A **Contract** is an entity within the [[Foundation (CSDM domain)|Foundation domain]] of the [[Common Service Data Model|Common Service Data Model]] (CSDM), a reference architecture developed by [[ServiceNow|ServiceNow]] that provides prescriptive guidance on service-related definitions and data modeling within the ServiceNow AI Platform. A Contract represents a binding agreement between two parties, containing detailed information such as contract number, start and end dates, active status, terms and conditions statements, documents, renewal information, and financial terms. Contracts are recorded in the ast_contract table and are not [[Configuration item|configuration items]]. Contracts reference [[Contract Model (CSDM)|Contract Models]] from the [[Product Model (CSDM)|Product Model (CSDM)]] module to categorize contract types. Service contracts may support hardware CIs for [[Service level agreement|SLA]] and Vendor Management, and may also be used by [[Customer Service Management (ServiceNow)|Customer Service Management (ServiceNow)]]. Contracts follow the [[Document Life Cycle Process (CSDM)|Document Life Cycle Process (CSDM)]] with stages including Ideation (Draft, Under Evaluation), Operational (In Use, Published, Renewal in Process, Renewed, Pending Retirement), and End of Life (Expired, Retired). When populating services provided by vendors into the [[Configuration management database|CMDB]], organizations should consider using Contracts to measure against contractual service level agreements. The [[Contract Manager (CSDM)|Contract Manager (CSDM)]] persona is responsible for managing contracts across the [[CSDM Service Life Cycle|CSDM Service Life Cycle]].