commandkit/docs/roadmap/deferred.md

# Deferred work

Status: retained future work and unselected proposals; no implementation schedule.

## Purpose and authority

Completed initial delivery, performance, ReleaseKit upgrade, and remediation
records have been retired. This document preserves remaining deferred
capabilities and unselected ideas under the
[release policy](../policy/release.md#release-documentation-and-preparation).
The original records remain available in
[Git history](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit/src/commit/6bc37e7ba64ca0920b4d0cc77039a18d4006b24e/docs/roadmap).

Accepted [ADRs](../adr/) and the [architecture policy](../policy/architecture.md)
govern any future implementation. The [CLI reference](../cli.md), public GoDoc,
and [consumer guide](../consumers/guide.md) own implemented behavior. Retaining
an idea here does not select its syntax, API, priority, or delivery date.

## Deferred capability targets

### Comparison extensions

Independent per-side domain selectors and an optional assertion mode remain
unselected extensions to the delivered ConfigKit comparison. Consider them only
for a concrete consumer need and a deliberate API/behavior decision under the
relevant ADRs.

### Alias completion and discovery

The [shell-completion roadmap](completion.md) selects an initial MVP with
canonical suggestions and alias-aware interpretation. Potential future work
includes suggesting command and flag alias spellings and valid continuations of
alias-only prefixes. For example, completion could suggest `inspect` after
`app legacy ` when `legacy inspect` is an installed alias.

Alias discovery is outside the initial scope. This deferral does not establish a
permanent canonical-only completion contract or prohibit future alias discovery.
A later design should determine how alias suggestions are presented alongside
canonical suggestions while ensuring inserted continuations form valid next
steps. No delivery date or final API is selected here.

## Other deferred proposals

These capabilities remain outside the delivered scope and require a concrete
operator or consumer need and an appropriate ownership/behavior decision:

- JSON reports and output-file management or reloadable export.
- Shell-completion extensions beyond the initial scope in the
  [completion roadmap](completion.md), including alias discovery described above
  and dynamic discovery of configured or remote values.
- Configuration mutation, generic value assignment, and exhaustive field-origin
  inventories.
- Credential diagnostics beyond PromptKit's native smoke checks and additional
  live provider probes.
- Additional component identity registration and domain artifact catalogs.
- Additional library families, including possible FeedKit integration; families
  can define suitable verbs without requiring comparison or configuration scopes.
- Backend selection or replacement, a plugin framework, general dependency
  injection, and concurrent-dispatch guarantees.

Execution, rendering, serving, and session operations remain application-owned.
Shared vocabulary is guidance under [ADR 0006](../adr/0006-command-grammar.md).
Backend replacement remains possible behind the accepted facade, subject to the
published API/CLI contracts and deliberate compatibility decisions.

## Possible further efficiency work

Selected-scope memoization and selector-membership indexes were deferred pending
measurements that justify their bookkeeping. Mutable backend reuse across
invocations, segmented aggregate YAML delivery, provider caching, consumer-loader
redesign, and a replacement backend were outside the completed performance
target. Reconsider them only with concrete motivation and review of ownership,
invocation state, native reports, and the affected contracts. Retained measurement
records are historical evidence, not performance guarantees or release gates.

## Consumer adoption

Consumer migrations remain separate from library delivery. Applications can
replace duplicated standard handlers and routing, then update their CLI docs
and subprocess consumers for intentional changes while retaining domain commands.
No migration order or claim about individual applications' adoption is recorded
here; the [consumer guide](../consumers/guide.md) and maintained examples provide
integration guidance.