distribution-model.md

Distribution Model

This repository is designed to make the CLI easy to evaluate and install without exposing the proprietary extraction engine.

What Stays In This Repo

• public wrapper logic in bin/pdf-to-markdown
• installer in install.sh
• package metadata in package.json
• public README and benchmark snapshots

What Must Stay Private

• the extraction engine source code
• proprietary datasets, heuristics, and model assets
• signing credentials
• private CI/CD that builds and signs binaries
• upload tooling and credentials for the release CDN

Runtime Contract

The public CLI wrapper relies on a very small, stable contract:

1. LATEST contains a release id such as 20260331T205256Z.
2. Each release id exposes one tarball per supported target:
   • linux-amd64.tar.gz
   • linux-arm64.tar.gz
   • macos-arm64.tar.gz
3. Each tarball contains exactly one executable with the expected filename:
   • nutrient-linux-amd64
   • nutrient-linux-arm64
   • nutrient-macos-arm64

As long as that contract remains stable, the public wrapper can stay tiny and the proprietary engine can remain fully private.

Design Rationale

• The repo is the public product surface.
• The CLI wrapper is installable and versionable.
• Users can review usage, benchmarks, trust details, and installation steps in one place.
• The engine itself is distributed only as signed binaries.

That gives you a shareable repository without publishing sensitive implementation details.