▸ licensing

Open semantics.
Monetized execution.

CommandLayer is licensed to keep the contract surface public and the execution surface investable. Commons and Commercial define the contract. Agent Cards define discovery. Runtime defines execution.

No paywalled standards Schemas stay public and portable Guarantees and routing can be commercial

The licensing rule

CommandLayer never charges for semantics, schemas, or validation. Monetization lives in runtime execution, guarantees, routing, and commercial service surfaces.

The contract layer remains inspectable, versioned, and portable. Discovery remains open because Agent Cards are protocol descriptors, not private lock-in. Execution value accrues where operational cost, risk, and guarantees actually exist.


Public contracts below, commercial operations above

This is not open-core theater. The protocol surface remains public so builders can validate, route, and interoperate without permission. Commercial value shows up where execution has cost, policy, and guarantee overhead.

ComponentLicenseWhat it means
CommonsCanonical contract layer MIT Public-goods request and receipt schemas. Anyone can implement, validate, mirror, or extend integrations against Commons without asking permission.
CommercialEconomic contract layer Apache-2.0 Economic verbs remain public and portable. Builders can use the same schemas across processors, marketplaces, and runtimes while keeping patent posture clean.
Agent CardsDiscovery layer Apache-2.0 Open descriptors for identity, discovery, and routing. Clients should be able to discover capabilities without scraping private docs.
RuntimeExecution layer BUSL-1.1 Reference runtime code can be inspected and used under its terms, while commercial deployment, guarantees, routing logic, and managed execution remain monetizable service surfaces.

Why this structure exists

Standards only work when the semantic layer is public. If schemas are paywalled, builders cannot validate independently, judges cannot trust the protocol claim, and portability collapses.

CommandLayer keeps the meaning layer open so multiple runtimes can compete on execution without fragmenting the contract.

Where value accrues
Runtime execution carries the operational burden: metering, policy, trace capture, guarantees, retries, commercial routing, and service reliability. That is where monetization belongs.
What builders can rely on
Published schemas remain usable without a commercial agreement. Validation remains available to anyone. Agent Cards remain open descriptors. Canonical receipt first, runtime metadata second.
Why judges should care
The business model is coherent because standards are not the toll booth. The trust layer thesis is credible because meaning remains public. The execution layer is investable because guarantees and operations are where monetization lives.
The contract stays public. Execution becomes infrastructure. No contradiction with Commons, Commercial, Runtime, or Repositories.