When To Use

Use this when work can affect production behavior, users, deployability, security, data, reliability, runtime operations, or handoff risk.

Start with Layer Zero Assurance when workload classification or foundation assurance applies. Layer 0 resolves the minimum capabilities, tiers, profile, and proof contract before production-domain evidence is accepted.

Canonical Assurance Domains

frontend, backend-api-logic, database-storage, auth-permissions-rls, hosting-deployment, cloud-compute, cicd-version-control, security, rate-limiting, caching-cdn, load-balancing-scaling, error-tracking-logs-observability, availability-recovery-dr.

Existing schemas and artifact fields use layer for compatibility, but these are assurance domains, not an exhaustive list of literal code, infrastructure, or runtime layers. They are the current common baseline. Workload-specific domain packs and commissioned controls may add obligations without pretending they are part of the canonical thirteen.

Asynchronous orchestration is cross-cutting rather than a fourteenth domain. Assess queues, schedulers, workers, retries, idempotency, ordering, backpressure, telemetry, scaling, and recovery in every affected domain.

Catalog dependencies are hard assurance prerequisites. conditionalDependencies are common architectural relationships that classification or accountable review must resolve; they do not automatically turn a static frontend, SDK, CLI, or isolated service change into a full-stack application.

Required Artifact

production/layer-assessment.json must classify every canonical domain exactly once using the compatibility layer field.

• passed requires evidence.
• skipped requires a reason.
• failed, pending, blocked, required, and needs_approval block completion.

Command

node scripts/production-layer-gate.mjs --repo .

Related Concept

Use Layer Zero Assurance to validate the foundation contract and Proof-First Harness to shape the final evidence report.