Documented commands, configuration, and schema-versioned artifacts are expected to work for the exact installed beta version. There is no cross-version compatibility guarantee before 1.0.
Contract ratchets detect undeclared semantic drift and require explicit revision, version, decision, and migration evidence for configured surfaces. This does not create a pre-1.0 compatibility guarantee: intentional beta changes remain allowed when those repository-owned obligations pass.
docsync.api is the intended DocSync integration boundary for current code, not a frozen signature. It may change or be removed without a deprecation window before 1.0.
Distribution is not an API promise. Internal packages and modules may change or be removed without compatibility shims.
Release notes and upgrade guidance should explain material user-facing changes when useful, but communication is not a compatibility gate.
The compatibility-shim cleanup inventory identifies canonical replacements. Compatibility is not a reason to retain a shim.