Open versus proprietary
The three distinct objects - the open numi CLI, the numinance-spec repository and the proprietary runtime - and where the Apache-2.0 boundary sits.
The brain is private. The contract is open. Build once against the contract. Bring your own capabilities.
Three objects, not one
People often merge these. Keep them apart.
| Object | What it is | Availability |
|---|---|---|
The numi CLI | A command-line tool in the spec repository. Its open build validates configuration and verifies evidence. | Open, Apache-2.0. Build from source. |
The numinance-spec repository | Protocol definitions, schemas, SDK sources, conformance kits, sample and official plugins, evidence format and verifier, governance. | Open, Apache-2.0. |
| The Numinance runtime | The autonomous engineering engine: context resolution, planning, orchestration, policy enforcement. | Proprietary, private, not generally available. |
Installing numi does not install an autonomous engineer. Several commands (run, evidence export, plan, approve and breaker) are designed for the runtime and are not in the open build.
What is under Apache-2.0
- Protobuf definitions, capability ports and governance annotations.
- Configuration kinds and their JSON Schemas.
- Go packages and generated client stubs. Python and TypeScript stubs are pre-alpha, and Rust and Java are coming soon.
- Conformance kits for ports such as knowledge, scm, ticketing and verifier.
- The sample plugin and the official plugins.
- The
evidence/v1specification and the offline verifier. - Governance, versioning and RFC process.
Presence in the tree is not a readiness claim. See the status page.
What stays private
The runtime's algorithms, planning and context-selection logic, orchestration implementation, infrastructure details and the specifics of its threat model are not published. The contract tells you what must be true of a conforming component. It does not tell you how the engine achieves it.
Why the boundary is here
Authority has to be inspectable by the people who grant it. Opening the contract lets you read exactly what a privileged action is, write adapters and plugins that the same governance covers, validate your own configuration, and verify results without asking the vendor. Keeping the brain private means the open surface does not promise behavior that only the engine can supply.
What you can do today
git clone https://github.com/dsha256/numinance-spec.git
cd numinance-spec
go build -o ./bin/numi ./cli/numiPrebuilt releases and package-manager installs are planned, not available.