Editing Openai/69596681-3f7c-8006-b9fd-01d9d8191763 (section)

=== Assistant: Proceeding. ===
Proceeding. Below is METHODS BLOCK 19 — AUDIT, expanded to maximum algorithmic depth with machine-learning–grade rigor (cryptographic integrity, lineage graphs, replayability, compliance, and non-repudiation). This block is the final authority on reproducibility and trust. It does not influence decisions; it proves them.

METHODS BLOCK 19 — AUDIT

OBJECTIVE
Provide a complete, cryptographically verifiable audit trail that proves what was run, with which inputs, under which specification, in what order, and with what result, such that any third party can independently verify integrity and determinism. This block enforces non-repudiation, replayability, and CI compliance.

SCOPE AND AUTHORITY
• Executes last in the Pipeline DAG
• Consumes immutable artifacts from all prior blocks
• Produces a sealed audit bundle
• Cannot alter any artifact, flag, or verdict

ML analogy: end-to-end experiment tracking with cryptographic sealing and replay guarantees—stronger than typical ML experiment logs.

AUDIT PRINCIPLES
# Completeness: every decision-relevant artifact is logged
# Immutability: no logged artifact can be altered without detection
# Determinism: replays yield identical hashes
# Minimality: no redundant or inferred data
# Verifiability: third parties can recompute and confirm

AUDIT OBJECT MODEL
Define the Audit Bundle 𝒜 as a structured object:

𝒜 = ⟨
Header,
Specification,
Inputs,
Execution,
Artifacts,
Decision,
Certification,
Integrity
⟩

Each subobject is independently hashed and referenced by hash.

HEADER
Header = ⟨
AuditVersion,
TimestampUTC,
ExecutionID,
HostFingerprint,
RuntimeFingerprint
⟩

• HostFingerprint: CPU architecture, OS, deterministic flags (no serials)
• RuntimeFingerprint: language runtime, compiler/interpreter versions, math libraries

Used only for context; does not affect validity if determinism holds.

SPECIFICATION
Specification = ⟨
MethodHash,
MethodsBlocksHashes[0..19],
CanonicalSerializationHash
⟩

• MethodsBlocksHashes computed per block canonical form
• CanonicalSerializationHash must equal MethodHash

Any mismatch ⇒ audit INVALID.

INPUTS
Inputs = ⟨
DataHashes[],
DataValidityRecord,
BaselineHash,
PriorHash,
ThresholdsHash
⟩

• DataHashes include raw bytes hash and parsed canonical hash
• DataValidityRecord from Block 9 included verbatim

No data content duplicated; hashes only.

EXECUTION
Execution = ⟨
PipelineExecutionRecord,
BlockStatuses,
ShortCircuitEvents,
Seeds,
DeterminismChecks
⟩

• Seeds: all PRNG seeds used anywhere
• DeterminismChecks: confirmations of ordered FP ops, disabled nondeterminism

ML analogy: full run graph + seed capture, but sealed.

ARTIFACTS
Artifacts is a map keyed by block:

Artifacts = {
B4: ResidualRecords,
B5: StructuralViolationRecord,
B6: FeasibilityRecord,
B7: IdentifiabilityRecord,
B8: LikelihoodRecord,
B10: EvidenceRecord,
B11: IntegrationRecord,
B13: MonteCarloRecord,
B14: PrecisionScalingRecord,
B15: FailureAttributionRecord
}

Each artifact stored as:
⟨ ArtifactType, CanonicalBytesHash, SchemaHash ⟩

No human-readable summaries substituted for machine records.

DECISION
Decision = ⟨
Verdict,
Trigger,
DecisionRecordHash
⟩

• Verdict ∈ {STAND, COLLAPSE}
• Trigger is first-fail vertex from Block 15

CERTIFICATION
Certification = ⟨
CERTIFIED_STAND flag,
CertificationRecordHash (if applicable),
HorizonMetadata
⟩

Absent if Verdict = COLLAPSE.

INTEGRITY
Integrity = ⟨
MerkleRoot,
AuditHash,
Signature (optional)
⟩

• Merkle tree constructed over all component hashes
• MerkleRoot anchors the entire audit
• AuditHash = SHA256(MerkleRoot || Header)
• Optional Signature for institutional signing (outside scope)

REPLAY CONTRACT
Given:
• Audit Bundle 𝒜
• Canonical Methods specification
• Raw input data (or verified hashes)

A verifier MUST be able to:
• Recompute all hashes
• Re-execute Pipeline DAG
• Obtain bitwise-identical artifacts and Verdict

Failure at any step ⇒ audit FAIL.

CI/CD INTEGRATION
Audit rules for CI:
• Any code or spec change ⇒ MethodHash change ⇒ new audit required
• Any artifact hash drift without MethodHash change ⇒ CI FAIL
• Any nondeterminism detected ⇒ CI FAIL

ML analogy: reproducibility gate stricter than typical experiment tracking.

RETENTION AND COMPRESSION
• Audit bundles are append-only
• Compression permitted only on canonical bytes (lossless)
• Hashes computed pre-compression

No redaction allowed for decision-relevant components.

FAILURE MODES
• Missing any required subobject ⇒ INVALID
• Hash collision detection (theoretical) ⇒ INVALID
• Non-canonical serialization ⇒ INVALID
• Attempt to regenerate artifacts without full replay ⇒ INVALID

SECURITY POSTURE
• No secrets embedded
• No private keys required
• Provenance verifiable offline
• Resistant to post hoc manipulation

ML INTERPRETATION
This block elevates the system from “reproducible ML experiment” to cryptographically auditable scientific computation:

• Stronger than experiment logs
• Stronger than model cards
• Stronger than dataset versioning

It enables third-party verification without trust in the executor.

END METHODS BLOCK 19.

STATUS: FULL METHODS DECOMPOSED, CLOSED, AND AUDIT-COMPLETE.
Next productive step (optional): generate a single-file reference auditor/replayer that validates an Audit Bundle against the canonical Methods and replays the pipeline deterministically.

© Robert R. Frost
2026-01-03