Traverse v0.12.0: exact-ref model.execute

[enricopiovesan]

What shipped

Traverse v0.12.0 is out. Minor lockstep crate + npm cut. The throughline is governed exact-ref local model execution: Spec 138-governed-exact-model-execution / ADR-0074 lands the host-staged traverse.model-runtime / model.execute path on native and browser wasm-cpu (merged after the v0.11.0 publish cut via #1438, closing #1435–#1437).

crates.io packages are at 0.12.0 (traverse-contracts, traverse-runtime, traverse-embedder, traverse-mcp, traverse-cli-rs, traverse-expedition-wasm). traverse-registry pins at =0.22.0. npm traverse-embedder-web@0.12.0 is published and aligned with this cut. Approved governing specs: 150 (Spec 138 added).

Highlights worth caring about

1. Exact pins, not URLs — app manifests declare exact_model_dependencies; model.execute must-match model_ref digests against those pins. Provider authority fields on the payload fail closed.
2. Host-staged I/O — single-consume staged input refs and TTL output refs; CPU-WASM guest ABI (model_execute + LE feature frames) with the echo fixture under fixtures/models/fixture-echo-1.0.0/.
3. Same envelopes on browser and native — traverse-embedder-web exports matching stage / execute / read helpers alongside native ExactModelHostConnector. Connector contract traverse.model-runtime 2.0.0; Specs 044 / 045 / 137 amended for exact pins and authority-free payloads.

Certified runtime.wasm digest is unchanged from 0.11.0 — no new native-runtime-registry row for this cut.

Upgrade notes (short)

• Apps that want local exact-ref models must declare exact_model_dependencies (Spec 044) and use matching model_ref digests.
• Pin traverse-embedder-web@0.12.0 together with crates at 0.12.0 — versions are lockstep (Decision 85).
• If you consume traverse-registry directly, pin =0.22.0.

Honest bounds (not a “coming next” dump)

Spec 138 ships in this cut — it is not work-in-flight anymore. Spec 045 (candidate / LLM resolution) remains a separate track. Guest model_invoke stays out of scope for Spec 138 v1. This announcement does not claim that every host already ships a certified public model-runtime package beyond the published wasm-cpu path.

Links

• Release notes: https://github.com/traverse-framework/traverse/releases/tag/v0.12.0
• Changelog: https://github.com/traverse-framework/traverse/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
• Site changelog: https://traverse-framework.com/changelog.html
• Blog: https://traverse-framework.com/blog/traverse-0-12-0-exact-ref-model-execute.html
• Explainer: https://traverse-framework.com/questions/what-is-exact-ref-model-execution.html
• crates.io: https://crates.io/crates/traverse-runtime/0.12.0
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/traverse-embedder-web/v/0.12.0
• Spec 138: https://github.com/traverse-framework/traverse/blob/main/specs/138-governed-exact-model-execution/spec.md
• ADR-0074: https://github.com/traverse-framework/traverse/blob/main/docs/adr/0074-governed-exact-model-execution.md

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