Author an Application Manifest V4

The manifest is the strict document you keep in the repository. It describes what Liskov may build and run. Liskov resolves server-owned facts—such as the exact artifact version and launch evidence—into an immutable effective policy.

V4 is the only public authoring version. Unknown fields and unsupported capabilities fail closed.

Supported starter manifest

.liskov/application-manifest.json

{
  "schema": "proof.liskov.application-manifest",
  "schemaVersion": 4,
  "applicationId": "status-worker",
  "metadata": {
    "appType": "background-worker",
    "description": "Checks an external service and records its status"
  },
  "release": {
    "mode": "build",
    "artifact": {
      "kind": "ipfs_bundle",
      "encryption": { "mode": "none" }
    },
    "builder": {
      "kind": "github",
      "repository": "OWNER/REPOSITORY",
      "allowedRefs": ["refs/heads/main"],
      "workflowRef": "OWNER/REPOSITORY/.github/workflows/liskov.yml@refs/heads/main",
      "manifestPath": ".liskov/application-manifest.json"
    }
  },
  "runtime": {
    "engine": "nodejs",
    "command": "node app.cjs",
    "requiredModules": ["network"],
    "resources": {
      "memoryMiB": 256,
      "storageMiB": 256,
      "networkRequestQuota": 1000
    }
  },
  "deployment": {
    "parallelism": 1,
    "schedule": { "durationMs": 3600000 },
    "placement": {
      "processorSelection": { "mode": "open_market" }
    },
    "lifecycle": {
      "renewal": { "mode": "after_scheduled_end" },
      "update": {
        "timing": "immediate",
        "existingJobs": { "mode": "run_until_scheduled_end" }
      },
      "recovery": {
        "launch": { "maxRetries": 5 },
        "runtimeFailure": { "mode": "wait_until_scheduled_end" }
      }
    },
    "spend": {
      "maxServiceCreditMicrosPerGeneration": 5000000
    }
  },
  "observability": {
    "logs": { "enabled": true },
    "runtimeDiagnostics": { "signed": true }
  },
  "configuration": {
    "variables": [
      {
        "name": "API_ENDPOINT",
        "required": true,
        "default": "https://example.com/api",
        "managed": true
      }
    ],
    "secrets": [
      {
        "secretId": "api-token",
        "required": true,
        "destination": { "kind": "env", "name": "API_TOKEN" }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Replace both OWNER/REPOSITORY values. The example uses the supported v1 capability set: one open-market job, a fixed duration, renewal after scheduled end, immediate successor updates while old jobs run to end, bounded launch retries, and no runtime replacement before scheduled end.

maxServiceCreditMicrosPerGeneration is a maximum authority of 5,000,000 micros, or USD 5.00 in Service Credits, for one slot generation. It is not the quoted or final price.

Validate, then review the digests

proof liskov application manifest validate \
  --file .liskov/application-manifest.json

Validation returns an authoredDigest for the exact authored content and a releaseIntentDigest for normalized builder/release authority. Later, publication creates a policyDigest for the immutable effective policy. A change in any of these is a review event; do not copy one value into another.

Validation proves the document is structurally and semantically acceptable. It does not prove your organization is entitled to every valid field, that an artifact exists, or that enough Service Credits are available. Publication preflight checks those contextual facts.

Avoid gated fields in recipes

The V4 type system also represents features that are not in the first public capability set, including parallelism above one, manager/static processor selection, placement groups, topology constraints, automatic renewal lead, runtime replace-after-failure, and general ingress. Do not add them because they appear in a schema. See Capabilities and limits before using an unfamiliar field.

The exact field tables, defaults, bounds, and cross-field rules live in the Manifest V4 reference.