Ardyn Evidence Artifacts

What Is an Ardyn Evidence Artifact?

An AEA is a signed, verifiable record that proves:

A governed decision was evaluated by the Axiom Service — with policy, tier, and verdict recorded

The evidence chain is cryptographically signed and chain-linked — tampering is mathematically detectable

Any third party can independently re-derive the verdict offline — no Ardyn contact required

AEAs accumulate over time into trust profiles — trust that compounds, not trust that is assumed

AEA Anatomy

{
  "aea_id": "b63dad6f-358f-...",
  "artifact_type": "AEA",
  "artifact_id": "b63dad6f-358f-...",
  "signatures_valid": true,
  "chain_valid": true,
  "policy_valid": true,
  "ddc_type": "tier_b",
  "entry_hash": "5c1652...",
  "ddc_payload": {
    "kind": "governed_tool_decision",
    "governance_decision": "ALLOW",
    "tool_name": "safe_read",
    "issuer_signature": "0ba02a...",
    "issuer_public_key": "80bac1..."
  }
}

The Ardyn issuer signs the AEA. The Hermes principal signs authorization decisions. The verifier confirms independently — no single key does everything.

What kinds of AEAs does Ardyn produce?

Every signed operational artifact produced by the platform is an AEA. The kind reflects what was verified.

Governance Decision

Produced by the Axiom Service. Records: was this action allowed? Verdict, policy hash, tier — all signed before the tool runs.

Hardware Attestation

Produced by the Verify Service. AMD SEV-SNP hardware proof re-derived to a pinned root — verifiable offline with zero network calls.

Destruction Certificate (DDC)

A specialized AEA subtype reserved for DDC destruction-interlocked execution. Not production-enabled.

How to Verify an AEA

Public Verification

Anyone can verify any AEA. Use POST /v1/verify/artifact with the AEA ID to get full verification status: artifact type, signature validity, chain validity, and policy validity — all independently re-derivable.

Offline Verification

AEAs can be verified without any Ardyn servers. The ardyn-verify tool re-derives entry hashes, verifies signatures against pinned keys, and validates chain integrity — all from the artifact bytes alone. Zero network calls.

What Makes an AEA Trustworthy

Tamper-Evident

Any modification to the AEA or its evidence is mathematically detectable. The hash chain ensures integrity from genesis to the latest entry.

Independently Verifiable

No trust in Ardyn required. AEAs can be verified offline using the entry hash, chain linkage, and pinned issuer keys — all carried in the artifact.

Self-Contained

Every AEA carries every byte needed for re-derivation — no external fetches, no whispered trust. Hardware AEAs embed their certificate chain in the artifact.

Proof You Can Hold