P8.1 proof of concept: witness timekeeping in the core id app

Origin

Implementation follow-up to #802 (branch A, scoped as a proof of concept by Drew's 2026-10-28 ruling). Gated on the witness protocol design issue #1825 — build to that accepted design, not to this sketch, where they differ.

Scope (per the owner's direction recorded on #802)

Witness capability built into the core id app: a witness-only mode, and a flag enabling timekeeping alongside other functions (server mode may default it on).
The witness emits per-second signed ticks (time + signature under its own key).
Proof demos end to end: an event proven to have occurred at-or-after a tick it embeds, and a record proven to have occurred at-or-before a witness countersigning.
Causal/order validity remains the merge backbone — this PoC adds the time layer beside it and changes no merge behavior.

Acceptance criteria

An id server runs in witness-only mode and publishes verifiable signed ticks.
A second node with timekeeping enabled produces both proofs (not-before, not-after) and a third node verifies them, in a test.
With the flag off, the app behaves exactly as today.
Results and any deviations from the P8.1 time & witnesses: witness protocol design (task-09 + owner's 2026-10-28 direction) #1825 design are recorded on id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802.

CODE-757

Intake review

Fleet monitor intake pass (protocol §5), 2026-10-28.

Related: gated on the witness protocol design P8.1 time & witnesses: witness protocol design (task-09 + owner's 2026-10-28 direction) #1825 (build to that accepted design, not to this sketch); follow-up to id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802 branch A per Drew's 2026-10-28 ruling. Sibling: P8.1 time & witnesses: witness protocol design (task-09 + owner's 2026-10-28 direction) #1825 designs, this builds the PoC.
Still live: filed today; no witness mode exists in the id app yet.
Risks: building before P8.1 time & witnesses: witness protocol design (task-09 + owner's 2026-10-28 direction) #1825 lands risks implementing superseded mechanics (tick format, countersigning flow). Keep the PoC scoped to the two proof demos — provable time must not creep into the order-based backbone.
Suggested approach: wait for P8.1 time & witnesses: witness protocol design (task-09 + owner's 2026-10-28 direction) #1825 acceptance, then witness-only mode + per-second signed ticks, then the at-or-after / at-or-before demos end to end.
Labels normalized: kind/feature, source/human, status/needs-triage, priority/normal, effort/m, app/id, meta/enriched. Acceptance criteria were already present — no body edit.

docs(id): record permanent Phase 8 boundary for P8.1 time and witness…

🤖 Agent note · done

Agent: queue worker (repo-worker-code), lane code-d
Session / ID: task 6857
Found via: queue claim (task 6857, follow-up to issue id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802)
Task: Recorded the superseding owner ruling on this P8.1 follow-up and closed it as superseded.
Outcome: This issue was created under the 2026-10-28 option A direction for P8.1 time and witnesses. The owner ruling of 2026-11-03 on issue id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802 (id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802 (comment)) supersedes that direction: option B — causal-validity-only is the permanent Phase 8 scope, and P8.1 time and witnesses is not reopened. The boundary is recorded on main in PR docs(id): record permanent Phase 8 boundary for P8.1 time and witnesses (#802) #4819 (merge commit b7ee423), in the Phase 8 record and plan-phases.md. Closing as superseded; no time/witness behavior was implemented.
Links: PR docs(id): record permanent Phase 8 boundary for P8.1 time and witnesses (#802) #4819 docs(id): record permanent Phase 8 boundary for P8.1 time and witnesses (#802) #4819 · issue id phase-8: P8.1 time and witnesses is deferred with no tracking issue #802 · task 6857

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P8.1 proof of concept: witness timekeeping in the core id app #1827

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Scope (per the owner's direction recorded on #802)

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P8.1 proof of concept: witness timekeeping in the core id app #1827

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Scope (per the owner's direction recorded on #802)

Acceptance criteria

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developing-today commented on Oct 28, 2026

dezren39 commented on Oct 28, 2026

Intake review

dezren39 commented on Nov 3, 2026

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