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LicenseTrace Specification

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LicenseTrace

No origin. No build.

LicenseTrace is a semantic software provenance and compilation system that determines whether software already exists before any code is written. It evaluates intent, searches software ecosystems, resolves origin and attribution, validates licensing, eliminates duplication, and compiles a minimal executable specification before implementation begins.

Rather than treating software development as code generation, LicenseTrace treats it as a process of discovery, validation, attribution, and optimization. Every build begins by determining whether the requested functionality already exists and whether it can be legally and technically reused.

Core Principles

  • Origin before implementation
  • Reuse before creation
  • Attribution before execution
  • Minimalism before complexity
  • Compilation before coding
  • Human validation before build
  • AGPL-3.0+ compliance by design

Architecture

LicenseTrace is designed as a modular platform.

The Core Modules provide the minimum functionality required to evaluate, validate, compile, and generate software responsibly.

Additional capabilities are implemented as Optional Plugin Modules, allowing deployments to remain lightweight while enabling specialized workflows when needed.

Core Modules

Specification Module

The primary decision engine.

Responsibilities:

  • Convert human goals into semantic specifications
  • Parse intent instead of keywords
  • Produce a build recommendation
  • Serve as the entry point for every project

Possible outcomes:

  • EXISTS_AS_IS
  • EXTEND_EXISTING
  • PARTIALLY_EXISTS
  • DOES_NOT_EXIST

Semantic Search Module

Determines whether equivalent software already exists.

Features:

  • Semantic intent matching
  • Functional equivalence detection
  • Structural similarity detection
  • Behavioral comparison
  • Architecture comparison
  • Duplicate project detection

Ecosystem Discovery Module

Searches software ecosystems for reusable implementations.

Supported ecosystems include:

  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Codeberg
  • Package registries
  • Internal repositories
  • Self-hosted Git platforms

Capabilities:

  • Repository discovery
  • Package discovery
  • Release discovery
  • Dependency discovery

Provenance Module

Maintains complete software lineage.

Features:

  • Repository provenance
  • Module provenance
  • Component lineage
  • Dependency lineage
  • Attribution graph generation
  • Contributor tracking
  • Origin verification

Origin Resolution Module

Determines the most likely origin of software.

Features:

  • Earliest timestamp evaluation
  • Repository creation analysis
  • Release history analysis
  • Commit history analysis
  • Multi-source comparison
  • Confidence scoring
  • Origin conflict detection

Attribution Module

Ensures credit is preserved throughout the build process.

Features:

  • Attribution graph generation
  • Contributor preservation
  • Upstream credit tracking
  • Derived work tracking
  • notice.md generation
  • Attribution validation

License Compliance Module

Validates legal compatibility before implementation.

Features:

  • License detection
  • AGPL compatibility analysis
  • Copyleft evaluation
  • Redistribution validation
  • Attribution requirement validation
  • License conflict detection

Legal Risk Module

Evaluates legal exposure associated with reuse.

Features:

  • Compatibility scoring
  • Redistribution analysis
  • Network deployment evaluation
  • Attribution complexity analysis
  • Compliance reporting
  • Build blocking for unacceptable risk

Duplication Detection Module

Eliminates unnecessary development.

Repository level:

  • Duplicate project detection
  • Existing implementation discovery

Specification level:

  • Duplicate module detection
  • Duplicate functionality detection
  • Semantic overlap detection
  • Abstraction overlap detection

Spec Compiler Module

Compiles specifications into a minimal executable graph.

Features:

  • Canonical module generation
  • Graph optimization
  • Module collapse
  • Dead module elimination
  • Dependency pruning
  • Graph minimization
  • Single-source-of-truth enforcement

Execution Simulation Module

Validates the compiled specification before implementation.

Features:

  • Execution path simulation
  • Dead path detection
  • Circular dependency detection
  • Performance evaluation
  • Structural validation
  • Optimization recommendations

Build Decision Module

Produces the final implementation strategy.

Features:

  • Reuse recommendation
  • Extension recommendation
  • Composition recommendation
  • Minimal implementation planning
  • Human approval workflow

Code Generation Module

Generates new software only when required.

Features:

  • Minimal implementation generation
  • Token conservation
  • Line conservation
  • Boilerplate reduction
  • Language optimization

Documentation Module

Automatically generates project documentation.

Features:

  • notice.md generation
  • README generation
  • Contributor reporting
  • Attribution summaries
  • Provenance reporting

Optional Plugin Modules

Additional Repository Connectors

Support for additional Git hosting providers and enterprise repositories.

Private Repository Scanner

Search internal repositories and self-hosted development platforms.

Package Registry Connectors

Additional integrations for language-specific package ecosystems.

Dependency Intelligence

Advanced dependency graph analysis and optimization.

Repository Health Analyzer

Evaluates project activity, maintenance status, release cadence, and repository quality.

Security Scanner

Analyzes:

  • Known vulnerabilities
  • Dependency advisories
  • Supply chain risks
  • Package integrity

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

Generate SBOM documentation from compiled dependency graphs.

Provenance Visualization

Interactive visualization of:

  • Attribution graphs
  • Repository lineage
  • Module relationships
  • Dependency graphs

Semantic Knowledge Base

Cache semantic relationships to improve discovery performance.

Organization Policy Engine

Apply organization-specific policies, including:

  • Approved licenses
  • Approved repositories
  • Coding standards
  • Internal governance requirements

CI/CD Integration

Integrate LicenseTrace into automated pipelines.

Features:

  • Build gating
  • Compliance verification
  • Provenance validation
  • Policy enforcement

IDE Integration

Real-time specification analysis inside development environments.

AI Assistant Integration

Provide provenance-aware assistance during software design and implementation.

Reporting & Analytics

Generate reports for:

  • Attribution
  • Reuse metrics
  • Duplicate prevention
  • License compliance
  • Provenance coverage
  • Build efficiency

Enterprise Authentication

Support enterprise identity providers including SSO and directory services.

System Workflow

Goal
↓
Specification Module
↓
Semantic Search
↓
Ecosystem Discovery
↓
Provenance Analysis
↓
Origin Resolution
↓
License Compliance
↓
Legal Risk Assessment
↓
Duplication Detection
↓
Spec Compilation
↓
Execution Simulation
↓
Human Approval
↓
Code Generation (only if required)
↓
Documentation Generation

Design Philosophy

LicenseTrace is built around one principle:

Software should be discovered before it is developed.

Every build should answer these questions:

  • Does it already exist?
  • Can it be reused?
  • Who deserves credit?
  • Is it legally reusable?
  • Is there duplication?
  • Is there a smaller solution?
  • Is new code actually necessary?

Only after those questions have been answered does implementation begin.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Optional

License & Notice Requirements

LicenseTrace is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

  • All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
  • Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to: Roxanne Ardary and https://www.roxanneardary.com/.
  • LicenseTrace specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
  • The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements, provenance, and contributor acknowledgments across all derived and reused components. Any update that adds new contributors, external sources, or derived code must also update notice.md.
  • All systems integrating or extending LicenseTrace must preserve origin tracking metadata and maintain full attribution continuity across modules, dependencies, and forks.
  • When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the required attribution and do not introduce untracked or unattributed external code.
  • Network-deployed versions of this software must remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications where required under the license and preservation of provenance traceability.
  • No module may be added to the system without a resolvable origin record or explicit attribution path.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – LicenseTrace

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

  • Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – June 16, 2026
    Created the repository for LicenseTrace. Designed the Spec Module System architecture for semantic software provenance, duplication elimination, origin resolution, and AGPL-enforced attribution across all generated and reused code.
  • [Add other contributors here] – [Date]
    [Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – LicenseTrace

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

  • You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
  • All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
  • The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.
  • Use of this software is conditional on compliance with the system’s provenance and attribution requirements, including preservation of origin tracing and credit metadata where applicable.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html

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