Reference
Glossary
These terms are used consistently across the tenant dashboard, SDKs,
public API, verifier bundles, and trust reports.
Core terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Evidence stream | Append-only history for one tenant/system/use-case/policy scope. |
| Event | Canonical envelope plus payload commitment accepted into a stream. |
| Receipt | Signed proof that an event was accepted and produced a specific stream head. |
| Window | Closed range of events summarized by a Merkle commitment and inclusion material. |
| Checkpoint | Stream progress commitment for one or more windows. |
| Consistency | Proof that a later checkpoint extends earlier history rather than replacing it. |
Verification terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Witness | Independent service that signs only monotonic checkpoint progression. |
| Quorum | Policy describing how many witness signatures are required. |
| Fork evidence | Machine-readable proof that conflicting checkpoint histories were observed. |
| Anchor | External epoch commitment that binds Attesto evidence outside the application database. |
| Verifier bundle | Portable file containing enough material for local verification. |
| Verifier matrix | Contract covering accepted and rejected object mutations. |
Edge and proof terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Local Vault | Outbound-only customer edge component for secret storage, relay, spool, and optional witness mode. |
| Proof of Evolution | Async lifecycle proof lane over committed checkpoint metadata. |
| Nova | Research-backed IVC approach used as the review-gated lifecycle proof direction. |
| State root | Commitment to lifecycle state across checkpoint ranges and policy context. |
