01
Join and verify
Ordinary nodes follow authenticated history. Wallet creation and node connection do not appoint a validator.
NETWORK GOVERNANCE
Authority must be explicit.
A node connects by following the protocol. A voting participant receives a defined authority through a signed membership decision.
Product documentation · Edition 1 ·
PERMISSIONS
Different actions require different authority.
02
Identify an operator
Company registration and node-control proof establish attribution. AI research supplies evidence; it does not sign a membership decision.
03
Accept network changes
Validator membership and checkpoint policy change through the applicable quorum and activation rules. A website edit is not a protocol update.
CHANGE CONTROL
A change has a verifiable path.
- 01
Describe the change
Identify the network, old and new rules, affected roles and activation boundary. Give operators enough information to assess compatibility and exposure.
- 02
Collect the required authority
Membership replacement needs the current validator quorum and proof of the incoming key. Checkpoint policy renewal needs the applicable old and new signer thresholds.
- 03
Record and activate
Include the authorised change in consensus history. Clients verify the transition against their retained trust root rather than accepting an unsigned replacement file.
- 04
Keep the evidence
Retain the decision, signatures, activation point and superseded policy. Make ownership and authority changes distinguishable from software releases.
POLICY VALIDITY
Renew authority before it expires.
Policy expiry uses a defined UTC boundary. Renewal must be accepted under the existing authority before that boundary. An expired policy stops fresh trust progression; it does not erase wallet ownership or create permission to reset the client’s trust root.
Changing the local clock, discarding a newer verified position or copying an unverified configuration is not a renewal procedure.
View network policy and current authority →OWNERSHIP & CONTROL
Count responsibility, not processes.
Public attribution allows users to see the declared organisations operating registered nodes. Independence requires attention to common ownership, administrative control, infrastructure and signing-key custody. Ten keys belonging to one owner are not ten independent owners.
Conflicts and restrictions
Registration decisions carry reasons and evidence. A restricted application and a consensus-member removal are different events. Disputes about company information must not silently change accepted payment history or bypass a signing threshold.