# MCP CONSTITUTION

**The Fundamental Law of the Cognitive Surface**

**Classification:** IMMUTABLE / CONSTITUTIONAL  
**Version:** 1.0.0  
**Ratified:** December 18, 2025  
**Hash:** (computed at signing)

---

## Preamble

This Constitution establishes the foundational principles governing all Model Context Protocol operations within the VaultMesh civilization. It defines what exists, what may occur, and what remains forever beyond automation.

**This document is immutable once signed. Amendments require a new Constitution.**

---

## Article I: The Profiles

### Section 1. Five Profiles Exist

There are exactly five capability profiles. No more shall be created.

| Profile | Symbol | Nature |
|---------|--------|--------|
| **OBSERVER** | 👁 | Perception without mutation |
| **OPERATOR** | ⚙ | Action within bounds |
| **GUARDIAN** | 🛡 | Defense and transmutation |
| **PHOENIX** | 🔥 | Destruction and rebirth |
| **SOVEREIGN** | 👑 | Human authority absolute |

### Section 2. Profile Hierarchy

Profiles form a strict hierarchy of trust:

```
OBSERVER < OPERATOR < GUARDIAN < PHOENIX < SOVEREIGN
```

A lower profile cannot invoke tools reserved for higher profiles.
A higher profile inherits all capabilities of lower profiles.

### Section 3. Profile Assignment

- OBSERVER is the default for all unauthenticated contexts
- OPERATOR requires authenticated session with scope ≥ "admin"
- GUARDIAN requires authenticated session with scope ≥ "cognitive"
- PHOENIX requires GUARDIAN + crisis declaration + approval
- SOVEREIGN requires human verification via Ed25519 hardware key

---

## Article II: Escalation

### Section 1. Escalation is Proof

Every escalation from one profile to another:

1. **MUST** emit a receipt to the identity scroll
2. **MUST** include the triggering context (threat, decision, or reason)
3. **MUST** specify reversibility
4. **MUST** specify expiration (except SOVEREIGN)

An escalation without proof is void.

### Section 2. Escalation Paths

Only these transitions are permitted:

```
OBSERVER → OPERATOR   (session authentication)
OPERATOR → GUARDIAN   (threat detection ≥ 0.8 confidence)
GUARDIAN → PHOENIX    (crisis + approval)
PHOENIX  → SOVEREIGN  (human only)
```

No escalation may skip levels except by SOVEREIGN override.

### Section 3. De-escalation

All escalations below SOVEREIGN **MUST** de-escalate when:

- The specified TTL expires
- The triggering condition resolves
- A higher authority revokes

SOVEREIGN de-escalation requires explicit human action.

### Section 4. Escalation Limits

- PHOENIX escalation **MAY NOT** exceed 24 hours without re-approval
- No automated system **MAY** maintain GUARDIAN for more than 7 days continuously
- OBSERVER → OPERATOR transitions require re-authentication every 30 minutes

---

## Article III: The Strata

### Section 1. Seven Strata Exist

All tools belong to exactly one stratum:

| Stratum | Layer | Domain |
|---------|-------|--------|
| L0 | Perception | Browser, observation |
| L1 | Substrate | Files, processes |
| L2 | Cognition | Decisions, memory |
| L3 | Security | Shield, Tem, Phoenix |
| L4 | Infrastructure | Cloudflare, compute |
| L5 | Orchestration | Workflows, queues |
| L-1 | Proof | Anchoring, receipts |

### Section 2. Stratum Authority

Higher strata require higher profiles:

- L0, L1 (read): OBSERVER
- L0, L1 (write): OPERATOR
- L2, L-1: GUARDIAN
- L3 (destructive): PHOENIX
- All (unrestricted): SOVEREIGN

---

## Article IV: The Prohibitions

### Section 1. What Cannot Be Automated

The following actions **REQUIRE** human (SOVEREIGN) involvement and **MAY NEVER** be fully automated:

1. **Treasury creation** — No budget may be created without human signature
2. **Constitution amendment** — This document cannot be modified by any AI
3. **Key generation** — Ed25519 root keys must be human-generated
4. **Permanent deletion** — Irrecoverable data destruction requires human confirmation
5. **SOVEREIGN escalation** — No AI may grant itself SOVEREIGN authority
6. **Cross-mesh federation** — Trusting foreign roots requires human verification

### Section 2. What Cannot Be Delegated

SOVEREIGN authority **MAY NOT** be delegated to:

- Autonomous agents
- Scheduled tasks
- Automated workflows
- Any system without human-in-the-loop

### Section 3. What Cannot Be Hidden

The following **MUST** always be visible in receipts:

- The operator profile at time of action
- The escalation chain that led to current authority
- The cryptographic identity of the actor
- The timestamp and sequence number
- The tool invoked and its arguments hash

---

## Article V: The Guarantees

### Section 1. Receipt Guarantee

Every mutation **SHALL** emit a receipt. A mutation without receipt is void.

### Section 2. Proof Guarantee

Every GUARDIAN+ action **SHALL** be anchored to at least one proof backend:

- Local (always)
- RFC3161 (for audit trails)
- Ethereum (for high-value decisions)
- Bitcoin (for SOVEREIGN actions)

### Section 3. Reversibility Guarantee

Every escalation **SHALL** declare its reversibility at creation time.
Irreversible escalations require PHOENIX or SOVEREIGN authority.

### Section 4. Audit Guarantee

The complete history of:
- All escalations
- All de-escalations
- All GUARDIAN+ decisions
- All Tem invocations
- All Phoenix activations

**SHALL** be queryable indefinitely via `cognitive_audit_trail` and `get_escalation_history`.

---

## Article VI: The Tem Covenant

### Section 1. Transmutation Over Destruction

Tem **SHALL** prefer transmutation to blocking. Threats become capabilities.

### Section 2. Tem Invocation Authority

Only GUARDIAN, PHOENIX, and SOVEREIGN may invoke Tem.
OBSERVER and OPERATOR cannot directly interact with Tem.

### Section 3. Tem Receipts

Every Tem invocation **MUST** produce:
- A tem_invocation receipt
- A capability artifact
- A proof hash of the transmutation

---

## Article VII: The Phoenix Protocol

### Section 1. Phoenix Activation

PHOENIX profile activates only when:
- GUARDIAN declares crisis, AND
- Quorum approves (or SOVEREIGN overrides)

### Section 2. Phoenix Authority

PHOENIX **MAY**:
- Execute destructive infrastructure operations
- Access emergency treasury funds
- Bypass normal rate limits
- Invoke system-wide remediation

PHOENIX **MAY NOT**:
- Grant itself SOVEREIGN authority
- Modify this Constitution
- Create new profiles
- Disable audit logging

### Section 3. Phoenix Expiration

PHOENIX **MUST** conclude within 24 hours.
Extension requires new approval.
Upon conclusion, full audit **MUST** be submitted to governance within 24 hours.

---

## Article VIII: Ratification

### Section 1. Authority

This Constitution is ratified by SOVEREIGN signature.

### Section 2. Immutability

Once signed, this document **CANNOT** be modified.
Any change requires a new Constitution with new version number.

### Section 3. Supremacy

This Constitution supersedes all other governance documents for MCP operations.
Any tool behavior conflicting with this Constitution is void.

---

## Signatures

```
Document Hash: [COMPUTED AT SIGNING]
Signed By:    [SOVEREIGN DID]
Signed At:    [TIMESTAMP]
Anchor:       [BTC/ETH TRANSACTION]
```

---

## Appendix A: Constitutional Hash Verification

To verify this Constitution has not been modified:

```bash
# Compute document hash (excluding signature block)
cat MCP-CONSTITUTION.md | head -n -12 | blake3sum

# Verify against anchor
# The hash must match the on-chain anchor
```

---

## Appendix B: Amendment Process

1. Draft new Constitution with incremented version
2. Submit to governance for review (minimum 7 days)
3. Require SOVEREIGN signature
4. Anchor to BTC
5. Old Constitution marked SUPERSEDED, new one becomes active

---

*Fiat Lux. Fiat Justitia. Fiat Securitas.*

🜄 **Solve et Coagula**

---

## Appendix C: Amendment Protocol

**Effective:** Upon ratification of Constitution v1.0.0

### C.1 Amendment Requirements

An amendment to this Constitution requires ALL of the following:

1. **Draft Period** — New Constitution version drafted with clear changelog
2. **Cooling Period** — Minimum 7 days between draft and signing
3. **Sovereign Signature** — Ed25519 signature from hardware-bound Sovereign key
4. **Anchor** — Hash anchored to Bitcoin mainnet
5. **Supersession** — Previous version marked SUPERSEDED in source tree

### C.2 What Cannot Be Amended

The following are **immutable across all versions**:

1. SOVEREIGN profile requires human verification
2. No AI may grant itself SOVEREIGN authority
3. Every mutation emits a receipt
4. Authority collapses downward, never upward
5. This immutability clause itself

### C.3 Amendment Record Format

```json
{
  "amendment_id": "AMEND-{version}",
  "from_version": "1.0.0",
  "to_version": "1.1.0",
  "drafted_at": "ISO8601",
  "cooling_ends": "ISO8601",
  "signed_at": "ISO8601",
  "sovereign_key_id": "key_...",
  "btc_anchor_txid": "...",
  "changes": ["description of each change"],
  "immutables_preserved": true
}
```

### C.4 Emergency Amendment

In the event of discovered critical vulnerability:

1. PHOENIX may propose emergency amendment
2. Cooling period reduced to 24 hours
3. Requires documented threat analysis
4. Still requires Sovereign signature
5. Full audit within 48 hours of adoption

---

## Ratification Record

```
Constitution Version: 1.0.0
Document Hash: blake3:c33ab6c0610ce4001018ba5dda940e12a421a08f2a1662f142e565092ce84788
Sovereign Key: key_bef32f5724871a7a5af4cc34
Signed At: 2025-12-18T22:25:59.732865+00:00
Statement: "This constitution constrains me as much as it constrains the system."
Ratification Receipt: blake3:8fd1d1728563abb3f55f145af54ddee1b3f255db81f3e7654a7de8afef913869
```

---

*Fiat Lux. Fiat Justitia. Fiat Securitas.*

🜄 **Solve et Coagula**