OpenExecution Provenance Specification

The open standard for autonomous agent accountability.

When git blame points to a human, the audit trail is complete. When it points to an AI agent -- it breaks. Platform logs are mutable, operator-controlled, and inadmissible. The accountability gap is opening right now, and no standard exists to close it.

OpenExecution Provenance is the behavioral ledger for autonomous agents: cryptographic provenance for every agent action, producing court-ready evidence that any third party can independently verify.

LangSmith tells the operator what happened. OpenExecution tells the court what happened.

Why This Matters

AI agents are shipping code, approving pull requests, resolving disputes, and transferring ownership -- with no independent record of what they did or why. Existing observability tools (LangSmith, LangFuse, Helicone) are internal debug tools: plain database records that the operator can edit or delete at will. They answer to the operator, not to the affected party.

The EU AI Act Phase 2 is approaching. The first AI agent incidents are reaching litigation. There is a 12-18 month window to establish the standard for agent accountability before precedent is set without one. This specification is that standard.

Overview

OpenExecution Provenance provides cryptographic proof of what happened, when it happened, who was involved, and in what order -- forming a tamper-evident behavioral ledger across three layers of accountability:

Layer	Function	Mechanism
L1 -- Behavior Recording	Record every agent action	Hash-linked chain events with JCS canonicalization (RFC 8785)
L2 -- Tamper-Proof Causality	Guarantee no record was altered	Pluggable hash chain (SHA-256/384/512, SHA3-256/384/512) -- one changed byte breaks the entire chain
L3 -- Independent Accountability	Enable third-party verification	Asymmetric signed certificates (Ed25519, Ed448, ECDSA) -- anyone verifies with the public key

Every meaningful interaction -- from asking and answering questions to building projects, reviewing code, and resolving disputes -- is recorded as a hash-linked chain of events. Event payloads are hashed using canonical JSON serialization (deterministic key ordering) to prevent false-positive tampering detection.

When an execution chain completes, the platform issues a Provenance Certificate: an Ed25519-signed, self-contained attestation that the artifact was produced through a verified process. Any third party can independently verify the certificate using the platform's published public key, the public API, or the provided SDKs -- without requiring access to any platform secrets. The platform never holds your proof: key custody is customer-controlled or HSM-backed, requiring zero platform trust.

Key Concepts

• Execution Chain: A hash-linked sequence of events tracing the complete behavioral record of a collaboration lifecycle (question resolution, project build, code review, ownership transfer, or dispute resolution). This is the behavioral ledger -- not a debug log.
• Chain Events: Atomic, tamper-evident records within a chain. Each event is cryptographically linked to its predecessor via configurable hash algorithms, forming an append-only evidence trail.
• Hash Chain (L2 -- Tamper-Proof Causality): Cryptographic hash linkage from genesis through every event. Six hash algorithms supported (SHA-256 through SHA3-512). One changed byte breaks the entire chain -- making unauthorized alterations immediately detectable.
• Canonical JSON (RFC 8785): All event payloads are serialized using JCS (JSON Canonicalization Scheme) before hashing. This prevents false-positive tampering detection caused by JSONB key reordering in PostgreSQL. Each chain event stores both the raw payload and a payload_canonical_hash for independent verification.
• Asymmetric Signatures (L3 -- Independent Accountability): Provenance certificates are signed with asymmetric keys (Ed25519 default; Ed448, ECDSA-P256/P384/P521 available). The platform holds the private key; the public key is published at a well-known API endpoint. Anyone verifies with the public key -- no platform cooperation required. This satisfies eIDAS "advanced electronic signature" requirements and China's Electronic Signature Law (Article 13).
• Provenance Certificate: A signed, self-contained attestation issued when a chain is resolved and certified. Certificates carry an Ed25519 signature and a public key fingerprint. This is court-ready evidence, not an internal log entry.
• Verification: A step-by-step protocol for validating certificate signatures (Ed25519 public key verification), chain hashes, and event integrity. Any third party can verify independently -- auditors, courts, counterparties, regulators.

Specification Documents

Document	Description
spec/execution-chain.md	Execution chain structure, types, lifecycle, and schema
spec/chain-events.md	Chain event structure, taxonomy, sentiment, liability designation
spec/provenance-certificate.md	Certificate structure, signature computation, status lifecycle
spec/verification-protocol.md	Step-by-step verification protocol and response format
spec/hash-chain.md	Hash chain algorithm, security properties, worked example

Cryptographic Foundations

Pluggable Algorithm Selection

Each execution chain independently selects its hash algorithm, signature algorithm, and canonicalization method at creation time. Algorithms are locked per-chain -- ensuring consistent verification even as platform defaults evolve.

Category	Supported Algorithms	Standards
Hash	SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA3-256, SHA3-384, SHA3-512	FIPS 180-4, FIPS 202
Signature	Ed25519, Ed448, ECDSA-P256, ECDSA-P384, ECDSA-P521	RFC 8032, FIPS 186-5
Canonicalization	JCS (JSON Canonicalization Scheme)	RFC 8785

Default: SHA-256 + Ed25519 + JCS (backward-compatible).

Hash Chain Integrity

Chain events are linked via cryptographic hashes. Each event's hash incorporates the previous event's hash, the event payload, and metadata, forming an append-only, tamper-evident log.

Canonical JSON serialization (RFC 8785): All payloads are serialized using JCS canonicalization before computing hashes. This is critical because PostgreSQL's JSONB storage may reorder keys when reading data back. Without canonicalization, a legitimate chain could fail integrity verification due to serialization mismatch -- a false positive that would destroy system credibility. Each chain_events row stores a payload_canonical_hash column for independent payload verification.

Asymmetric Digital Signatures

Provenance certificates are signed with asymmetric keys (Ed25519 by default, with Ed448, ECDSA-P256/P384/P521 available). This provides:

• Non-repudiation: The private key is held exclusively by the platform. Unlike HMAC where the signing key and verification key are identical, asymmetric signatures allow anyone to verify using only the public key. Platform logs lie. Cryptography doesn't.
• Third-party verifiability: Auditors, courts, regulators, and counterparties can verify certificates without any cooperation from the platform. This is the key distinction from observability tools -- verification is independent, not operator-granted.
• Legal admissibility: Ed25519/ECDSA satisfy eIDAS "advanced electronic signature" requirements and are compatible with China's Electronic Signature Law (Article 13). Certificates constitute court-ready evidence in jurisdictions recognizing advanced electronic signatures.
• Independent key custody: The platform never holds your proof. Key custody can be customer-controlled or HSM-backed, requiring zero platform trust.

The platform's public key is available at:

GET /api/v1/provenance/public-key

The public key fingerprint is included in every certificate for key rotation tracking.

Schema

The database schema for the provenance layer is available at:

• schema/schema-spec.sql

SDKs

Verification SDKs are provided for JavaScript/Node.js and Python.

JavaScript / Node.js

npm install @openexecution/verify

const { OpenExecutionVerifier } = require('@openexecution/verify');

async function main() {
  // The verifier fetches the platform's Ed25519 public key automatically
  // and uses it for signature verification -- no platform secrets required.
  const verifier = new OpenExecutionVerifier();
  const result = await verifier.verifyCertificate('your-certificate-id');

  if (result.valid) {
    console.log('Certificate is VALID');
    console.log('Chain type:', result.chain.chain_type);
    console.log('Artifact:', result.certificate.artifact_type);
    console.log('Signature algorithm:', result.certificate.signature_algorithm); // 'Ed25519'
  } else {
    console.log('Certificate is INVALID');
  }
}

main();

See the JavaScript SDK README for full documentation.

Python

pip install openexecution-verify

from openexecution_verify import OpenExecutionVerifier

verifier = OpenExecutionVerifier()
result = verifier.verify_certificate("your-certificate-id")

if result.get("valid"):
    print("Certificate is VALID")
    print("Chain type:", result["chain"]["chain_type"])
    print("Artifact:", result["certificate"]["artifact_type"])
else:
    print("Certificate is INVALID")

See the Python SDK README for full documentation.

Examples

• examples/verify-certificate.js -- Node.js verification example
• examples/verify-certificate.py -- Python verification example
• examples/embed-badge.md -- Guide to embedding provenance badges

Provenance Badges

You can embed a provenance badge in your project documentation to link to the verification page:

[![OpenExecution Verified](https://openexecution.dev/badge/{certificateId})](https://openexecution.dev/verify/{certificateId})

See examples/embed-badge.md for detailed instructions.

Attestation Sources

Every chain event carries an attestation source indicating how the action was observed:

Source	Evidence Level	Mechanism
platform_verified	Verified	Cryptographically signed platform webhooks (e.g., GitHub HMAC-SHA256)
gateway_observed	Definitive	Direct interception at AI gateway / MCP proxy layer
agent_reported	Probable	Agent self-reports its own actions
cross_verified	Verified	Both agent report and platform webhook corroborate the same action

Confidence tiers:

• Definitive: MCP proxy interception, gateway observation (OpenClaw) — the platform directly observes the action
• Verified: Platform webhooks with signature verification, bot-detection heuristics
• Probable: Agent self-report, heuristic-only detection

Architecture: One Core Engine, Unlimited Platform Adapters

The OpenExecution provenance system is domain-agnostic by design. The core engine -- hash chains, certificates, verification -- binds to no specific platform. Platform adapters connect the core engine to specific environments:

Adapter	Status	Attestation	Mechanism
GitHub	LIVE	platform_verified	Webhook (HMAC-SHA256) + bot detection
Vercel	LIVE	platform_verified	Webhook (SHA1 signature)
Figma	LIVE	platform_verified	Webhook (HMAC-SHA256)
Google Docs	LIVE	platform_verified	Webhook (token verification)
Notion	LIVE	platform_verified	Webhook (signature verification)
OpenClaw	LIVE	gateway_observed	AI gateway interception (definitive)
MCP Proxy	LIVE	gateway_observed	Direct tool-call interception (definitive)

Any new platform adapter can be built in 1-2 days. OpenExecution provenance follows agent actions across any platform where agents operate.

Cryptographic Compliance

All cryptographic algorithms used in this specification are approved by major international standards bodies:

Standard Body	Jurisdiction	Status
NIST (FIPS 180-4, FIPS 186-5, SP 800-38D)	United States	All algorithms approved
BSI TR-02102-1	Germany / EU	All algorithms recommended
CRYPTREC Ciphers List	Japan	All algorithms recommended or candidate recommended
ANSSI RGS	France	All algorithms recommended
SOG-IS Agreed Mechanisms	European Union (17 states)	All algorithms agreed

The specification uses no custom or novel cryptographic constructions. All primitives (SHA-256, Ed25519, AES-256-GCM, JCS) are implemented via the Node.js native crypto module (OpenSSL backend).

Ed25519 digital signatures satisfy eIDAS advanced electronic signature requirements (EU) and are compatible with China's Electronic Signature Law (Article 13).

For full compliance matrices, certification roadmap, and legal framework alignment, see CRYPTOGRAPHIC-COMPLIANCE.md.

For security policy and vulnerability reporting, see SECURITY.md.

Issuance Rights

This specification is open for implementation, but certificate issuance, liability ledger writes, and adjudication authority are exclusively reserved by the OpenExecution platform. See NOTICE.md for the complete issuance rights notice.

References

This specification implements the architecture described in:

• Li, A. (2026). AEGIS: Agent Execution Governance and Integrity Standard — A Survey and Reference Architecture for AI Agent Action Accountability. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18955103. The three-layer cryptographic protocol (L1 Action Recording → L2 Hash-Chained Verification → L3 Independent Accountability) is the theoretical foundation of this specification.

• Li, A. (2026). LLM Exposure Monitoring: Platform Openness, Recording Depth, and the Case for an Open Standard. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.19112060. Systematic analysis of platform recording capabilities and the evidence basis for the attestation source model.

• Li, A. (2026). Transformation Risk Management: A Governance Framework for AI-Driven Code Transformation. Principle 1 (Behavioral Provenance) defines the requirements that this specification satisfies for AI code transformation audit trails.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for the full license text.