P64 — AIEP — Web Publishing CLI Interface Specification
Publication Date: 2026-02-26 Status: Open Source Prior Art Disclosure Licence: Apache License 2.0 Author/Organisation: Phatfella Ltd Schema: AIEP_OS_SPEC_TEMPLATE v1.0.1 — https://aiep.dev/schemas/aiep-os-spec-template/v1.0.1
Field of the Invention
[0001] The disclosure relates to command-line tooling for deterministic web content publication.
[0002] More particularly, the disclosure concerns a command-line interface specification for publishing, validating, and managing AIEP-compliant machine mirror pages, manifests, and site indexes, with deterministic output and fail-closed validation behaviour.
Framework Context
[0003] This invention operates within an Architected Instruction and Evidence Protocol (AIEP) environment as defined in United Kingdom patent application number GB2519711.2, filed 20 November 2025, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0004] The present invention extends deterministic canonicalisation, governance, and execution integrity mechanisms defined in the AIEP environment while remaining independently implementable as described herein.
Background
[0005] Publishers of AIEP-compliant machine mirror pages require tooling to generate, validate, and publish mirror pages, manifests, and indexes in a reproducible and verifiable manner.
[0006] CLI tooling for web publishing commonly produces non-deterministic output, does not enforce schema validation as a build gate, and does not provide explicit PASS/FAIL status codes suitable for integration into deterministic build pipelines.
[0007] Existing systems do not provide:
(a) a standardised CLI command set covering publication, validation, manifest generation, and index generation for AIEP web artefacts; (b) deterministic CLI output for identical inputs; (c) explicit PASS/FAIL validation status on stdout; or (d) non-zero exit codes on validation failure enabling fail-closed integration into build pipelines.
Summary of the Disclosure
[0011] A web publishing CLI interface specification is disclosed defining four core commands and their required behaviour.
[0012] The four core commands are:
(a) aiep publish — generate and publish machine mirror pages for all source pages;
(b) aiep validate — validate all mirror pages, manifests, and indexes against schema;
(c) aiep manifest — generate or update the well-known manifest at /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json; and
(d) aiep index — generate or update the machine-ingestible site index at /.well-known/aiep-index.json.
[0013] All commands must produce deterministic output for identical inputs.
[0014] aiep validate must output explicit validation status as PASS or FAIL on stdout.
[0015] All commands must exit with a non-zero exit code upon validation failure, enabling fail-closed integration into build and deployment pipelines.
[0016] A CLIRunHash is computed as:
CLIRunHash = H(CommandId || InputHash || SchemaVersionId || Timestamp)
[0017] The technical effect is provision of a deterministic, fail-closed CLI toolchain enabling reproducible publication and validation of AIEP-compliant web artefacts in automated build pipelines.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0018] Figure 1 illustrates the four core CLI commands and their primary inputs and outputs.
[0019] Figure 2 illustrates the validation pipeline and PASS/FAIL output behaviour.
[0020] Figure 3 illustrates non-zero exit code integration in a build pipeline.
[0021] Figure 4 illustrates CLIRunHash computation for audit and replay.
ASCII Drawings
Figure 1 — Core CLI Commands
aiep publish
Input: source pages
Output: mirror pages (.aiep.json)
Effect: generate and publish all mirrors
aiep validate
Input: mirror pages, manifest, index
Output: PASS / FAIL (stdout)
Effect: schema validation of all artefacts
aiep manifest
Input: schema versions, index path
Output: /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json
Effect: generate / update well-known manifest
aiep index
Input: all mirror endpoints + content hashes
Output: /.well-known/aiep-index.json
Effect: generate / update site index
Figure 2 — Validation Pipeline and PASS/FAIL Output
aiep validate
|
v
+------------------+
| Validate each |
| mirror page vs. |
| schema |
+--------+---------+
|
+--------+---------+
| Validate manifest|
| vs. schema |
+--------+---------+
|
+--------+---------+
| Validate index |
| vs. schema |
+--------+---------+
|
+------+------+
All Pass Any Fail
| |
v v
PASS (stdout) FAIL (stdout)
exit 0 exit non-zero
Figure 3 — Non-Zero Exit Code in Build Pipeline
Build Pipeline Step
|
v
aiep validate
|
v
+-----+-----+
| exit 0? |
+-----+-----+
| |
Yes No
| |
v v
Continue HALT build
pipeline Fail-closed
Figure 4 — CLIRunHash Computation
CommandId ----+
InputHash ----+--> H(CommandId || InputHash ||
SchemaVersionId----+ SchemaVersionId || Timestamp)
Timestamp ----+
|
v
+--------------------+
| CLIRunHash |
| (audit + replay) |
+--------------------+
Detailed Description
1. Core Commands
[0022] The CLI specification defines four required commands:
(a) aiep publish: generates machine mirror pages conforming to P60 for all source pages and publishes them to declared endpoints;
(b) aiep validate: validates all mirror pages, the well-known manifest, and the site index against their declared schemas;
(c) aiep manifest: generates or updates /.well-known/aiep-manifest.json conforming to P61; and
(d) aiep index: generates or updates /.well-known/aiep-index.json conforming to P62.
2. Deterministic Output
[0023] All commands must produce deterministic output for identical inputs under identical schema versions. Non-deterministic output is a specification violation.
3. Validation Status and Exit Codes
[0024] aiep validate must output PASS or FAIL explicitly on stdout upon completion.
[0025] All commands must exit with a non-zero exit code upon any validation failure, enabling fail-closed integration into automated build and deployment pipelines.
4. CLIRunHash
[0026] A CLIRunHash is computed as H(CommandId || InputHash || SchemaVersionId || Timestamp) and may be recorded for audit and replay purposes.
Claims
-
A web publishing CLI interface specification comprising: (a) four core commands:
aiep publish,aiep validate,aiep manifest, andaiep index, each with defined inputs, outputs, and effects on AIEP web artefacts; (b) a requirement that all commands produce deterministic output for identical inputs; (c) a requirement thataiep validateoutput explicitPASSorFAILstatus on stdout; and (d) a requirement that all commands exit with a non-zero exit code upon validation failure, enabling fail-closed build pipeline integration. -
The specification of claim 1 wherein a CLIRunHash computed as H(CommandId || InputHash || SchemaVersionId || Timestamp) is recorded for audit and replay.
-
A computing system implementing CLI tooling conforming to the specification of any of claims 1 to 2.
-
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed, implement CLI tooling conforming to the specification of any of claims 1 to 2.
Licence
Any person is granted a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to make, use, implement, modify, or distribute any system or method described in this disclosure for any purpose, without restriction, under the Apache License 2.0.
A copy of the Apache License 2.0 is available at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Abstract
A web publishing CLI interface specification is disclosed defining four core commands for AIEP-compliant web artefact management: aiep publish, aiep validate, aiep manifest, and aiep index. All commands produce deterministic output for identical inputs. aiep validate outputs explicit PASS/FAIL status on stdout. All commands exit with a non-zero exit code on validation failure enabling fail-closed build pipeline integration. A CLIRunHash computed as H(CommandId || InputHash || SchemaVersionId || Timestamp) supports audit and replay. The specification enables reproducible deterministic publication and validation of AIEP-compliant machine mirror pages, manifests, and site indexes.