formspec-specs

Formspec

A JSON-native form specification designed for LLM authoring. One definition renders on web, React, iOS, and server — and because every artifact is schema-constrained JSON, AI can generate valid forms directly, with lint and conformance closing the loop in seconds.

Built by Michael Deeb, TealWolf Consulting with Focus Consulting as a strategic partner. Open-core: runtime under Apache-2.0, authoring tools under BSL 1.1. See LICENSING.md.

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Formspec separates what data to collect from how it behaves from how it looks. A single definition drives validation, computed fields, conditional logic, and repeatable sections across any runtime — browser, server, mobile, offline. Every artifact is a JSON document backed by a JSON Schema, so the entire system is machine-readable.

Formspec is also the intake layer in a three-spec stack with WOS and Trellis. The stack target is one portable governed case record: Formspec captures the canonical response and IntakeHandoff for governed-case scope, WOS records how the decision was governed, and Trellis makes the record signed, durable, and verifiable offline without the original vendor runtime.

For the stack-level architecture, start with STACK.md. For active platform leans, forks, kill criteria, and end-state commitments, see the platform decisioning register.

The Stack

Formspec stands alone as a portable form runtime and authoring substrate, but it composes with two sibling specs when the workflow needs governed decisions and durable proof.

Layer	Spec	Responsibility
Intake	Formspec	Definitions, FEL, validation, canonical responses, intake handoffs, respondent-ledger event shape
Governance	WOS	Workflow semantics, AI constraints, review protocols, provenance, signature workflow meaning
Integrity	Trellis	Signed event envelopes, checkpoint seals, export bundles, offline verification

The stack has a strict center/adapter split. The center owns meaning: response shape, governance events, evidence bindings, identity and signature attestations, amendments, statutory clocks, migration pins, and verifier behavior. Adapters own replaceable machinery: renderers, workflow engines, identity providers, storage engines, KMS, and witness or anchor targets.

The end-state proof is not a dashboard. It is a verifier-facing package: specs, schemas or byte grammars, vectors, and verifier behavior that can reproduce the case record without a SaaS login. Product demos and buyer evidence matter, but they do not replace offline verification.

Architecture

The Specification as Abstraction Boundary

Formspec inverts the usual dependency between frontend and backend. Neither implementation knows about the other; both depend inward on the specification: