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Rapid OS v3.0.0 Release Notes

Release Version: 3.0.0
Artifact Schema Version: 1 (BehavioralRuleset version 1)
Python Requirement: Python >=3.10 (3.10, 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13 verified in CI)

1. Overview​

Rapid OS v3.0.0 evolves Rapid OS from a static context template generator (v1/v2) into a Contract-Driven Engineering OS for AI Coding Harnesses.

While preserving full backward compatibility with all Rapid OS v2 commands (rapid init, rapid scope, rapid skill, rapid mcp, rapid vision, rapid deploy, rapid refine, rapid inspect-context, rapid validate, rapid doctor), Rapid OS v3 introduces an end-to-end, deterministic, offline governance loop across six architectural phases.

2. What's Included in v3.0.0​

Phase 0 — Hardening Foundation​

  • Strict path containment (ensure_path_within_root, resolve_child_path, safe_rmtree_child) preventing symlink escapes and path traversal.
  • Atomic UTF-8 file writes (safe_write_text, safe_copy_file) with .bak backup protection where appropriate and append-only immutability for v3 registries.
  • Safe subprocess boundary (shell=False enforced for optional npx skills integration; zero subprocess calls across v3 governance registries and evaluators).

Phase 1 — Project Intelligence (rapid scan)​

  • Canonical ProjectModel, ProjectFact, Evidence, Confidence, and SourceType in rapid_os.domain.project.
  • Deterministic repository detectors (rapid_os.domain.scanner) with secret-safe .env key inspection (read_env_keys() never reads secret values).
  • Optional .rapid-os/project.json snapshot persistence (rapid scan --write) and RAPID600–RAPID604 validation.

Phase 2 — Context Compiler (rapid context)​

  • Task-aware ContextCompiler, ContextResolver, ContextSourceLoader, and ContextManifest (rapid_os.domain.context).
  • Deterministic 14-tier source precedence hierarchy, character budget enforcement (--max-chars) with non-truncation guarantee for required sources, and structural conflict detection across selected fragments.
  • RAPID700–RAPID705 diagnostics and read-only CLI (rapid context [compile] --mode ... --harness ... --spec ... --manifest --json).

Phase 3 — Spec Registry (rapid spec)​

  • Multi-spec authoring registry under .rapid-os/specs/<spec-id>/ with SpecRecord (spec.json) and immutable SpecRevision directories (revisions/0001/, 0002/, ...).
  • Lifecycle management (draft, ready, archived), SHA-256 artifact digest verification (requirements.md, tasks.md, acceptance.md), legacy export (rapid spec export-legacy), and RAPID800–RAPID809 validation.

Phase 4 — Execution Policy Engine & Run Contract (rapid policy & rapid run)​

  • Deterministic ExecutionPolicy (.rapid-os/policy.json or default) and ExecutionPolicyEvaluator producing PolicyDecision (ExecutionClass, RiskLevel, WorkspaceRequirement, GateRequirement).
  • Immutable ExecutionContract (contract.json), context.md, context-manifest.json, and append-only RunState ledger (states/0001.json .. 000N.json) under .rapid-os/runs/<run-id>/.
  • Strict pre-execution and post-execution phase boundary enforcement and RAPID1000–RAPID1014 validation.

Phase 5 — Harness Capability Registry (rapid harness)​

  • Canonical 11-capability catalog (CANONICAL_CAPABILITY_DEFINITIONS) across 8 categories.
  • Conservative built-in HarnessProfile definitions (codex, claude, cursor, vscode, antigravity) and full-replacement project overrides in .rapid-os/harnesses/<id>.json.
  • Deterministic CapabilityRequirementResolver, CapabilityResolver (compatible, incompatible, unresolved), .rapid-os/capabilities.lock, and RAPID1100–RAPID1112 validation.

Phase 6 — Evidence Engine & Behavioral Evals (rapid evidence & rapid eval)​

  • Append-only EvidenceRegistry under .rapid-os/evidence/<run-id>/ storing immutable RunEvidence records (records/E001.json, ...) and SHA-256/size-verified copied files (artifacts/E001/, ...).
  • Deterministic offline BehavioralEvaluator and append-only EvalRegistry under .rapid-os/evals/<run-id>/reports/ with mandatory semantic replay verification (RAPID1223).
  • Strict separation between gate declarations (ACKNOWLEDGED), waivers (WAIVED), missing proof (UNVERIFIED), and verified evidence (PASS, PASS_WITH_WAIVERS, FAIL), backed by RAPID1200–RAPID1229 diagnostics.

Release Hardening & Packaging​

  • PEP 517/518 packaging via pyproject.toml and MANIFEST.in with rapid console script entrypoint (rapid_os.cli.main:main), python -m build wheel + sdist verification, and bundled package templates (importlib.resources fallback when installed as a wheel outside a repo checkout).
  • Global rapid --version (Rapid OS 3.0.0), updated rapid guide, comprehensive --help descriptions, reproducible v3.0.0-pinned install.sh and install.ps1, and end-to-end governance/tampering/wheel test suites.

3. CLI Summary​

rapid --version
rapid --help
rapid guide
rapid init
rapid scan
rapid spec       (create | list | show | revise | status | export-legacy)
rapid context    ([compile] --mode ... --spec ... --harness ... --manifest --json)
rapid policy     (show | init)
rapid run        (create | list | show | status | task | gate)
rapid harness    (list | show | init | lock | resolve)
rapid evidence   (list | show | add | verify)
rapid eval       (run | list | show)
rapid validate   ([--strict] [--json])
rapid doctor     ([--json])
rapid inspect-context
rapid scope
rapid skill
rapid mcp
rapid vision
rapid deploy
rapid refine
rapid prompt

4. Compatibility & Upgrade Notes​

  • Zero Breaking Changes to v2 Workflows: Existing projects using .rapid-os/config.json, .rapid-os/standards/, SPECS.md, TASKS.md, ACCEPTANCE.md, and python rapid.py continue to work without modification.
  • Standard Library Governance Core & Optional Integrations: Rapid OS v3 governance core has no mandatory external runtime dependencies and uses the Python standard library. Optional compatibility/integration features such as remote skill installation (rapid skill add) may require Node.js, npx, or network access.
  • Independent Schema Versioning: Package version is 3.0.0, while all v3 JSON schemas remain at schema_version = 1.