Contract Type (contract_type)

File location: data/<namespace>/mxt/contract_type/<path>.json

A contract_type describes one contract from the moment it is signed to the moment it is released: what each side has to satisfy, what runs at each of the four moments on the spirit beast's side and the three on the owner's side, which abilities the owner holds while the contract lasts, what signing costs, how many one owner may hold at once, and how long a recall has to wait.

Who may sign is a code fact: the target creature has to support contracts itself (see Interfaces), and no data pack can hand an entity that eligibility. Who owns it is answered by the creature as well - the mod stores no owner. A data pack gets four levers: narrow either side with the *_condition fields below, charge a price with costs, narrow the list with an entity type tag, and grant the owner abilities for as long as the contract lasts with owner_abilities - the tag reuses the contract type's own id, written #<namespace>:contract/<path> (file data/<namespace>/tags/entity_type/contract/<path>.json). A tag that is absent, or written empty, places no restriction.

Field	Type	Default	Description
quality	Quality id	none	Optional. The tier a scroll of this contract starts on.
owner_condition	EntityCondition	mxt:always	The owner condition.
creature_condition	EntityCondition	mxt:always	The spirit beast condition, checked after eligibility.
follow_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	The action run every tick while the order in force is "follow".
combat_action	BiEntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run after damage this spirit beast dealt has been resolved.
release_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run when the contract is released, while the spirit beast is still alive.
death_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run when the spirit beast dies and the contract ends with it.
owner_bind_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run once on the owner when the contract is signed.
owner_release_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run once on the owner when the contract is released.
owner_death_action	EntityAction	mxt:no_op	Run once on the owner when the spirit beast dies and the contract ends with it.
owner_abilities	Array of ability ids or #tags	[]	The abilities the owner holds for as long as the contract lasts.
costs	Cost array	[]	The signing price, paid by the owner; the spirit beast pays nothing.
max_owned	int	0	How many contracts of this type one owner may hold at once; 0 = no limit.
recall_cooldown	int	0	Recall cooldown in ticks; 0 = no limit.

quality is optional: contract scrolls are the one item every contract shares, so the item itself cannot say which tier it is — only the definition the stack carries can: a scroll of this contract starts on that tier. An mxt:quality component on the stack wins; with no quality here this layer answers nothing and resolution continues to the default_quality registry.

follow_action only runs for a creature that answers an order list, and it runs after that creature's own follow behaviour; switch the order to wander or stay and it stops - all it covers is the follow tick.

Release and death are two fields, and one action answers one moment only: release_action covers an owner releasing the contract or an administrator forcing a release, death_action covers the spirit beast dying.

Everything on the owner's side lands on the owner: follow_action / combat_action / release_action / death_action run on the spirit beast, while the three owner_*_action fields run on the owner. The three owner-side actions get a bi-entity context (caster_* reads the owner, target_* reads the spirit beast), while the four beast-side actions get a single-entity context. owner_bind_action runs with the contract already recorded and owner_abilities already in force; the abilities are taken back after owner_release_action / owner_death_action has run. While the owner is offline none of the three owner_*_action fields runs (a release or a death still completes); owner_abilities is reconciled the next time the owner logs in, so nothing is left behind. A grant is counted per contract type: a second spirit beast of the same type grants nothing new, releasing one of them takes nothing away while the other is still held, and an ability granted by two contracts survives losing either one.

costs may draw on the owner's resource accounts, inventory and script channel. Payment sits after every condition and after the Pre event, so a price that cannot be paid signs nothing and deducts nothing.

max_owned is counted per owner, and a release or a death frees the slot. recall_cooldown starts from a stamp on the contract record and gates the "recall" order, whether it comes from the Beast Taming Bell's wheel or from the command.

Orders are not a data pack field here: the orders an owner can give a spirit beast (follow / wander / stay / recall) are answered by the creature itself, and a content mod may add one of its own; the order in force is kept on the beast's contract record, and an id that does not resolve reads as follow. See the command and Interfaces.

Read contract state with the entity condition mxt:contract: bound asks whether a contract record is carried at all, type narrows the question to certain contract types, and behavior asks whether the order in force is one of them.

Every refusal reason reads from one table of text keys, contract.mxt.failure.<lowercase enum name>; the Contract Scroll, the Beast Taming Bell, the Spirit Beast Bag and the command all print from that same table.

// data/example/mxt/contract_type/familiar.json
{
  "owner_condition": { "type": "mxt:realm", "realm": "example:foundation", "comparison": ">=" },
  "creature_condition": { "type": "mxt:health", "comparison": ">=", "compare_to": 20 },
  "follow_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "combat_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "release_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "death_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "owner_bind_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "owner_release_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "owner_death_action": { "type": "mxt:no_op" },
  "owner_abilities": ["example:familiar_bond"],
  "costs": [{ "id": "example:qi", "amount": 50 }],
  "max_owned": 1,
  "recall_cooldown": 600
}