Anatomy of an order
An onTerms order is built in three layers. Keep them distinct and the whole thing is easy to reason about: the immutable terms you point at, the order that incorporates them, and the bounded choices you make on top.
Standard Terms
Immutable, pinnedThe hosted clauses themselves, fixed by version, URL, and SHA-256 content hash. Nobody edits them. You point at them. If even one character differed, the hash would not match.
The Order
Incorporation by referenceThe binding document for your specific deal. It names the parties and incorporates the chosen modules by their pins: this deal uses CORE plus Creator plus onDPA, at these exact versions.
Elections
Typed, in-range choicesYour choices on top of the referenced terms: notice period, liability cap, territory. Each is typed and range-bounded, so a verifier confirms at a glance that every choice is in range.
A worked example
Order EXAMPLE-0412
- Parties:
- ACME-CREATOR-CO and BRAND-BUYER-LTD
- Incorporates (L1, pinned):
- CORE vX.Y, Creator vX.Y, onDPA vX.Y
- Elections (L3):
- notice = 30 days; liability cap = 2x fees; territory = United Kingdom
- Governing law:
- England and Wales
The buyer reading that order knows precisely which terms apply, from the pins, and precisely what was chosen, from the elections. Nothing else is in play.
Additional Terms: the escape hatch
Some deals genuinely need a bespoke clause the standard does not cover. Additional Terms are the deliberate escape hatch for exactly that, with two guardrails.
- They take effect only once a human counter-signs. An agent acting under a mandate cannot slip them in on its own.
- Because they are free text, a verifier surfaces them as a non-standard clause, not part of the verified body. Full flexibility, clearly labeled as off-standard.
Order of precedence
When two layers could speak to the same point, onTerms resolves it with a fixed precedence, highest authority first. Read it top down: law always wins, a human-signed term beats a standard choice, a choice beats the default clause, and definitions sit underneath everything.
- 1Mandatory-law overlays
- 2Additional Terms
- 3Elections
- 4Module Standard Terms
- 5The Dictionary
Flexible where it needs to be. Predictable everywhere else.
That ordering is what makes an onTerms order safe to sign and simple to verify.