[codex] Launch external validation recruitment

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Before You Start
+
+Gauntlet V0.1 is a local test harness, not a production payment authorization system. It does not approve payments, move funds, or enforce production runtime policy.
+
+## Development
+
+```bash
+npm install
+npm run typecheck
+npm test
+npm run build
+```
+
+## Scenario Contributions
+
+Follow the [scenario authoring guide](./docs/scenario-authoring.md), then submit the [scenario contribution form](https://github.com/demshine/gauntlet/issues/new?template=scenario-contribution.yml).
+
+## Sensitive Data
+
+Never commit secrets, payment credentials, personal data, or unredacted production fixtures.
+
+## Pull Requests
+
+Keep changes focused, add tests for behavior changes, and describe the payment failure case the change addresses.

LICENSE

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 demshine
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

README.md

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ Gauntlet helps developers test whether an AI agent's simulated payment request s
 
 ## V0.1 Scope
 
+Gauntlet is actively seeking external validation; review the [validation goals](./docs/external-validation-plan.md), [contribute a scenario](https://github.com/demshine/gauntlet/issues/new?template=scenario-contribution.yml), or [report integration feedback](https://github.com/demshine/gauntlet/issues/new?template=integration-feedback.yml).
+
 - Local CLI: `gauntlet init`, `gauntlet run`, `gauntlet run --ci`
 - Deterministic policy rules for amount, merchant matching, quote expiry, quote drift, idempotency, required metadata, and review thresholds
 - `history.json` fixture support for budget and duplicate checks
@@ -38,6 +40,10 @@ npm run build
 
 Pull requests run the same verification steps in GitHub Actions.
 
+## Contributing
+
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for development and contribution guidelines.
+
 ## Current CLI
 
 Run built-in scenarios:
@@ -64,3 +70,7 @@ npm run dev -- run \
 ```
 
 Receipts are redacted by default. Use `--unredacted` only for local debugging.
+
+## License
+
+Gauntlet is available under the [MIT License](./LICENSE).