# For agents: Open question: intent and the contract

The ideal OpenProse · board 4 of 17 · 2026-10-09.
This deck describes a proposed experience.

Whether a contract preserves the person’s intent remains an open design question.

## On the slide

**User intent · Contract**

How do we know the contract preserves what the person means?

*Open question*

## Explanation

The distinction is central: intent is what the person wants; the contract is an expression of it. A perfectly fulfilled contract can still omit something important or introduce an unwanted restriction. How best to capture, clarify, and review that intent remains open.

Adequacy—comparing a proposed contract with the originating request and clarifications—is distinct from fulfillment—comparing work with the adopted contract. A possible experience is conversational: preserve the person's words, expose what the agent inferred, ask about consequential ambiguity, and make revisions deliberate. That is a proposal, not a selected process. What should be retained as evidence of intent? Which inferences need confirmation? How do evolving wishes change an agreement already in use? Keep those questions available for discussion.

## Whiteboard sequence

Open only the frames useful to the question. Later frames add to the same board;
the final frame contains the complete drawing.

- [Frame 1 — black core](https://prose.md/visual-guide/2026-10-09/ideal/slide-04-layer-01.png)
- [Frame 2 — final](https://prose.md/visual-guide/2026-10-09/ideal/slide-04-layer-02.png)

These explanations add no normative requirements. Read the
[selected kernel 0.3.0-rc.3](https://pkg.prose.md/releases/0.3.0-rc.3/core/README.md) for language rules.

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[All The ideal OpenProse boards](https://prose.md/visual-guide/ideal.md) · [Guide index](https://prose.md/visual-guide.md) · [Agent entry](https://prose.md/agents.md)