Verification language for computational work

Make the claim challengeable.

VSTD packages bounded computational claims with their evidence, checking mechanisms, limits, refutation conditions, provenance, and reproducibility information. It does not replace native domain verifiers or strengthen their results.

Run the four-scenario demo Read the quickstart

VSTD makes computational claims:

Portable:
checkable without post-verdict cooperation from the declarant because every verdict-critical byte is included or retrievable and digest-bound; a locator or retention promise alone does not qualify.
Bounded:
carrying their own claim coordinates and resource ceilings, so exhausted work remains UNKNOWN rather than being answered outside the checked boundary.
Refutable:
exposing falsification conditions, admissible counterevidence, exclusions, and decision rules so another party can challenge the exact result.

A result travels with its meaning, evidence, limits, and failure routes so downstream humans and agents can draw conclusions without silently widening it.

The VSTD object and Graph numbered profiles, where every closure coordinate requires separate evidence
The review object

A green check is not a complete explanation.

VSTD records the minimum information another party needs to understand, reproduce, constrain, or overturn a computational claim.

01 · CLAIM

Exact meaning

Subject, predicate, parameters, scope, and the statement that was actually checked.

02 · EVIDENCE

Bound bytes

Inputs, outputs, mechanisms, provenance, checker identity, and trust roots.

03 · LIMITS

Declared boundary

Coordinates, resource ceilings, missing visibility, and explicit unknowns.

04 · CHALLENGE

Failure route

Reproduction, counterexample, adjudication, revocation, and downstream degradation.

Artifact-first semantics

Verify the process, not the actor.

VSTD evaluates bounded validity propositions about computational processes represented by software and evidence-bearing artifacts. Identity, popularity, and reputation alone add no verdict weight. TRUST, ROT, and RUST are formal semantic names, not acronyms or actor ratings; the reference Graph assurance log records them as evidence-bound events and can replay their embedded evidence and mechanisms offline. Architectural zero knowledge presumes no unevidenced proposition; cryptographic zero knowledge can enclose a confidential witness only through a named proof system bound to the exact program and predicate.

TRUST · FORWARD

Mechanism-earned support

Exact artifact support moves edge by edge through a checked transformation bound to its inputs, output, Graph, and prerequisite support. It is never an actor rating.

ROT · CURRENT STATE

Admissibility degrades

Typed lifecycle evidence can require reassessment without rewriting an immutable historical result. Age alone is insufficient.

RUST · BACKWARD

Diagnostic ancestry

A checked descendant deviation traces over deduplicated recorded ancestors. BLAME requires localized responsibility; GUILT additionally requires an exact violated obligation. Neither follows from reachability alone.

Executable first impression

See it reject, preserve uncertainty, and degrade.

The flagship demo is side-effect free. It runs checked specimens and exits successfully only when every defensive outcome matches its explicit invariant.

$ git clone https://github.com/TimeLordRaps/verifier.git
$ cd verifier && python -m pip install .
$ vstd demo

[DEMO OK] Valid-looking proof, wrong artifact       → REJECTED
[DEMO OK] Bound exhausted without a false answer    → ACCEPTED/UNKNOWN
[DEMO OK] Inflated verification-cost claim          → REJECTED
[DEMO OK] Revoked ancestor behind valid descendants → GRAPH-CANDIDATE-0
Boundaries

Useful without pretending to be total.

VSTD can help

  • carry exact claims and evidence between systems;
  • preserve PASS, FAIL, and UNKNOWN distinctly;
  • query recorded ancestry and bounded downstream impact;
  • make challenge conditions machine-readable.

VSTD cannot establish

  • general artificial intelligence (AI) safety, alignment, or intent;
  • hidden model state or unobserved tool context;
  • complete physical-world execution history;
  • truth outside the declared observation surface.
Current status

Current implementation status

VSTD is a maintainer-led alpha project specification. Compatibility VSTD-4 and Graph paths remain NOT_ESTABLISHED candidates. Separate evidence-bound VSTD-4, VSTD-5, Graph-profile, and assurance-event paths rerun exact registered mechanisms from embedded evidence; no real external witness is claimed by this repository. The project has no demonstrated external adoption, independent implementation, interoperability deployment, or third-party security review.

Artifact-control boundary: freeze preserves exact bytes and sealing is not encryption. A thaw sidecar alone is unkeyed metadata and remains NOT_ESTABLISHED; clean or dirty status requires the actual supplied parent to verify as sealed with every recorded parent coordinate matching. This current comparison does not authenticate the historical copy operation or external continuity.

Release coordinate: verifier-standard 1.2.0, released 2026-09-01. Use the versioned GitHub release for published artifacts and citation coordinates.

Review the maturity table Report an ambiguity or counterexample Read claim limits