Authoring Reference Registry Contributor Extension Contract
Purpose
Reference-registry contributors let new content domains participate in autocomplete, reference health, usage search, and rename/delete migration plans. Use this contract when adding a new authored domain or reference kind.
Steps
- Declare contributor descriptors with source dependencies and capabilities.
- Register definition sources and reference sources.
- Add autocomplete provider IDs when authors need picker support.
- Mark typed catalog-backed references separately from diagnostic-only references.
- Wire rename/delete planner blockers and warnings before enabling migration actions.
Expected Outputs
A contributor should make definitions discoverable, usages explainable, autocomplete scoped, and migration previews complete. Typed catalog-backed references should route to concrete source records.
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes include adding autocomplete without migration coverage, reporting only definitions but not usages, treating diagnostic-only references as safe to rename automatically, or forgetting source dependencies.
Recovery Paths
When migration preview misses a usage, inspect contributor routes and typed catalog bindings. When autocomplete shows stale IDs, verify source dependency signatures and provider IDs.