Skip to content

Base Facts and Proof Bundles

The smallest useful building block is a fact bundle with proofs.

Base Facts

A base fact is a peer-authored claim such as:

  • delivered(milestone M, artifact A)
  • accepted(order O)
  • revoked(credential C)

It is authored by one peer and committed into that peer's tree.

Proof Bundle

A proof bundle typically carries:

  • canonical facts
  • inclusion or exclusion proofs
  • referenced peer roots or checkpoints
  • peer identities or key references
  • enough metadata to interpret the facts

Design Goal

A verifier should be able to:

  • recompute the relevant fact commitments
  • verify the proofs against trusted roots
  • evaluate the protocol rule

without needing the full peer log.

Distribution Pattern

Proof bundles should usually be requested, not broadcast.

The public anchor lets a verifier find the relevant on-chain root state. The proof bundle is then pulled from the holder for a specific claim or protocol transition.

This avoids pushing every possible proof to every possible verifier, and it keeps disclosure scoped to the policy being evaluated.

Common Mistake

Do not confuse:

  • the fact bundle
  • the proof bundle
  • the derived or certified claim

They are different layers and should be modeled separately.