test/VaultMesh_Catalog_v1/pages/page5-proof-system.md

Page Title: Cryptographic Proof System (VaultMesh Proof Spine) Summary: VaultMesh uses a Merkle-tree-based proof system with receipts, roots, and cross-ledger anchoring. Each serious action (deploy, anchor, oracle decision, incident handling) emits a receipt. DevOps pipelines produce PROOF.json and ROOT.txt artifacts and anchor them to external ledgers, turning infrastructure history into a verifiable "civilization ledger".

Key Findings:

• All significant actions generate cryptographic receipts in append-only logs.
• Merkle trees allow efficient inclusion proofs for large sets of receipts.
• Anchors can be written to local files, Bitcoin (OTS), Ethereum, or mesh peers.
• The release pipeline for vm-spawn automatically computes Merkle roots and anchors proof artifacts.
• Braid-style interoperability allows importing and emitting foreign ledger roots.

Components:

• Proof Generator (proof_generate) – creates signed receipts.
• Merkle Batcher (proof_batch) – aggregates receipts into Merkle trees.
• Anchor System (proof_anchor_*) – writes roots to durable anchors.
• Verification Engine (proof_verify) – validates inclusion and integrity.
• Braid Protocol (proof_braid_*) – cross-ledger interoperability.

Proof Lifecycle:

1. Action occurs (e.g., Guardian anchor, deployment, oracle decision).
2. proof_generate creates a signed receipt with a Blake3 hash of the canonical JSON.
3. Receipts accumulate until a batch threshold is reached.
4. proof_batch constructs a Merkle tree and computes the root.
5. proof_anchor_* writes the root to local files, timestamps, or blockchains.
6. proof_verify allows any future verifier to confirm receipt integrity against a given root.

Anchoring Strategies:

Type	Method	Durability
local	Files in data/anchors/	Node-local
ots	OpenTimestamps → Bitcoin	Public blockchain
eth	Calldata/contract → Ethereum	Public blockchain
mesh	Cross-attest via other nodes	Federated durability

Braid Protocol:

• braid_import – import foreign ledger roots from other chains/nodes.
• braid_emit – expose local roots for others to import.
• braid_status – track imported vs. local roots and regression.
• Ensures root sequences are strictly advancing (no rollback without detection).

Receipt Schema (Conceptual):

{
  "proof_id": "uuid",
  "action": "guardian_anchor",
  "timestamp": "ISO8601",
  "data_hash": "blake3_hex",
  "signature": "ed25519_sig",
  "witnesses": ["node_id"],
  "chain_prev": "prev_proof_id"
}

Security Notes:

• Blake3 hashing for speed and modern security.
• Ed25519 signatures for authenticity and non-repudiation.
• Merkle trees make inclusion proofs O(log n).
• Multiple anchoring paths provide defense in depth against ledger loss.

DevOps Integration:

• vm-spawn release pipeline:
  • Computes Merkle root over build artifacts.
  • Requests RFC 3161 timestamp.
  • Anchors hash on Ethereum and Bitcoin.
  • Emits PROOF.json and ROOT.txt alongside release assets.
• Guardian CLI (vm_cli.py guardian) provides human-readable views over roots and scrolls.

Dependencies:

• Blake3 library.
• Ed25519 signing library and key management.
• Optional OTS/BTC/ETH client libraries or APIs.
• OffSec MCP / VaultMesh services exposing proof tools.