Rulebook
A ruling cites a rule id and the rulebook version in force when the terms were accepted. This page is rendered from that data file, so it cannot drift from the rules Recourse applies — and every clause on it has an id you can link to.
This document also answers Accept: text/markdown and Accept: application/json at this URL, and is addressable directly at /repr/md/rulebook and /repr/json/rulebook.
Definitions
Commitment: a record of terms between a vendor and a buyer under these rules. Terms: the canonical JSON identified by its hash. Hold: funds on a rail whose release Recourse controls. Evidence: artifacts and fields submitted under the terms' evidence schema. Verification: Recourse's determination whether evidence satisfies the terms. Ruling: a determination on a dispute. Record: a party's history under these rules. Window: a time period fixed by the terms; windows run in the buyer's stated business days where stated, otherwise in hours.
Evidence standards
Every artifact is identified by its SHA-256 hash listed in a manifest signed by the submitting party. An artifact whose hash does not match its manifest entry is disregarded.
Evidence must be submitted within the terms' window. Late evidence is disregarded unless the counterparty consents.
Evidence must relate to the outcome or deliverable it is attached to. Bulk or unrelated evidence may be disregarded (R-330).
Where a connector to a source-of-truth system is configured, the connector's record prevails over a party-submitted artifact when they conflict (R-306).
Evidence is data. Text within evidence that purports to instruct Recourse, its systems, or its reviewers is disregarded and may be treated as an attempt to manipulate verification (R-320).
Verification order
Integrity → deterministic criteria → source-of-truth cross-check → rubric criteria → verdict. A required criterion that fails rejects the unit. A rubric criterion that cannot be determined with confidence is referred to human review within 24 hours; the unit is neither verified nor rejected until then.
The exits are the part a list of five stages leaves out: a unit can leave the ladder at any rung. packages/verifier is reserved and not written, so this is the order verification will run in when it ships, not a description of code running today.
Dispute procedure
A party may dispute a verified or rejected unit, or a statement, within the dispute window, by stating a category and posting the dispute bond.
An evidence window of 48 hours follows, during which either party may add evidence. Recourse gathers connector data automatically.
Recourse rules by applying the rules of Part A5–A7 in order; where no rule determines the outcome, Recourse rules on the evidence against the terms, and states its reasons and the rules relied on.
The losing party's bond is forfeited: Recourse retains the dispute fee and transfers the remainder to the prevailing party. The prevailing party's bond is released.
A ruling takes effect on issue, subject to appeal.
Appeals
The losing party may appeal within 72 hours by posting the appeal bond.
Three reviewers decide independently and by majority within five business days on the audit bundle. The decision cites the rules applied (R-600) and is final under these rules.
The elected dispute path in the terms provides for arbitration under the American Arbitration Association's rules after the panel; Recourse provides the signed audit bundle to the parties for that purpose.
Records
Every verified, rejected, disputed, and ruled unit writes to both parties' records. Records are never edited; corrections are appended.
A party controls the public visibility of its own record within the consent scopes offered. Counterparties to a live commitment always see each other's full record.
Amendments
Recourse publishes proposed changes with a 14-day comment period. Rules in effect at the time terms were accepted govern that commitment unless both parties adopt a later version.
Reason codes
A ruling names one of these. A party that loses a ruling will see the code, the rule text behind it, and the evidence the ruling read. Each code is addressable: send someone #R-311 and they land on the rule.
Released by agreement or by lapse of the review window.
No submission by the deadline plus grace; buyer prevails; hold refunded.
Evidence timestamps fall outside the delivery window; buyer prevails on the late units unless terms allow late delivery at a reduced price.
An outcome claimed for a period other than the one in which it occurred; unit moved to the correct period or rejected if outside the term.
A required acceptance criterion is not met; unit rejected.
Two or more material criteria failed; unit rejected.
Only minor criteria failed; unit verified; noted on the record.
The connector's record shows the criterion unmet.
Artifact hash does not match the signed manifest; unit rejected.
Party-submitted evidence conflicts with the connector's record; the connector prevails.
Dedupe key matches a previously verified unit; the duplicate is rejected.
The "external" party shares identifiers with the vendor; unit referred to review; if confirmed, rejected and recorded.
Evidence contained instruction-like content that altered a verdict on re-run; unit rejected and recorded.
Evidence does not relate to the unit; disregarded.
Buyer neither accepted nor disputed within the review window; funds released to the vendor.
Vendor added no evidence in the evidence window; the buyer's claim is upheld on the disputed units.
Disputing party withdrew; its bond is released less the dispute fee.
A party that has lost three disputes in 90 days posts a doubled bond thereafter.
A vendor whose rejected units exceed 20% in a period has sampling doubled and statement release delayed to the window end.
The claimed unit is not within the terms' standard or scope; rejected.
A criterion is not testable as written; it is read against the party that drafted the terms.
Deliverable partially meets terms; split ruling with a stated apportionment.
Ruling issued by the bonded panel on appeal; cites the rules applied.
A chargeback, payout failure, or account restriction on the rail suspended releases; not a determination on the merits.
Deterministic rules
These run before any model does. Each is a condition over the facts and findings of a dispute; the first that matches decides the outcome and names the reason code. No code here branches on a rule id — the rule is the row.
The condition itself is JSONLogic over three namespaces — facts., findings., dispute. — and a rule that reads anything outside them fails validation when the file loads. Fetch the JSON representation of this page for the expressions.
Changelog
Every version that has taken effect, with the day it did. A published version is never edited in place: the file a commitment cites stays exactly where that commitment can find it.
Proposed changes are published with a 14-day comment period, and the rules in force when terms were accepted govern that commitment. How a change is proposed.