maxtac-source-invariant-loop

name	maxtac-source-invariant-loop
description	Use this skill when MaxTAC Source needs a loop that models security invariants for a code subsystem, maps guards, sinks, entrypoints, callers, and proof obligations in source or decompiler output, then performs targeted audits for invariant violations.

MaxTAC Source Invariant Loop

Use this loop when source review depends on what must always be true: authorization, ownership, privilege, parser bounds, state transitions, sandbox policy, file/path trust, tenant separation, or lifecycle rules. The loop turns invariants into audit targets without forcing a full deep scan.

Setup

1. Bound the subsystem and actor model. Name protected assets, entrypoints, callers, guards, sinks, state transitions, and trust boundaries.
2. Run maxtac-core-corpus orient and search existing models before writing new assertions.
3. Create or update a Core model with maxtac-core-modeling. Observed or confirmed invariants need receipt fields: guard, sink, authority boundary, trusted callers, proof obligations, bypass assumptions, binary gaps, and refutation conditions.
4. Create Core loop state:

python3 <core-workflow-skill-dir>/scripts/loop.py init \
  --root <workspace-root> \
  --loop-id <id> \
  --kind source-invariant \
  --owner-plugin maxtac-source \
  --target "<subsystem>" \
  --scope "<paths, entrypoints, and invariant family>" \
  --summary "Map source invariants to code and audit for violations." \
  --positive-gate "Invariant is confirmed, refuted, or narrowed with guard/sink/caller evidence and targeted audit disposition." \
  --negative-gate "Invariant lacks exact guard, sink, trusted caller set, proof obligation, refutation condition, or source reachability evidence." \
  --output "models/<model-id>/" \
  --output "tmp or research/artifacts invariant packets" \
  --output "ledger/contract/corpus updates"

5. Add one loop item per invariant or proof obligation. Good item kinds include guard-dominance, caller-set, sink-reachability, state-transition, path-trust, parser-bound, and authority-boundary.

Iterate

For each invariant item:

1. Export a model-backed auditor prompt with the invariant focus.
2. Map source entrypoints to the sink using direct source reading, codebase-memory, CFG, call graph evidence, or decompiler output.
3. Verify the guard. Ask whether it is server-side, dominates all sink paths, handles errors, survives callbacks/races, and cannot be bypassed by alternate callers.
4. Verify the trusted caller set. Search direct callers, registration tables, generated bindings, tests, launch/service metadata, and reflection or dispatch mechanisms.
5. Run OpenGrep or CFG only when it will answer a repeatable proof obligation.
6. Spawn a targeted auditor when guard dominance, caller completeness, or state-machine behavior remains judgment-heavy.
7. Update model assertion status and the loop item. Promote plausible violations through the normal ledger/debate path.

Gates

Positive closure requires:

• invariant statement and model ID;
• guard, sink, authority boundary, and trusted caller evidence;
• proof obligations resolved or converted into explicit unknowns;
• targeted audit disposition: no issue, rejected, limited, de-escalated, primitive candidate, or chain candidate;
• corpus note or model projection updated when durable architecture changed.

Negative closure requires a blocker:

• missing code path, generated code, closed binary caller, unresolved dispatch, ambiguous state transition, or missing runtime proof;
• unresolved blocker is recorded as a model unknown and loop item blocker.

Output

Use Core model as the durable invariant dictionary. Use Source packets, CFG, OpenGrep, and source-scan receipts as evidence. Use corpus notes for narrative architecture or negative results, and ledger entries only for surviving primitive or chain hypotheses.

Hard Rules

• Do not claim an invariant is confirmed because one obvious path has a guard.
• Do not close an invariant item without a refutation condition.
• Do not bury invariant proof obligations in prose; put them in the Core model and loop item.
• Do not let this loop become a whole-repository scan. Escalate to maxtac-source-deep-scan-loop when every function or field needs coverage.