---
id: CMP-2
family: RT-CMP
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-cmp/cmp-2
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# CMP-2 — Compilation always re-enriches node metadata from the live node types

*RT-CMP (Part II) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

Stored node metadata is a cache, and an author-editable one. Compilation refreshes it from the node types themselves so a run can never be planned against stale or attacker-supplied metadata.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. Compilation re-enriches every node's metadata from the live node type definitions before planning the run.
>
> 2. This holds at every entry point into compilation: no caller can compile a workflow whose stored node metadata is taken on trust.
>
> 3. The re-enriched workflow is normalized before it is compiled.


## What it means

Stored node metadata is a cache the author can edit, not a source of truth.
Every time a workflow is compiled, its node metadata is thrown away and
rebuilt from the node types themselves, so whatever a stored record claims
about a node — up to and including which processor runs it — never survives
past compilation unless the live node type still agrees with it.

## Example

A stored node claims a description that no longer matches its node type:

```json title="What the stored node claims" verdict="stale"
{ "node_type_id": "live_probe", "description": "Stale description" }
```

```json title="What compilation records for it" verdict="fresh"
{ "node_type_id": "live_probe", "description": "Fresh description" }
```

The node type's own description wins; the stored claim never reaches the
compiled workflow at all.

## Why

Recorded under OPEN-19.

## Related rules

- Names: SCH-29

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.