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+# Pact Type System Formal Spec (Draft 0)
+
+This document starts the formal specification for Pact's type system. It
+captures the semantic model, a precise core calculus, and open decisions that
+must be resolved before implementation hardens.
+
+## Status
+
+- **Maturity:** Draft 0 (non-normative)
+- **Intended audience:** language/runtime maintainers, codegen maintainers
+- **Out of scope for this draft:** parser grammar details, full ABI binary spec
+
+## 1. Design Goals and Non-Goals
+
+### Goals
+
+1. Specify a **total, terminating** type checker over interface declarations.
+2. Support **parametric polymorphism** for types and interfaces.
+3. Support **trait-constrained generics** with explicit coherence rules.
+4. Specify **interface transforms** as typed, terminating rewrites.
+5. Preserve **structural ABI compatibility** via canonicalized concrete forms.
+
+### Non-goals
+
+1. No value-level language in Pact.
+2. No dependent, refinement, or const-generic typing.
+3. No general recursion in type-level computation.
+4. No subtyping/inheritance lattice.
+
+## 2. Core Semantic Model
+
+Pact type-checking operates over declaration environments:
+
+- **Type environment**: named type constructors and aliases.
+- **Trait environment**: trait declarations and supertrait edges.
+- **Impl environment**: trait implementation instances.
+- **Interface environment**: interface declarations and transformed interfaces.
+
+There is no term typing judgment for expressions because Pact has no value-term
+language. The spec only types declarations and interface signatures.
+
+## 3. Syntactic Categories (Core)
+
+This section defines a reduced, formal core independent of surface syntax.
+
+- `τ` types: primitive | constructor application | tuple | list | option | result
+- `σ` schemes: `∀ᾱ. C ⇒ τ`
+- `C` constraints: conjunction of trait predicates `Trait(τ)`
+- `I` interfaces: finite map from function names to signatures
+- `f` signatures: parameter type list × optional return type
+
+### 3.1 Kinds (initial)
+
+Draft 0 adopts a minimal kind system:
+
+- `*` for inhabited concrete types.
+- Type constructors have arrow kinds, e.g. `list : * -> *`, `result : * -> * -> *`.
+
+Kind checking is required before type checking.
+
+## 4. Static Semantics
+
+## 4.1 Well-formed types
+
+Judgment form: `Γ ⊢ τ : κ`
+
+- Primitive types are kind `*`.
+- Type variables are looked up in `Γ`.
+- Constructor application requires argument kinds matching constructor domain.
+- Fully applied constructors that check kind-wise produce kind `*`.
+
+## 4.2 Type declarations
+
+Judgment form: `Δ; Γ ⊢ decl ok`
+
+- Record/variant/enum/flags declarations produce type constructors.
+- Recursive declarations are permitted if all referenced names resolve in `Δ`.
+- Alias declarations are expanded during normalization (see §8).
+
+## 4.3 Trait declarations
+
+Judgment form: `Θ; Γ ⊢ trait decl ok`
+
+- Trait parameters must be kind-correct.
+- Supertrait graph must be acyclic.
+- Trait members are signature-level contracts only.
+
+## 4.4 Interface declarations
+
+Judgment form: `Δ; Θ; Γ ⊢ interface I ok`
+
+- Export names are unique.
+- Each export signature is kind-correct and well-formed.
+- Parameterized interfaces introduce universally quantified type variables.
+- Trait-bounded parameters add constraints to the interface scheme.
+
+## 5. Constraint System and Inference
+
+Pact adopts HM-style inference for declaration-level polymorphism with
+trait constraints.
+
+Judgment form: `Δ; Θ; Ψ ⊢ use-site ⇒ (substitution, obligations)`
+
+Where `Ψ` is the current set of in-scope assumptions.
+
+### Inference principles
+
+1. Generate type equations from constructor/interface use.
+2. Unify equations (occurs-check required).
+3. Accumulate trait obligations from bounds and required traits.
+4. Discharge obligations using impl resolution (see coherence §6).
+
+Inference completeness claim in this spec is limited to the HM core. For
+trait-constrained programs, determinism depends on coherence guarantees.
+
+## 6. Trait Implementations and Coherence
+
+This section is **normative target**, pending final agreement.
+
+## 6.1 Candidate rule (proposed)
+
+- At most one applicable impl per fully concrete trait predicate.
+- Overlapping impl heads are rejected unless one is strictly more specific and
+  an unambiguous specialization rule is later adopted (not included in Draft 0).
+- Blanket impls are allowed only if they do not create overlap under any
+  satisfiable substitution.
+
+## 6.2 Orphan-style locality (open)
+
+Open decision: whether to require that either trait or target type constructor is
+owned by the current package/module to prevent downstream coherence breakage.
+
+## 7. Interfaces as Algebraic Objects
+
+Treat interfaces as finite maps `Name -> Signature`.
+
+### 7.1 Union `I1 + I2`
+
+- Domain is the union of names.
+- If a name appears in both, signatures must be equivalent after normalization.
+- Otherwise: type error with both normalized forms reported.
+
+### 7.2 Extension
+
+`I + {exports...}` is sugar for union with an anonymous interface literal.
+
+## 8. Normalization and Structural Equivalence
+
+Structural comparisons must use a canonical normalized form:
+
+1. Expand aliases.
+2. Canonicalize declaration references.
+3. Canonicalize generic binders (alpha-normalization).
+4. Canonicalize record/variant/enum metadata ordering where required by ABI.
+
+Two signatures/types are structurally equivalent iff their normalized forms are
+syntactically equal.
+
+## 9. Transforms as Typed Rewrites
+
+A transform `T` is a total function from interfaces to interfaces:
+
+`T : Interface -> Interface`
+
+Transforms are defined by terminating pattern rewrites over normalized export
+signatures.
+
+### Safety constraints
+
+1. Rewrites cannot inspect runtime values.
+2. Rewrites must be structurally recursive over finite interface structure.
+3. Rewrites must be hygienic (inserted identifiers must avoid collisions).
+
+### Composition
+
+`T2(T1(I))` is left-to-right in source form `T2(T1(I))`.
+
+## 10. ABI Boundary Rule
+
+All polymorphism is fully instantiated before ABI lowering.
+
+- ABI encoding only sees concrete types and concrete interfaces.
+- Trait bounds do not change ABI shape directly; only resulting type structure
+  contributes to compatibility/hashing.
+
+## 11. Soundness Targets (informal, for future proof work)
+
+1. **Termination:** type checking and transform evaluation terminate.
+2. **Coherence:** successful resolution yields a unique impl per concrete
+   obligation.
+3. **Boundary consistency:** equivalent normalized interfaces produce identical
+   ABI compatibility identity.
+
+## 12. Open Questions (to resolve in follow-up PRs)
+
+1. Coherence model: strict global coherence vs scoped instances.
+2. Orphan/locality restrictions for impls.
+3. Precise overlap algorithm for blanket impl detection.
+4. Canonicalization details that feed hashing identity.
+5. Transform hygiene, especially parameter-name collisions.
+6. Whether interface inheritance syntax is retained or reduced to algebraic union.
+
+## 13. Proposed PR Sequence
+
+1. **PR A:** Finalize core calculus + kinds + WF judgments.
+2. **PR B:** Finalize trait coherence and impl resolution rules.
+3. **PR C:** Finalize transform rewrite semantics and hygiene.
+4. **PR D:** Finalize canonicalization and hashing-input definition.
+5. **PR E:** Add conformance test corpus for all normative claims.
+
+## 14. Change Log
+
+- Draft 0: initial formalization skeleton with explicit open-decision list.