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C27 — Declared taps: named measurement points bind sinks run-mode-aware

Guarantee. A blueprint may declare taps — named, pure output-side declarations { name, from: {node, field} }, the output-side twin of input_roles (C26). A tap names an interior producer's output field without naming a sink, exactly as a Role names an abstract input without naming a source. At compile the tap resolves — and, for an interior composite, hoists to the root — through the same lowering remap edges and OutField re-exports use (resolve_tap_wire, a flat_taps accumulator threaded through the lowering recursion), landing in FlatGraph.taps as a FlatTap { name, node, field } whose name survives compile and is load-bearing for by-name binding (like SourceSpec.role, #275).

Binding is run-mode-aware: the run-mode-owning layer constructs a sink (a Recorder) at a bound tap via FlatGraph::bind_tap, which takes a caller-built Box<dyn Node> sink (so the engine keeps its aura-core-only production dependency — it never constructs a domain sink type) and appends it plus an edge before bootstrap. The single-run path (run_signal_r) binds and records each declared tap, persisting the series through the existing trace store (env.trace_store()), so the tap columns surface through the same tooling the campaign path feeds; a sweep/reduce run leaves taps unbound.

Forbids. A tap carrying a channel endpoint or effect in the serialized artefact — recording policy is run-mode authority, not fragment-embedded (a fragment must not drag its measurement decisions into every harness that embeds it; the tier ontology, C20/C21). The engine constructing a domain sink type (the aura-core-only wall — the sink is caller-built). Order statistics (median, etc.) inside the graph — they stay sink/analysis-side (C18); multi-instrument study inputs stay harness/World tier.

Non-error. An unbound tap is inert, not a fault — unlike an unbound root input role, which check_root_roles_bound rejects (C26): observation is optional, a fed input is mandatory. A declared-but-unbound tap compiles and runs, its producer evaluating and its output discarded (a no-out-edge producer is a valid runnable sink — the Kahn sort emits it, check_ports_connected gates only inputs).

Why. Observability must be expressible in a hand-authored blueprint — the measurement-shaped study computes in the graph and surfaces via taps, no throwaway Rust harness — while recording stays a run-mode decision, not a fragment-embedded effect. Taps are designed DCE-compatible (a bound tap is a natural DCE root, an unbound tap a dead declaration) but this contract does not depend on DCE: an unbound tap's sink is simply never constructed (build-time elision, which the engine already tolerates). (#282, 2026-07-18.)

Current state

The tap types are realized in aura-engine: the authoring-level Tap (crates/aura-engine/src/blueprint.rs, the output-side twin of Role), the compiled FlatTap { name, node, field } and the FlatGraph.taps field (crates/aura-engine/src/harness.rs), and FlatGraph::bind_tap, which appends a caller-built Box<dyn Node> sink plus an edge and raises a typed UndeclaredTap on a tap the graph does not declare (duplicate detection across binds is the caller's — the method keeps no cross-call state). Lowering resolves and hoists taps via resolve_tap_wire and the flat_taps accumulator (blueprint.rs). The single-run bind/record path is run_signal_r in aura-runner::member; the sweep/reduce path never calls bind_tap.

The chain-pruning benefit — a sweep paying zero for the study wires behind an unbound tap — is deferred to the future DCE cycle (C23); the mechanism ships now, verified sound.

See also

  • C26 — the input-side twin (input_roles); check_root_roles_bound, the mandatory-input counterpart
  • C23 — compilation/lowering and the deferred DCE cycle the tap design anticipates
  • C18 — the trace store and registry the tap series feed; order statistics live sink-side
  • C20, C21 — the tier ontology behind run-mode recording authority
  • C8 — the node/sink contract (a no-out-edge producer as a valid runnable sink)