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@@ -26,14 +26,15 @@ Format: **pattern** — *expensive when (the interprocedural condition to trace)
 6. **FFI / native-boundary crossing on a hot path** *(central to the shared-core effort)* — *a native crossing per-span/per-item (not batched), or transporting strings/objects rather than primitives/IDs* — flag-with-confidence (boundary cost is mechanism-determined; runtime-specific pinning → addendum) — SEV-1/2 (SEV-1 if it blocks/pins under concurrency) — fix: batch (one per flush, not per item); transport interned IDs not strings; keep crossings off the hot/concurrency path.
 7. **Escape / allocation-elision defeated** *(Java/Go/.NET/V8 all have a version)* — *a refactor makes a previously-local object escape (stored, returned, captured by a closure, passed to a virtual/non-inlined call) → silent heap allocation on a hot path* — **flag-as-measure** ("may now escape and allocate; verify with an allocation profiler") — SEV-2/3 — fix: keep it local; avoid the escaping store/capture.
 8. **`@NoEscape` field-storage violation** — *a field (instance or static, directly or as a generic type argument) declared with an `@NoEscape`-annotated type (`datadog.trace.api.function.NoEscape`), **or** initialized directly from a call to an `@NoEscape`-annotated method — with no comment at the declaration justifying the retention*. The type form marks a concrete type (e.g. `SubSequence`); the method form exists for a return value whose concrete type can't itself carry the annotation (an anonymous class or lambda implementing a JDK interface). The annotation's own javadoc carries a self-contained "Checker contract" section (trigger / not-a-trigger / violation example / compliant example, both forms) written so this can be checked from the diff alone, with no other context needed. The underlying rule is "should", not "must" (RFC-2119 sense): a trigger is a presumptive finding, not an automatic failure — compliant if the declaration carries either a `// Retained on purpose: <reason>`-style comment, or `@SuppressPerfContract(value = NoEscape.class, reason = "...")` (`datadog.perfcontract.SuppressPerfContract` — the generic exemption mechanism shared by every perf-contract marker, not `@NoEscape`-specific), or a named canned-exception annotation itself meta-annotated `@SuppressPerfContract` with `NoEscape.class` among its `value` (e.g. a hypothetical `@Borrowed`) — treat the meta-annotation's own `reason` as satisfying the requirement. Don't flag a `SuppressPerfContract`/canned-exception use as non-compliant just for being terse; that mirrors the annotation's own Checker contract. **flag-with-confidence** — SEV-2/3 (SEV-1 if the annotated type/method shares backing storage with something large, per its own javadoc). Current wearers: `SubSequence`, `Maybe` (type form; see J7 below for `SubSequence`'s specific retention-vs-transient discriminator). **No lint enforces this yet — the AI reviewer is the only check, so this stays here (not under deterministic-lint candidates below) until a checker lands and it can migrate down.**
+9. **`@StaticLifetime` field-lifetime violation** — *a field annotated `@StaticLifetime` (`datadog.perfcontract.StaticLifetime`) that is neither `static final` nor a `final` instance field declared on a class annotated `@Singleton` (`datadog.perfcontract.Singleton`); a shared `ClassValue` holder follows the same rule*. Declaration-scan only, same shape as the `@NoEscape` field-storage check above — it does not attempt to prove a field is actually reused enough to be worth caching, and it does not catch an unannotated per-instance cache; it only guards fields that opt in. `@Singleton`, applied to a class, is a trusted, unverified declaration (v1 posture — the same stance the other perf-contract markers take toward `static final` itself) that the class has exactly one process-wide instance; declaring it satisfies `@StaticLifetime` for that class's `final` instance fields. **flag-with-confidence** — SEV-2/3, motivated by a real production defect (a per-request-constructed cache that never actually amortized anything — see the annotation's own javadoc for the full trigger/accepted-form table). Refines the "per-call cache / expensive-object creation that should be static/once" deterministic-lint candidate below by giving that pattern's opted-in subset an explicit annotation and trigger; the unannotated general case is still that line's job. **No lint enforces this yet — the AI reviewer is the only check, so this stays here (not under deterministic-lint candidates below) until a checker lands and it can migrate down.**
 
 ## Deterministic-lint candidates (DON'T spend AI budget — make these real lints)
 Fixed-signature, mechanically checkable:
-- per-call cache / regex / expensive-object creation that should be static/once
+- per-call cache / regex / expensive-object creation that should be static/once (the `@StaticLifetime`-annotated subset is checked above; this line covers the still-unannotated general case)
 - boxing in specific hot APIs
 - using a string-API where an id-API exists on a hot decorator
 - the existing convention rules (e.g. don't extract one-shot instrumentation methods to constants)
-- *(grows as patterns prove mechanically checkable — migrate them off the AI as they stabilize; the `@NoEscape` field-storage check above belongs here once its checker lands)*
+- *(grows as patterns prove mechanically checkable — migrate them off the AI as they stabilize; the `@NoEscape` and `@StaticLifetime` field-storage checks above belong here once their checkers land)*
 
 ## Java addendum (JVM-specific — mechanism authored with JIT-developer authority; **calibrate production-priority against your own escalation history**)
 Refines the universal checks with JVM mechanics. Quarantined here, for the Java audience that has the substrate.
 
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package datadog.perfcontract;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * Declares that a class has one instance for the life of the process. All construction paths must
+ * preserve that guarantee; a static holder or DI registration alone does not prevent another
+ * instance from being created.
+ *
+ * <p>This marker changes no runtime behavior. Tools trust the declaration without checking
+ * construction sites. If the class is instantiated more than once, they may accept caches that are
+ * rebuilt with each instance.
+ *
+ * <p><b>Checker contract.</b> This annotation has no violation rule of its own. It allows {@link
+ * StaticLifetime}'s checker to accept {@code final} instance fields declared on the annotated
+ * class.
+ */
+@Documented
+@PerfContract
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
+@Target(ElementType.TYPE)
+public @interface Singleton {}
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package datadog.perfcontract;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * Marks a field whose value must be retained for the life of the program to share its setup cost
+ * across uses. A cache rebuilt with each request repeats that cost.
+ *
+ * <p>The name echoes Rust's {@code 'static} lifetime rather than the Java keyword {@code static}:
+ * the property is "lives for the whole program," which a {@code final} field on a {@link Singleton}
+ * satisfies without being {@code static}.
+ *
+ * <p>This marker changes no runtime behavior. The declaration rules below guide AI review; no
+ * static checker currently enforces them.
+ *
+ * <p><b>Checker contract.</b> Inspect only fields annotated {@code @StaticLifetime}:
+ *
+ * <ul>
+ *   <li><b>Accepted:</b> a {@code static final} field, or a {@code final} instance field declared
+ *       on a class annotated {@link Singleton}. The singleton declaration is trusted, not verified.
+ *   <li><b>Violation:</b> any other annotated field. This includes fields without {@code final} and
+ *       instance fields on classes without {@code @Singleton}, even if a class is constructed only
+ *       once per session.
+ *   <li><b>Out of scope:</b> unannotated fields, how often a value is reused, and replacement of
+ *       state inside the referenced object. The check does not follow references through the object
+ *       graph.
+ * </ul>
+ *
+ * <p>Requiring {@code final} prevents reassignment from discarding cached state and repeating
+ * setup. It does not prevent the referenced object from changing its own state.
+ *
+ * <p>A shared {@link java.lang.ClassValue} satisfies the same field rules. Its values are cached
+ * per class; computation may be repeated under races or after {@link
+ * java.lang.ClassValue#remove(Class) remove}. This contract covers the shared holder, not the
+ * lifetime of each cached value.
+ *
+ * <p>Violation examples: an instance cache on a class without {@code @Singleton}, or a static cache
+ * without {@code final}.
+ *
+ * <pre>
+ * &#64;StaticLifetime
+ * private final DDCache&lt;String, String&gt; instanceCache = DDCaches.newFixedSizeCache(128);
+ *
+ * &#64;StaticLifetime
+ * private static DDCache&lt;String, String&gt; staticCache = DDCaches.newFixedSizeCache(128);
+ * </pre>
+ *
+ * <p>Compliant examples:
+ *
+ * <pre>
+ * &#64;StaticLifetime
+ * private static final DDCache&lt;String, String&gt; CACHE = DDCaches.newFixedSizeCache(128);
+ *
+ * &#64;Singleton class Registry {
+ *   &#64;StaticLifetime
+ *   private final DDCache&lt;String, String&gt; cache = DDCaches.newFixedSizeCache(128);
+ * }
+ * </pre>
+ */
+@Documented
+@PerfContract
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
+@Target(ElementType.FIELD)
+public @interface StaticLifetime {}