Specification
AIEP is intentionally practical. It does not require new transport layers, new browsers, or new proprietary infrastructure. It uses a simple idea — publish machine-readable knowledge artefacts alongside human-readable pages — and it anchors that publication in a small set of stable, well-known endpoints.
The specification is organised around: canonical primitives, artefact types, protocol fields, discovery endpoints, schemas, ledger provenance, and truthful certification claims.
Canonical primitives (R1-R8)
These eight primitives are the foundation of every AIEP artefact and interaction. No artefact is valid unless all applicable primitives are satisfied. They are defined in the core patent GB2519711.2.
| Primitive | Identifier | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Instruction object | R1 | A structured record of intent: fields intention, parameters, context, safetyEnvelope, protocolVersion, divergenceGraph |
| Evidence anchor | R2 | A hash-bound reference to one or more evidence items that justified the instruction |
| Canonical hash | R3 | SHA3-512(canonicalize(artefact_body)) — deterministic, encoding-independent content fingerprint |
| Normalisation profile | R4 | Declared normalisation rules applied before hashing: locale, numeric precision, date format, encoding |
| Issuer DID | R5 | A decentralised identifier resolving to a registry-linked, non-revoked issuer record |
| GoalVector | R6 | A commitment to a specific intended outcome, expressed as measurable success criteria, stabilised before execution |
| DivergenceGraph | R7 | A directed graph of divergence nodes; records where evidence conflicts, gaps exist, or interpretations split |
| Protocol version | R8 | Semantic version string binding the artefact to a specific protocol schema generation |
An artefact that omits or invalids any primitive applicable to its type is rejected at the protocol boundary. There is no partial validity.
Artefact type registry
AIEP defines a set of artefact types, each with a required subset of primitives and a schema reference.
| Type | Required primitives | Schema | Patent |
|---|---|---|---|
InstructionArtefact | R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R8 | instruction.schema.json | GB2519711.2 |
EvidenceArtefact | R2, R3, R4, R5, R8 | evidence.schema.json | GB2519711.2 |
GoalArtefact | R1, R3, R5, R6, R8 | goal.schema.json | P50, P72 |
DivergenceRecord | R1, R3, R5, R7, R8 | divergence.schema.json | P16, P37 |
NormalisationManifest | R3, R4, R5, R8 | normalisation.schema.json | P10, P17 |
ComplianceCertificate | R1, R2, R3, R5, R6, R8 | compliance.schema.json | P92, P93 |
AuditRecord | R1, R2, R3, R5, R8 | audit.schema.json | P28, P80 |
SwarmConsensusRecord | R1, R3, R5, R6, R7, R8 | swarm.schema.json | P90, P95-P103 |
All schemas are published at /.well-known/aiep/schemas/.
Protocol fields: instruction object
Every AIEP instruction is expressed as a structured object. The fields below are canonical (GB2519711.2 R1):
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
intention | string | yes | Plain-language statement of intent |
parameters | object | yes | Structured parameters governing execution |
context | object | yes | Evidential context at time of instruction |
safetyEnvelope | object | yes | Constraints the execution must not violate |
protocolVersion | semver | yes | AIEP protocol version this instruction targets |
divergenceGraph | DivergenceGraph | yes | Directed graph of known divergences at instruction time |
goalVectorRef | string | yes | Reference to the committed GoalVector (R6) |
evidenceAnchors | EvidenceAnchor[] | yes | One or more hash-bound evidence references (R2) |
normalisationProfileRef | string | conditional | Required if numeric or date fields are present |
issuerDID | string | yes | Issuer DID (R5) — must resolve in registry |
canonicalHash | string | yes | Computed last, over all other fields (R3) |
Protocol fields: GoalVector
Defined in P50. A GoalVector commits the system to a measurable intended outcome before execution begins.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
goalId | string | Unique identifier for this goal commitment |
intendedOutcome | string | Measurable description of the desired end state |
successCriteria | Criterion[] | Ordered list of verifiable conditions |
stabilisationRound | integer | Round at which goal was locked (P50 stabilisation cycle) |
divergenceThreshold | float | Maximum permitted divergence before goal is invalidated |
evidenceWeight | float | Weight of supporting evidence at time of commitment |
expiresAt | ISO8601 | Timestamp after which goal must be recommitted |
Protocol fields: DivergenceRecord
Defined in P16, P37. A DivergenceRecord is emitted whenever the protocol detects a gap, conflict, or interpretation split.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
divergenceId | string | Unique identifier |
divergenceType | enum | EVIDENTIAL, TEMPORAL, INTERPRETIVE, BRANCH |
detectionOperator | enum | One of D1-D9 (defined in GB2519711.2) |
affectedArtefacts | string[] | IDs of artefacts involved in the divergence |
gapArtefact | GapArtefact | Created when a temporal gap is detected (P16) |
dissentForkRef | string | If divergence exceeded threshold, reference to dissent fork |
timestamp | ISO8601 | When divergence was detected |
resolved | boolean | Whether a reconciliation record exists |
Discovery: how a machine finds AIEP on a site
AIEP discovery uses the widely recognised .well-known convention. A compliant site publishes:
/.well-known/aiep/index.json — the map of available AIEP surfaces
/.well-known/aiep/metadata.json — the publisher’s identity and intent declaration
Together they tell a machine what the publisher is offering, what policies apply, and where to find schemas, ledgers, and download indexes.
Metadata: what a publisher declares
The metadata file includes the publisher’s identity, open-use declaration, and — if applicable — a certification claim. If a certification claim is present, it must include all required certificate fields. A claim without evidence is treated as false by any conformant validator.
Schemas: deterministic validation
All AIEP schemas are JSON Schemas served from /.well-known/aiep/schemas/. Consumers validate artefacts against the declared schema before relying on them. Schema versions are pinned per artefact via the protocolVersion field (R8).
The Innovation Ledger: provenance without hype
The Innovation Ledger records concept provenance and publication history. One idea = one Markdown file. Commit = publish. A ledger entry may be fully public or a public summary over NDA-gated details; in the latter case a sealed hash is published so the existence of a record is provable without disclosing its contents.
Certification: what it means and why it exists
AIEP certification is not a gate to adoption. It exists to preserve the meaning of “AIEP Certified.” Certification claims must be fail-closed and machine-checkable. A system can implement AIEP and publish Mirror endpoints without certification.
Compliance: verify claims, not adoption
Compliance in AIEP is deliberately narrow. The compliance surface exists to identify false certification claims, misuse of certification marks, and redistribution of NDA-restricted materials. It is not an adoption gate.
Machine entry point
If you want the canonical machine view of this specification, start at:
/.well-known/aiep/index.json
That file is the protocol’s practical entry point.
Constitutional Substrate → · Evidence Normalisation → · Divergence → · GENOME SDK → · Swarm →
Reference
Protocol
Core protocol rules, canonical primitives R1–R8, and binding definitions for every term used in the specification.
Glossary
Full term glossary: substrate, artefact, canonical hash, divergence, plausibility, GoalVector, CertificateHash, and 50+ more.
Schema Catalogue
Every canonical schema type with field descriptions, required fields, and validation notes. Machine-readable schemas: /.well-known/aiep/schemas/aiep.canonical.schema.v3.0.0.json