# Consumer-Driven Contracts

Record: `arch:consumer-driven-contracts`
Kind: constraint
Layer: [Contracts Core](https://banes-lab.com/records/layer/contracts-core.md)
Severity: recommended
Scope: API, service, integration
Canonical: https://banes-lab.com/ontology#arch-consumer-driven-contracts

## Repair

- Refactored by: Introduce Consumer-Driven Contract tests
- Detected by: integration breaks discovered only in production
- Violated by: providers changing responses with no consumer expectation check
- Measured by: consumer-break incident rate
- Enforced by: contract test gate

## requires

- [Explicit Contracts](https://banes-lab.com/records/arch/explicit-contracts.md)

## reinforces

- [Backward Compatibility](https://banes-lab.com/records/arch/backward-compatibility.md)
- [Contract-First Design](https://banes-lab.com/records/arch/contract-first-design.md)

## enables

- [Provider Change Safety](https://banes-lab.com/records/lex/provider-change-safety.md)
- [Consumer-Verified Compatibility](https://banes-lab.com/records/lex/consumer-verified-compatibility.md)

## conflicts-with

- [Unversioned Breaking Change](https://banes-lab.com/records/arch/unversioned-breaking-change.md)

## tensions-with

- [Provider Autonomy](https://banes-lab.com/records/lex/provider-autonomy.md)

## tensions

- [Consumer-Driven Contracts Provider Autonomy](https://banes-lab.com/records/tension/consumer-driven-contracts-provider-autonomy.md)