Appendix E

Constitutional Ledger Specification

This appendix defines a portable ledger model for recording governed execution. The ledger provides an immutable history of consequential decisions and the metadata required for replay, verification, and audit.

The ledger records what happened. Replay explains how it happened.

1. Objectives

Append-only event recording.
Deterministic replay support.
Integrity verification.
Traceability between decision and consequence.
Implementation-independent data model.

2. Minimum Record Schema

Field	Description	Required
event_id	Globally unique event identifier.	Yes
timestamp	Execution timestamp.	Yes
request_id	Request correlation identifier.	Yes
decision	GO, DENY, PAUSE, ESCALATE or OVERRIDE.	Yes
authority_id	Authority reference.	Yes
policy_version	Policy applied during evaluation.	Yes
evidence_refs	Evidence identifiers.	Yes
previous_hash	Integrity link to prior record or equivalent mechanism.	Recommended
record_hash	Integrity value for this record.	Recommended

3. Example JSON

{
  "event_id": "EV-2026-000001",
  "request_id": "REQ-91A7",
  "decision": "GO",
  "authority_id": "AUTH-002",
  "policy_version": "1.2.0",
  "evidence_refs": ["EVD-101","EVD-102"],
  "timestamp": "2026-07-18T10:30:00Z",
  "previous_hash": "...",
  "record_hash": "..."
}

4. Integrity Rules

Ledger entries MUST remain immutable after commitment.
Records SHOULD preserve chronological ordering.
Integrity metadata SHOULD enable independent verification.
Missing or altered records SHOULD be detectable.

5. Replay Metadata

Element	Purpose
Replay ID	Groups events into replay sessions.
Sequence Number	Maintains event ordering.
Projection Version	Identifies generated read models.
Runtime Version	Identifies implementation revision.

6. Conformance Requirements

Every executed consequence MUST generate one ledger record.
Every ledger record MUST reference the governing decision.
Replay SHOULD reconstruct state from ledger contents alone.
Historical records MUST remain readable after software upgrades.

Appendix Summary

The Constitutional Ledger Specification defines a stable persistence model for governed execution. It provides the foundation for audit, replay, interoperability, and long-term operational accountability.

Next: Appendix F — Replay & Verification Specification.

Engineering Evidence

Evidence and verification layer

This document forms part of the CEI publication record. Supporting evidence is organized through the engineering-evidence archive, specifications, architecture documentation and replay verification materials.

Evidence methodology Repository landscape CEI specification Replay verification Architecture map

Document: CEI_Book_Appendix_E_Constitutional_Ledger_Specification.html
Edition: First Public Edition
Version: 1.1