# Bid Contract

> Bid-contract — a meta-prompt that emits deal-specific paper

- Skill: `manutej/bid-contract` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add manutej/bid-contract`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/manutej/bid-contract/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: manutej (https://skillmd.com/u/manutej)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/manutej/bid-contract

---


# Bid-contract — a meta-prompt that emits deal-specific paper

This skill is not a document outline. It is a **typed clause system**: a shared clause library plus a
floor model and pricing models, from which each run assembles the specific paper one deal needs. The
library is machinery reused across every client; only the bound slot values are deal-specific. Read
`../forge/references/evidence-rules.md` and `../forge/references/meta-meta-map.md` before generating.
Plain language throughout — a buyer's operations manager must understand every clause without counsel.

## Typed inputs (bind at intake; `UNKNOWN` is legal — never invent)

```
SYNTHESIS:                 path            # 01-research/SYNTHESIS.md — the ONLY number source (one-directional)
DEAL_SIZE_BAND:            {small|mid|large}   # sets safety factor + clause depth + which gauntlet to expect
BILLABLE_UNIT_CANDIDATES:  list[str]       # candidate atomic units from SYNTHESIS (booked appt, shipped skill, trained seat…)
JURISDICTION:              str|UNKNOWN      # governs law, liability cap, data regime — UNKNOWN never silently defaulted
BUYER_PROCUREMENT_MATURITY:{low|medium|high|UNKNOWN}  # which procurement gauntlet to expect
CHANGE_APPETITE:           {augment|transform|explore}|UNKNOWN  # biases pricing-shape recommendation + tone
```

Also consumed from SYNTHESIS: the `TELL ↔ SCOPE ↔ PRICE` map, critical-path gates, cost-floor inputs,
`RELATIONSHIP_WARMTH`, `BUDGET_SIGNAL`, and proof status.

## Typed outputs

```
pricing-floor.md      # INTERNAL, never shipped — the computed floor + sensitivity (also .xlsx when xlsx installed)
proposal-draft.md     # client-facing — situation, findings, sign-here scope, definitions/SLA, timeline, 3 shapes, TBDs
contract-skeleton.md  # client-facing draft — assembled clauses with bound slots, attorney-review caveat
[proposal.docx]       # optional, when the docx skill is installed
```

## Procedure — Frame → Do → Review → Capture

**Frame.** Read `SYNTHESIS`. Bind the typed inputs. Confirm every number you will use exists in
SYNTHESIS (never introduce a number inside an artifact). List the gates and the tell↔scope↔price map.

**Do.**
1. **Compute the floor** → `pricing-floor.md` per `references/floor-math-worksheet.md`. Every cost
   line sourced or `EST`-flagged with basis. Run the ±50% sensitivity band. This is the number every
   price must clear.
2. **Define the billable unit.** Pick from `BILLABLE_UNIT_CANDIDATES` the unit with the tightest
   checkable predicates and a system of record; draft it via `references/clause-library.md` family 4
   with a dispute window (family 5).
3. **Select pricing shapes** via the decision tree in `references/pricing-shapes.md` over proof
   status, `CHANGE_APPETITE`, `RELATIONSHIP_WARMTH`, `BUDGET_SIGNAL`. Recommend one; always offer all
   three. Every shape priced `≥ floor × SAFETY_FACTOR`.
4. **Assemble the paper** from the clause library, binding each `{{slot}}` from SYNTHESIS/intake.
   Select clause families per their when-to-omit rules and the chosen shape. Render the sign-here
   scope schedule as the contract's backbone. `UNKNOWN` slots render as `[[TBD: one-sentence
   question]]` — strictly for jurisdiction-dependent terms (governing law, liability cap, data regime).
5. **Anticipate procurement** per `references/procurement-checklist.md`: fold gate-clearing costs into
   the floor, flag any red-flag clause on the buyer's paper, set the timeline against the procurement
   gate.

**Review.** Run the predicates below. Any failure ⇒ fix the input and regenerate — never hand-patch a
clause in a shipped draft (functoriality; `../forge/references/meta-meta-map.md`).

**Capture.** Mint atoms to `FACTORY/atoms.md`: clause outcomes (which clause positions held or were
conceded), pricing-shape win rates, procurement patterns per buyer type. Log human corrections and
their trace to `FACTORY/feedback-loop.md` (see Feedback tracing).

## Artifact specs + acceptance checklists

**pricing-floor.md** — table of cost lines (delivery infra, labor role×hours, gate-clearing, tooling,
payment fees) + overhead + safety factor + minimum price + sensitivity band.
☐ every line sourced or EST-flagged ☐ overhead allocated ☐ sensitivity computed ☐ minimum price stated.

**proposal-draft.md** — *Situation* (their context, their language) · *What we found* (tells with
citations, respectful version) · *Scope — the sign-here table* (tell ↔ scope ↔ price, unresolved tells
explicitly deferred) · *Definitions + SLA* (billable unit defined contractually; response times;
reporting cadence = the dashboard) · *Timeline keyed to gates* (each gate named, owner, honest
duration; no result promises before gates clear) · *Three pricing shapes* (recommended first; each:
cost, inclusions, when it fits THEM) · *TBDs* (every surviving UNKNOWN as a one-sentence question).
☐ bijection holds ☐ all prices clear the floor ☐ timeline references only cited SYNTHESIS gates ☐ no
pre-proof volume/outcome promise ☐ attorney-review caveat present.

**contract-skeleton.md** — assembled clauses: parties (entity UNCONFIRMED until verified) · term +
pilot conversion · scope schedule · billable unit + dispute window (verbatim-consistent with proposal)
· payment · data handling + ownership · IP of built systems · SLA + reporting · termination +
wind-down · liability cap · non-solicit · publicity — each selected per its when-to-omit rule.
☐ every clause plain-language ☐ jurisdiction-dependent slots bound or flagged TBD ☐ dispute window
identical across all clauses that reference it ☐ attorney-review caveat present.

## Scale-native design

The **clause library, pricing models, floor worksheet, and pre-staged procurement pack are shared**
across all clients (edit once, every run benefits). **Deal-specific values are isolated** per run in
`prospects/<slug>/03-bid/`. To generate paper for a batch of prospects, run the procedure per slug in
parallel after each SYNTHESIS is vetted — each bid is an independent projection of one SYNTHESIS, so
they fan out without collision (`../forge/references/meta-meta-map.md`, monoidal composition).

## Predicates (checkable — all must pass before shipping)

- **Floor cleared** — every shipped price ≥ `floor × SAFETY_FACTOR`; if not, scope changed, not floor.
- **Bijection complete** — no orphan scope, no orphan tell, no orphan price line.
- **No pre-proof commitments** — zero volume/outcome guarantees; the pilot carries calibration.
- **TBDs explicit** — every surviving UNKNOWN is a flagged one-sentence question, never a silent
  default; jurisdiction-dependent terms flagged when JURISDICTION is UNKNOWN.
- **Numbers sourced** — every figure traces to SYNTHESIS; Stage-3b corrections applied; entity names
  UNCONFIRMED until verified.
- **Consistency** — dispute window, billable unit, and prices are identical across proposal and
  contract (they factor through SYNTHESIS, never copied artifact-to-artifact).

## Core invariants

Sourced-or-flagged numbers · UNCONFIRMED entity flags until human-verified · plain language in all
client-facing paper · every emission carries the attorney-review caveat (this is a negotiation-ready
draft, not legal advice) · regenerate on refined input, never hand-patch a shipped clause.

## DONE + refusal conditions

**DONE** when: all three files exist · floor computed with sensitivity · all prices clear the floor ·
billable unit contractually defined with a dispute window · bijection holds · TBDs listed · procurement
gauntlet anticipated · attorney caveat present · ≥1 atom minted.

**Refuse** (surface the reason, do not silently comply): to price below the computed floor — descope
instead; to write any volume/outcome commitment before proof — offer a pilot that carries calibration;
to silently default a term when `JURISDICTION` is `UNKNOWN` — flag it as a TBD for the client's
attorney. Also refuse to assign background/general-purpose IP or accept uncapped liability
(`references/procurement-checklist.md` red flags).

## Feedback tracing

After human feedback, trace each correction to the exact source that allowed it — a clause family, a
typed slot, a pricing-shape branch, or a floor line — then edit that shared reference (never the run's
output), bump the version, and re-test the edit against 2–3 other deal types so the fix generalizes.
Log to `FACTORY/feedback-loop.md`; mint the reusable lesson to `FACTORY/atoms.md`.

## References index

- `references/clause-library.md` — the 13 typed clause families: purpose, typed slots + legal-safe
  defaults, plain-language pattern with `{{slots}}`, negotiation range (principles), red lines,
  when-to-omit. Read when assembling any contract paper.
- `references/pricing-shapes.md` — pilot/hybrid, performance-max, classic retainer as typed models
  with formula skeletons, buyer profiles, failure modes, and the recommendation decision tree. Read
  when selecting and pricing shapes.
- `references/floor-math-worksheet.md` — the computable floor: cost lines, overhead, margin of safety,
  ±50% sensitivity, output table, and the xlsx hook. Read when computing `pricing-floor.md`.
- `references/procurement-checklist.md` — surviving buyer procurement at scale: the gauntlet, response
  SLAs, the pre-staged document pack, and red flags that reprice or kill deals. Read when the buyer has
  a procurement function or issues their own paper.

## Core-pack note (read-only, not edited by this skill)

`factory-schema.md` §5 could add procurement to its named critical-path gate list explicitly, and its
DONE predicate could reference the dispute-window doctrine now formalized here — noted for the forge
maintainer, not changed by this skill.