Principles Overview

RENAR Principles

Nine ideas the standard is built on. This is not the normative text — it's an introduction. Next: the full standard or the Core.

1. Five Values

The same as SENAR's — the RENAR methodology is built on them.

Requirements as the Source of Truth
Implementation is subordinate to requirements. Artifacts live in the substrate; the TZ is an immutable input.
Traceability over Speed
The chain TZ → BR → SR → TR → TC → code. Speed without traceability is technical debt.
Closed-List Policy
New SPEC types, gates, and lifecycle states — only through a standard amendment. Protection against drift.
Accounting for AI in Design
Metrics (Hallucination Rate, Multi-model Disagreement) and the AI risk register are normative elements.
Substrate Independence
Rules via capabilities V1–V6, not a specific product. One standard for VCS and document stores.

2. BR → SR → TR Hierarchy

Three levels of requirements — each with its own question and audience.

BR
Business Requirement

Who, what, why. Business goals, constraints, KPIs. Audience — stakeholders and the client.

SR
System Requirement

What the system does. Functional and non-functional requirements. Audience — architects and developers.

TR
Task Requirement

What the implementer does. Goal and acceptance criteria in the tracker (Jira, Linear, GitLab Issues), not as a file.

3. ADAPT — Two-Way Adaptation

When an immutable TZ meets the reality of implementation.

Forward interpretation: TZ + context → BR / SR / SPEC.

Backward findings (7 categories): contradictions, gaps, risks — returned to the client.

Dual signature by client + architect records the agreed interpretation. The TZ stays immutable.

4. 9 SPEC Types (closed list)

A parallel axis to requirements via constrained-by[].

ARCH
Architecture, components, flows
API
Interface contracts
DATA
Data model, migrations
INT
Integrations
PROC
Business processes
UI
Interface, UX criteria
AI
AI components, eval, fallback
SEC
Security, threat model
OPS
Deployment, monitoring, incidents

5. Test Cases (TC)

Not a byproduct of code, but a normative artifact on par with BR/SR.

  • Paired scenarios: positive and negative for every TC.
  • VLM for UX: visual criteria via a vision-language model.
  • Types by SPEC: TC-API, TC-AI, TC-SEC, and others.
  • Tag [test-spec-change]: an explicit marker for a TC change.

6. Substrate and V1–V6

One standard — any storage with six capabilities (see chapter 3).

V1
Immutable history
V2
Atomic change unit
V3
Diff & review
V4
Branching and drafts (WIP)
V5
Version pin
V6
Author + timestamp

7. Quality Gates QG-0..2

Lifecycle checkpoints before moving on.

QG-0 — approval gate
BR/SR/SPEC/TR with goal and acceptance criteria, approved by the architect.
QG-1 — check-implementation gate
For TC: the check implementation is ready (only TC has QG-1).
QG-2 — verification gate
Mandatory tests passed, evidence recorded, criteria marked verified.

8. Maturity RENAR-1..5

Five maturity levels for requirements management (see chapter 11).

RENAR-1
Ad-hoc — a substrate exists, schema is minimal
RENAR-2
Documented — frontmatter, TZ fixed
RENAR-3
Tracked — full schema, lifecycle, delta-ADAPT
RENAR-4
Verified — pos/neg, QG-2, ai-provenance
RENAR-5
Optimized — adversarial critic, knowledge graph, metrics

9. Relationship to SENAR

SENAR is how to do AI-native development. RENAR is what to do: which requirements, in what form, with what relationships.

You can apply RENAR without SENAR or vice versa; together they give full coverage of AI-native development.