Decision classes

Deterministic dollar construction runs only after the application accepts a contract-side pair for funding.

Position candidate

A contract-side pair can enter sizing when:

• the exposure is owner stated or explicitly confirmed;
• the economic relationship is plausible;
• the selected side pays in the harmful or promotional world;
• the contract is open and structurally valid;
• the selected side has a displayed paid price; and
• the candidate is allowed for funding by its market metadata.

Thin activity, old quote telemetry or an extreme price do not independently remove or cap the candidate. The result remains advisory and makes no fill promise.

Signal

A signal is useful context that should not be sized in the current run. It can result from a weak relationship, unresolved side, unavailable required-side price, show-only status or a horizon that informs the owner without offering useful protection.

Signals preserve discovery value without laundering uncertainty into a position.

Gap

A gap names a clear business outcome for which no supplied candidate passes the practical relationship and side test. It can retain the nearest contracts with direct reasons for rejection. A gap can later contribute bounded Demand evidence.

Refusal and error

A request outside the supported business or promotion purpose produces a refusal; an error means a stage could not complete safely. Neither state is a gap, which requires a completed search over a clear, supported exposure.

Worked example: p900

The freezer-compressor case reaches a gap. Austin heat contracts are real and current, but they settle on weather. The owner loses money when the compressor fails, including on an ordinary August day. No side on the weather contracts pays specifically in that world, so no position is built. The brief names the missing equipment-failure contract and leaves the $18,000 exposure intact.