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Installation profiles and bindings

Installation profiles and bindings resolve a release's declared settings and inputs without changing its Product definition.

Installation profiles and bindings supply choices in Installable Products. A profile gives a named preset. Bindings answer declared roles. The release decides which values and inputs it can use. Each choice stays within that contract.

Ownership

An installation profile targets one exact Product release and contract digest. It can supply settings, binding defaults, Source choices, and fewer input options. A profile may narrow a slot's declared alternatives. It cannot add one. Its Source choices name declared roles and Source definitions. They hold no Workspace credentials.

The release contract owns defaults, settings, input slots, and binding roles. It pins the validator that checks values. The generated schema records the contract's shape and digest.

Lifecycle

Installation profiles appear with the exact release before preview. Select one by key and version. The server resolves its digest. Your binding answers take precedence over profile defaults. A release with no profile can still accept answers to its declared roles.

Preview reports missing inputs and possible choices. A sole candidate is a recommendation, not an accepted binding. Carry the chosen candidate into the next preview and install. Each call checks that the choice still matches.

Boundaries

A binding resolves an installation input without changing the Product definition. Slots can use only declared roles. A role required on its own cannot also be a slot option. One role cannot belong to two slots. Each referenced Product resolves its own profile and inputs.

Settings marked install_only cannot be edited after installation. Editable settings pass through the configuration contract. Secret settings carry a secret reference, not raw secret bytes.

Failures

An installation profile fails if its target contract changed or its choices exceed that contract. Unknown roles are refused as binding_widens_contract. A moved candidate yields slot_recommendation_stale. Several valid candidates need a choice. With no valid candidate, the slot stays blocked.

A settings edit checks the whole result against the installed contract. A stale revision returns the current head. The edit does not overwrite another writer's work.

Recovery

Installation profile recovery starts from the current release and its profiles. Read the missing roles, choose valid inputs, and preview again. Refresh a stale choice before accepting it. Do not invent a binding to bypass a missing Source.

For a settings failure, read the saved revision and correct the values. For an install-only change, use lifecycle, provenance, and drift to review a release change. Read the saved settings and input health after the change.