diff --git a/contracts/propchain-traits/src/circuit_breaker.rs b/contracts/propchain-traits/src/circuit_breaker.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7925f596
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contracts/propchain-traits/src/circuit_breaker.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+use core::fmt;
+
+/// Reason a contract has been paused, surfaced uniformly across all
+/// contracts implementing `CircuitBreaker`.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum PauseReason {
+    OracleDrift,
+    RateLimitBreached,
+    ManualIntervention,
+    ZeroLiquidity,
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for PauseReason {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            PauseReason::OracleDrift => write!(f, "oracle_drift"),
+            PauseReason::RateLimitBreached => write!(f, "rate_limit_breached"),
+            PauseReason::ManualIntervention => write!(f, "manual_intervention"),
+            PauseReason::ZeroLiquidity => write!(f, "zero_liquidity"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Uniform circuit-breaker behavior all pausable contracts implement,
+/// replacing bespoke PauseFlags / set_pause_state / is_paused patterns.
+pub trait CircuitBreaker {
+    fn is_paused(&self) -> bool;
+    fn pause(&mut self, reason: PauseReason);
+    fn resume(&mut self);
+    fn pause_reason(&self) -> Option<PauseReason>;
+}
+
+/// Guarded division helper used by DEX view functions to avoid
+/// division-by-zero on empty/fresh pools.
+pub fn guarded_div(numerator: u128, denominator: u128) -> Result<u128, PauseReason> {
+    if denominator == 0 {
+        return Err(PauseReason::ZeroLiquidity);
+    }
+    Ok(numerator / denominator)
+}
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