# Contributing to the Agent-Readiness Hierarchy

Thanks for helping improve the **Agent-Readiness Hierarchy** — an open
framework for agentic-commerce readiness, published under
[CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and stewarded
by Serafim Tech.

The framework is deliberately open: a shared, free vocabulary for
agent-readiness is more useful to everyone than a proprietary one. We
welcome help making the canonical version clearer, more accurate, and
more useful.

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## Quick fixes — open a pull request

For small, uncontroversial corrections, just open a PR:

- Typos, grammar, and formatting
- Broken or outdated links
- Clearly factual errors (wrong figures, mislabeled layers, etc.)

No need to ask first — these are easy to review and merge.

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## Bigger ideas — open an issue first

For anything that changes the **substance** of the framework, please
open an issue and describe the idea before investing time in a PR:

- Changes to the five layers, the 0–3 maturity scale, or the two
  governing principles
- New worked examples, scoring guidance, or diagnostics
- Translations into other languages

The core model — the layered hierarchy, the maturity scale, and the
governing principles — is editorially stewarded by Serafim Tech (see
[Origins & attribution](README.md#origins--attribution) in the README).
That means structural changes are a **conversation**, not a unilateral
merge — but we genuinely want the input, and an issue is the place to
start it.

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## Style

Keep contributions in the spirit of the existing document:

- **Plain English.** Explain to a merchant, not to a standards body.
- **Vendor-neutral.** The framework describes capabilities, not
  products.
- **One idea per section.** Match the structure already in the README.

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## Licensing of contributions

By submitting a contribution, you agree that:

- Your contribution is released under the same
  [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) license as
  the framework itself, and
- You have the right to contribute it.

Contributing to this repository does not grant any rights in the
"Agent-Readiness Hierarchy" name or the Serafim Tech mark, which remain
as described in the README.

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## Conduct

Be respectful and constructive. Critique ideas, not people. Maintainers
may decline or revert contributions that don't fit the framework's scope
or tone.

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## Questions

Open an issue, or reach us via [serafimtech.io](https://serafimtech.io).