Show HN: Runbook.v1 – governed workflow execution for MCP (fail-closed)

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GitHub - CorpusIQ/runbook-spec: runbook.v1 - governed, versioned, auditable workflow execution for MCP. Deterministic at the host boundary, free reasoning between checkpoints. · GitHub

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runbook.v1 — Governed Workflow Execution for MCP

Deterministic at the host boundary. Free reasoning between checkpoints.

runbook.v1 is an application-layer contract for MCP hosts that need governed,<br>versioned, auditable workflows. It answers a limitation in the current MCP<br>interaction model: an MCP server can expose a tool or workflow, but the model<br>still decides whether to invoke it and how completely to follow it.

For enterprise workflows, execution must be required, not suggested.

The contract

A runbook is a versioned manifest resolved from a trusted skills server and<br>executed by the host with fail-closed semantics:

"runbook_id": "executive-snapshot",<br>"version": "4.2.0",<br>"mode": "required",<br>"failure_policy": "fail_closed",<br>"checkpoints": [<br>{"id": "cp-revenue-qb", "kind": "tool_call", "required": true,<br>"match": {"tool": "quickbooks_profit_and_loss"}},<br>{"id": "cp-emit", "kind": "condition", "required": true,<br>"condition": "final_output"}<br>],<br>"completion": {"condition": "final_output", "receipt": true}

Design principles

Acquisition is deterministic. The host resolves the runbook by<br>ID + version from a trusted skills server. No semantic search. Content<br>hash, schema, and prerequisites are validated before the first model call.

Version pinning is absolute. The exact version is bound for the life<br>of the run. It is never pasted into chat as untrusted prose.

The tool surface is an allow-list. The model can only see and call<br>tools declared in the manifest.

Checkpoints are observed, not self-reported. The host derives<br>checkpoint state from the tool-call stream. The model never claims<br>compliance.

Completion is host-evaluated. The host decides whether the runbook<br>completed and emits a machine-readable receipt.

Required mode is never silently downgraded. If the host cannot honor<br>the contract, it returns runbook_failed instead of a normal answer.

Repository layout

schema/runbook.v1.schema.json JSON Schema for the manifest<br>spec/runbook-v1.md The specification<br>reference/python/ Reference host implementation<br>conformance/ Conformance test suite (24 tests)<br>examples/ Example manifests

Conformance

The reference implementation passes its own conformance suite:

python3 conformance/run_conformance.py<br>PASS: 24 FAIL: 0

The suite covers: schema validation, content hashing, tamper detection,<br>prerequisite fail-closed, checkpoint observation, checkpoint timeout,<br>allow-list enforcement, receipt emission, and missing-runbook behavior.

Why this exists

MCP won because it made agents practical. This makes them trustworthy. In<br>enterprise procurement, those are the same word.

License

MIT

About<br>runbook.v1 - governed, versioned, auditable workflow execution for MCP. Deterministic at the host boundary, free reasoning between checkpoints.<br>corpusiq.io<br>Resources<br>Readme<br>MIT license<br>Activity<br>Custom properties<br>Stars<br>0 stars<br>Watchers<br>0 watching<br>Forks<br>0 forks<br>Report repository

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