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The CPCF Mental Model
CPCF is easiest to understand as a system that keeps four layers distinct:
| Layer | Meaning | Does CPCF make it authoritative? |
|---|---|---|
| External record | A mission, lease, certificate, claim, task, or other source-system fact. | No. Its source system retains authority. |
| CPCF object | Immutable bytes and a typed CPCF representation in the content-addressed store. | Only for CPCF's own storage and projection semantics. |
| Evidence evaluation | A bounded check over one immutable snapshot. | It can report the check result, including uncertainty. |
| External effect | An action in another environment. | No. It requires the relevant external authority and, in v0.6, an external-runner receipt. |
This separation prevents a common error: treating a successfully parsed record as proof that the record is true, authorized, accepted by its owner, or sufficient for a scientific conclusion.
A v0.6 analysis uses a declared snapshot that covers the generation, trust policy, trusted time, unit registry, live typed attestations, resource model, catalyst and inhibitor rules, verifier stages, independence/exposure state, coordination state, and trial bindings. The analysis-basis digest identifies the inputs used. Witnesses bind to that basis, which prevents accidental composition of evidence from incompatible snapshots.
The practical question is therefore not simply “did the check pass?” It is “which exact record set was checked, under which trust and time policy, and what did the result cover?”
Each required dimension can be:
-
satisfied— the declared, bounded requirement was established for the immutable snapshot; -
violated— the supplied evidence establishes that the requirement is not met; -
unknown— evidence is insufficient or not admissible for the requirement; or -
unknown_due_to_budget— the declared computation or search limit prevented a conclusion.
Unknown is not a weak form of satisfied. A profile is compatible only when every required dimension is satisfied in the same snapshot.
CPCF can project material from related systems, but the original owner continues to decide what its mission, lease, certificate, claim, or acceptance status means. CPCF's source-of-record map makes this explicit. For example, CCR retains authority over missions and leases, while PIC retains authority over its finite checks and certificates; CPCF can capture and project their materials, not replace their semantic decisions.
Read Evidence and Authority for the verification model and Execution and Legacy Compatibility for the boundary between records and executable effects.