audita/docs/roadmap/configkit.md

# ConfigKit Adoption Outline

**Updated:** 2026-11-07

**Status:** Initial outline. The [master roadmap](library-adoption.md) owns the
agreed adoption policy, reviewed versions, shared sequencing, and completion.

## Baseline and Target

Audita currently uses ConfigKit v0.7.1 through its former import path. Its
[configuration contract](../config.md) describes application file discovery,
overlays, defaults, inheritance, secret references, and explicit CLI settings.

Adopt ConfigKit v1.1.0 and its stable public API as the configuration foundation.
Use its native loading, discovery, presence, composition, resolution, diagnostics,
and inspection mechanisms. Audita supplies domain types and validation; retain
custom loading behavior only for a demonstrated domain requirement. Standard
operator access is implemented through the [CommandKit outline](commandkit.md).

The main upstream references are the
[v1 API migration](https://forge.maximumdirect.net/base-layer/configkit/src/commit/191015e289d7f2b91abb9fdd9c4f2f5cf75b4de9/docs/releases/v1.0.0.md),
[v1.1 release](https://forge.maximumdirect.net/base-layer/configkit/src/commit/191015e289d7f2b91abb9fdd9c4f2f5cf75b4de9/docs/releases/v1.1.0.md),
and [configuration contract](https://forge.maximumdirect.net/base-layer/configkit/src/commit/191015e289d7f2b91abb9fdd9c4f2f5cf75b4de9/docs/config.md).

## Agreed Direction and Migration Work

1. Move imports to `go.maximumdirect.net/configkit` with the coordinated
   PromptKit cutover. Raise the toolchain as specified by the master roadmap.
   Replace `Resolution.Record` uses with the appropriate dedicated recording
   method; review affected metadata and diagnostics APIs, not only compilation.
   Relevant renamed concepts include `EntryInfo`, `Sensitive`, `LayerMain`,
   version evidence, and destination fallback. Typed `Secret` and its field tag
   retain their spelling.
2. Adopt the native lifecycle: source composition and inheritance, typed decoding,
   explicit CLI assignments, then application resolution and validation. CLI
   assignments do not repair earlier decoding failures, alter inheritance
   relationships, or propagate parent edits through already resolved children.
   Update the current loading-order explanation and realistic integration tests.
3. Migrate genuine source-root control blocks to `config:` where present.
   Distinguish application schema versions from source version evidence; do not
   impose headers on every fragment merely because the API supports them.
4. Use identified collections where records have meaningful identity. ConfigKit
   upsert replaces matching records in full; inspection follows registered
   identities through movement, while list diffs remain atomic. Preserve ordinary
   ordered/repeated `pipeline.modules` entries and empty-pipeline semantics:
   these express Audita domain behavior, so uniqueness/upsert is inappropriate.
5. Integrate native source discovery and standard inspection instead of retaining
   equivalent private infrastructure. Adopt source diagnostics, explanation,
   history, normalization, and safe effective output through ckconfig. Account
   for the provenance label changing from `base` to `main`.
6. Apply the resolved [PromptKit ownership decision](promptkit.md#backend-and-credential-ownership--resolved):
   remove Audita's separate backend mapping and LLM credential references from
   its application schema. Native PromptKit resources own those settings and
   their resolution. Coordinate the hard cutover and examples here; file discovery
   and import selection remain open, without reopening semantic ownership.

## Documentation and Acceptance

Update [configuration](../config.md), relevant [CLI](../cli.md) behavior,
[change recipes](../internal/cli-config.md), maintained examples, migration
guidance, and attribution as the corresponding behavior lands. Public docs
remain descriptions of implemented behavior until then.

Acceptance should demonstrate native file selection, source composition,
overlays, explicit false/zero/empty values, derived settings, and secret handling
through real ConfigKit loading. Cover the changed inheritance/assignment order,
source errors, useful failure evidence, and secret-safe inspection. Reuse upstream
coverage for generic grammar rather than copying its test matrix. Verify the
standard ckconfig surface through the assembled CLI and run the full application
suite at the coordinated migration boundary.

The earlier passing configuration suite is useful baseline evidence, not proof
that operators see unchanged semantics. Native semantics and clear migration are
the target; preserving incidental old output or validation order is not.

## Upstream Requests

No ConfigKit change request is currently identified. Prefer adapting Audita to
its stable supported API. Record any necessary exception with a concrete domain
requirement and the smallest integration boundary that satisfies it.

## Open Decisions

### Discovery Locations and Import Selection

**Recommendation:** replace custom discovery with ConfigKit's supported search
API, then select documented paths and import options based on suite conventions.
Evaluate the current system-only search and disabled imports rather than carrying
them forward automatically. Native API adoption is agreed; the exact search
locations and import defaults still need selection before changing operator
behavior. Preserve explicit-path error evidence and distinguish optional from
required imports using native semantics.

**Alternative:** configure the native API with two system locations and imports
disabled if deployment requirements justify that source-selection policy. This
limits discovery flexibility and must stand on its own merits; compatibility with
today's installations carries no weight. Conversely, enabling all
possible searches/imports without a selected convention can load unintended
sources and is not required for full API adoption.

### Application Schema Version

**Recommendation:** design the application schema around the target ownership
boundaries, then choose its version to describe that contract. Keeping `version: 2`
is reasonable only if its meaning remains coherent; compatibility with existing
files is not a selection criterion. Do not confuse the application schema version
with the library version or PromptKit's source header.

**Alternative:** introduce a new application schema version if backend or
credential ownership changes make existing files misleading. It provides a clear
migration boundary; the version alone does not explain the new contract, so
hard-cutover guidance still needs to describe it. Decide from the final schema,
not from dependency version numbers alone, and do not add legacy-schema support.