*[...]` or
+   * a deref) — invoked lazily, only when `analyzeCondition` says the
+   * predicate needs it. A slice is fine as long as it covers what predicates
+   * scan; the engine verbs supply EVERY instance of the tag, completed
+   * included — `*` carries no hidden predicate, so authors qualify in-flight
+   * themselves (`!defined(completedAt)`). Absent ⇒ a dataset-reading filter
+   * fails closed (this surface cannot see the dataset, so it cannot decide),
+   * while a dataset-reading `allowed` THROWS — see
+   * {@link explainStartAllowed}.
+   */
+  fetchDataset?: (() => Promise<unknown[]>) | undefined;
+}
+
 /**
  * Declared editability of a field — the generic edit seam's gate. Default
  * (absent) is NOT editable: a field is op-only engine working memory unless the
@@ -7181,6 +7704,29 @@ declare type TransitionFields = {
  */
 export declare function tryParseGdr(uri: string): ParsedGdr | undefined;
 
+/**
+ * The `$fields` entries a `start.allowed` predicate reads that `fields` does
+ * not bind — the BINDABILITY rule every pre-flight surface applies before
+ * trusting a verdict over possibly-incomplete inputs. GROQ equality against
+ * a missing operand collapses to a definitive-looking answer (`null == x` is
+ * false, not null), so a verdict that read an unbound entry is PROVISIONAL in
+ * both directions: supplying the entry could overturn a refusal AND an
+ * approval. Non-empty ⇒ report "can't decide yet" instead of the collapsed
+ * verdict (the `evaluateStart` verb does; the Studio start control does).
+ *
+ * The GATE never consults this: at `startInstance` the supplied inputs are
+ * final, so evaluating over genuine absence — including rules that WANT it,
+ * like `!defined($fields.rush)` — is the correct semantics there.
+ *
+ * `fields` is a produced `$fields` map (`startFieldsParam`, or a surface's
+ * seed map) — producers bind only own keys with real values, so key presence
+ * IS the supplied-ness rule.
+ */
+export declare function unboundAllowedReads(
+  allowed: string,
+  fields: Record<string, unknown>,
+): string[];
+
 /**
  * The diagnose idiom shared by every consumer: each unsatisfied exit
  * transition with its insight summary. Consumers shape the result (the CLI
@@ -7221,27 +7767,13 @@ export declare function validateDefinition(
   definition: WorkflowDefinition,
 ): void;
 
-/**
- * Engine-scope tag — the environment partition primitive.
- *
- * Every engine operates against exactly one `tag` ("test", "prod", …).
- * The tag partitions definitions and instances within a single workflow
- * resource: `deploy(def, tag: "test")` and `deploy(def, tag: "prod")` are
- * separate deployed workflows with independent lifecycles, and every read
- * is scoped to one tag so test runs never surface in prod.
- *
- * The tag must be Sanity-ID-compatible since it's joined into IDs with
- * `.` — ASCII lowercase + digits + dashes, no leading dash, no dots. It
- * is also the ID prefix for every definition/instance the engine writes.
- *
- * There is no default. The tag selects which environment the engine reads
- * and writes, and the engine enforces nothing — so the partition is the
- * only thing keeping test runs out of prod. Every entry point
- * (`createEngine`, the CLI, the MCP server) requires it explicitly and
- * fails when it's absent rather than guessing an environment.
- */
 export declare function validateTag(tag: string): void;
 
+declare interface ValidationIssue {
+  path: ReadonlyArray<PropertyKey>;
+  message: string;
+}
+
 export declare type ValueExpr = ValueExprInternal;
 
 declare type ValueExprInternal =
@@ -7386,18 +7918,36 @@ export declare const workflow: {
   /**
    * Spawn a new workflow instance from a deployed definition.
    *
-   * Throws only on its own input contract — a missing `required` input
-   * ({@link RequiredFieldNotProvidedError}) or a value that doesn't fit its
-   * declared kind. It does NOT evaluate the definition's `start.filter`: that
-   * is a read-side visibility rule (see `definitionsForDocument`), so a
-   * caller who supplies everything needed starts, full stop.
+   * Two gates run before anything is written, in order: the required-input
+   * check — a missing `required` input is a CALLER mistake
+   * ({@link RequiredFieldNotProvidedError}) — then the definition's
+   * `start.allowed` permission predicate, whose false/GROQ-null VERDICT
+   * throws {@link StartNotAllowedError} (declaring the expression is the
+   * opt-in; there is no override arg — pre-flight with `evaluateStart`).
+   * Per-value SHAPE validation fires during field resolution, after the
+   * verdict but still before any write. It does NOT evaluate `start.filter`:
+   * that is a read-side visibility rule (see `definitionsForDocument`).
    *
    * Pins the snapshot at start-time, seeds the `context` bag, and enters
    * the initial stage — fields resolve and every in-scope activity is
    * born active. Then cascades until stable, so the initial stage's
-   * `when: 'true'` triggers have fired by the time this returns. Starting
-   * always changes state (`changed: true`) — `cascaded` reports how far
-   * the new instance auto-advanced.
+   * `when: 'true'` triggers have fired by the time this returns.
+   *
+   * Start is three commits — create, prime, first cascade — and a supplied
+   * `instanceId` is its idempotency key across them. When that id already
+   * exists under this tag for the same start, the call RESUMES: input gates
+   * and field resolution are skipped (those values were pinned at create)
+   * and the outstanding commits run — the retry path for a start that
+   * failed after its create landed (see `isUnprimed`). Reusing an id for a
+   * DIFFERENT start (definition or explicit version mismatch) — or for an
+   * unfinished start that was aborted (a discarded start) — throws
+   * {@link ContractViolationError}. The mid-sequence failures are typed and
+   * carry the retry id: a prime failure after the create committed throws
+   * `StartNotPrimedError` (failed but resumable), and a cascade failure
+   * after a successful prime throws `StartNotSettledError` — the run exists
+   * by then and must not be reported as a failed start. `changed` is `true`
+   * on a fresh start and rev-derived on a resume; `cascaded` reports how far
+   * the instance auto-advanced.
    */
   startInstance: (
     rawArgs: Clocked<Telemetered<StartInstanceArgs & EngineScopeArgs>>,
@@ -7519,8 +8069,11 @@ export declare const workflow: {
    * Hydrates the instance's snapshot (instance + ancestors + every doc
    * declared by a `doc.ref` / `doc.refs` entry in scope), then
    * evaluates the supplied GROQ in groq-js against that dataset. The
-   * rendered scope's instance-derived vars ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}) are
-   * auto-bound — ids in GDR URI form to match the snapshot's keying.
+   * caller-free rendered scope cascade gates evaluate in is auto-bound —
+   * the instance-derived vars ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}) with the open
+   * stage's overlay merged into `$fields`, `$assigned` at its caller-free
+   * `false`, plus the author's pre-evaluated `$<predicate>` booleans —
+   * ids in GDR URI form to match the snapshot's keying.
    *
    * Use when an external consumer (a UI, a debug pane, a test) wants
    * to ask "what does the engine see for this workflow right now?"
@@ -7631,10 +8184,10 @@ export declare const workflow: {
    * visible to the engine's tag and filters it through the derivation
    * ({@link applicableDefinitions}): startable ∧ a required subject entry
    * accepts the doc's `_type` ∧ `start.filter` passes — evaluated in the
-   * start-filter context with `$tag`/`$definition`/`$now` bound and the
-   * tag's instance slice (completed included) backing dataset reads. A picker holds no
-   * `initialFields`, so `$fields` stays unbound here and a filter reading it
-   * fails closed (the definition is not surfaced).
+   * browse-time-pure start-filter context with `$tag`/`$definition`/`$now`
+   * bound and the tag's instance slice (completed included) backing dataset
+   * reads. `start.allowed` never participates — permission is a start-time
+   * question; pre-flight it with {@link workflow.evaluateStart}.
    *
    * Takes the LOADED candidate document, not a ref — applicability evaluates
    * its content, under whatever perspective the caller read it with. Surfaces
@@ -7644,6 +8197,26 @@ export declare const workflow: {
   definitionsForDocument: (
     rawArgs: Clocked<DefinitionsForDocumentArgs & EngineScopeArgs>,
   ) => Promise<DeployedDefinition[]>;
+  /**
+   * Pre-flight the start gates for a definition + candidate `initialFields` —
+   * the read `startInstance` enforces, as a {@link StartEvaluation} a surface
+   * can render: `missingRequired` mirrors the input contract
+   * ({@link RequiredFieldNotProvidedError}'s rows), and `allowed` /
+   * `outcome` / `insight` carry the `start.allowed` verdict with its atom
+   * breakdown — disable the start affordance on a definitive `false` and say
+   * why. BINDABILITY-AWARE for partial mid-form inputs: when the predicate
+   * reads an entry `initialFields` doesn't supply, `outcome` is
+   * `'unevaluable'` and `unboundReads` names the entries ("fill these to
+   * decide") instead of the collapsed answer GROQ equality would give —
+   * this is the ONE deliberate divergence from the gate, where absence is
+   * final, not provisional (a rule like `!defined($fields.rush)` genuinely
+   * passes there when `rush` is absent). A definition with no
+   * `start.allowed` is vacuously allowed, exactly like the verb. Pure read;
+   * advisory under races — the enforcement moment is `startInstance` itself.
+   */
+  evaluateStart: (
+    rawArgs: Clocked<EvaluateStartArgs & EngineScopeArgs>,
+  ) => Promise<StartEvaluation>;
   /**
    * Permission helpers — Sanity ACL grants evaluated against documents
    * via GROQ. Used by `workflow.evaluate` to soft-gate actions when the
@@ -7705,6 +8278,12 @@ export declare interface WorkflowAdminOverrideData extends InstanceScopedEventDa
   changed: boolean;
 }
 
+/** The whole-definition rollup: every stage must progress, so the workflow
+ *  verdict conjoins the stage verdicts. */
+export declare interface WorkflowAutonomy extends AutonomyAnswer {
+  stages: StageAutonomy[];
+}
+
 export declare interface WorkflowClient {
   fetch: <T = unknown>(
     query: string,
@@ -8399,6 +8978,7 @@ export declare abstract class WorkflowError<
 
 export declare type WorkflowErrorKind =
   | "action-disabled"
+  | "start-not-allowed"
   | "edit-field-denied"
   | "mutation-guard-denied"
   | "action-params-invalid"
@@ -8407,12 +8987,16 @@ export declare type WorkflowErrorKind =
   | "required-field-not-provided"
   | "workflow-state-diverged"
   | "partial-guard-deploy"
+  | "start-not-primed"
+  | "start-not-settled"
   | "concurrent-fire-action"
   | "concurrent-edit-field"
   | "concurrent-complete-effect"
   | "cascade-limit"
   | "field-value-shape"
+  | "ref-resource-undeclared"
   | "model-version-ahead"
+  | "persisted-doc-shape"
   | "instance-not-found"
   | "definition-not-found"
   | "definition-in-use"
@@ -8443,6 +9027,14 @@ export declare interface WorkflowEvaluation {
    * Empty when no condition reads a field.
    */
   fieldInsights: FieldInsight[];
+  /**
+   * The whole definition's causal-autonomy rollup: per activity, per stage,
+   * and workflow-wide — will each level resolve without a caller, and what
+   * does it wait on. Static (no instance state), stamped here so every
+   * consumer reads one derivation. Spawn children are not resolved at
+   * evaluation time, so their legs report `conditional`.
+   */
+  autonomy: WorkflowAutonomy;
 }
 
 export declare interface WorkflowFetchOptions {
@@ -8472,6 +9064,12 @@ export declare interface WorkflowFieldEditedData extends InstanceScopedEventData
 
 /** Type-mirror of {@link workflowFields}, parameterised over field/stage/start. */
 declare type WorkflowFields<TField, TStage, TStart> = {
+  /**
+   * Lake-id-segment grammar (`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$`, deploy-enforced): the
+   * name interpolates into every deployed document id
+   * (`<tag>.<name>.v<version>`). Stable identity — instances pin to it,
+   * subworkflows resolve by it.
+   */
   name: string;
   title: string;
   description?: string | undefined;
@@ -8606,6 +9204,13 @@ export declare interface WorkflowInstance extends SanityDocument {
 
 export declare const WorkflowInstanceAborted: WorkflowTelemetryEvent<WorkflowAdminOverrideData>;
 
+/**
+ * The persisted instance document, root to leaf. Reused verbatim by every
+ * engine read boundary through {@link parseInstanceDocument}; the
+ * model-surface gate derives its shape ledger from this schema.
+ */
+export declare const WorkflowInstanceSchema: v.GenericSchema<WorkflowInstance>;
+
 export declare const WorkflowInstanceStarted: WorkflowTelemetryEvent<WorkflowInstanceStartedData>;
 
 export declare interface WorkflowInstanceStartedData extends InstanceScopedEventData {
@@ -8800,10 +9405,11 @@ export declare interface WorkflowTransaction {
   /**
    * Queue a document delete. Deliberately a transaction-only capability —
    * the top-level client surface stays delete-free so no engine code path
-   * can casually remove documents; the sole consumer is `deleteDefinition`
-   * housekeeping (definition docs + orphaned guard docs). Both the real
-   * `@sanity/client` Transaction and the test fake's TransactionHandle
-   * carry this shape.
+   * can casually remove documents; engine-side the sole consumer is
+   * `deleteDefinition` housekeeping (definition docs + orphaned guard docs),
+   * and outside the engine the CLI's `nuke` reset deletes raw engine-owned
+   * docs through it. Both the real `@sanity/client` Transaction and the test
+   * fake's TransactionHandle carry this shape.
    */
   delete: (id: string) => WorkflowTransaction;
   /**