GOVERNANCE STACK

ETHRAEON Constitutional AI Governance

ΔSUM 4.0 — T5-RIGID

1. T5-RIGID Model

ETHRAEON operates at the highest governance tier: T5-RIGID. This is not a configuration option—it is an architectural constraint embedded at every layer of the system.

Rule	Principle	Enforcement
1. FAIL-CLOSED	When in doubt, do nothing	Default-deny at every gate; uncertain inputs produce no output
2. EVIDENCE-REQUIRED	Every change is traceable	SHA-256 hash chain; no action completes without evidence record
3. NO FABRICATION	Real data only	Validator rejects mock/fake patterns; unknowns marked HOLD
4. NO DOWNGRADING	Values only increase	IP status, valuations, authority levels are append-only upward
5. APPEND-ONLY	Never delete canonical records	Promotion-only policy; retirement by pointer, not deletion

2. Seven-Layer Architecture

Layer	Name	Responsibility	Artifacts
1	Constitutional	Immutable governance principles	CONSTITUTION.md, T5 rules
2	Policy	Operational governance policies	PROMOTION_ONLY.yaml, authority matrix
3	Directive	Append-only command chain	700+ sealed directives, TraceLock
4	Runtime	Execution governance	PRAXIS-1 7-Gate Pipeline
5	Evidence	Audit trail infrastructure	Evidence Store v0.2, hash chains
6	Audit	Integrity verification	Chain verification, seal validation
7	Surface	Production deployment	343 verified surfaces, EUDS v2.1

Each layer enforces constraints on the layers below it. The constitutional layer is immutable—no directive, runtime action, or deployment can override T5-RIGID rules.

3. Fail-Closed Operational Model

ETHRAEON's default state is denial. Every action must be explicitly authorized through the governance stack before execution. This is the opposite of permissive architectures where actions succeed unless explicitly denied.

Fail-closed means: If any gate in the 7-Gate Pipeline cannot make a determination, the action is rejected. No fallback to best-guess. No silent continuation. The system stops and reports.

4. Evidence-Mandatory Audit Trail

Every action in the ETHRAEON system produces an evidence record before it is considered complete. The Evidence Store v0.2 maintains a SHA-256 hash chain where each record links to its predecessor, creating a tamper-evident history.

Evidence records include: agent ID, action type, input hash, output hash, timestamp, predecessor hash
Chain integrity is verified at startup and can be verified on demand
Dual backend: PostgreSQL (production) + JSONL (fallback/air-gapped)

5. Directive Chain Integrity

The directive chain is ETHRAEON's operational backbone. 700+ directives have been sealed in an append-only chain where each directive references its predecessor by commit hash.

Chain structure: Each directive produces a main commit (work) and a seal commit (verification). The seal includes the predecessor's commit hash, creating an unbroken chain from directive 0001 to the present.

TraceLock: SHA-256 sealed records that timestamp and hash-lock governance state transitions. Cannot be retroactively modified without breaking the chain.

6. ASI Containment Posture

ETHRAEON's governance architecture is designed for a world where ASI-capable systems operate. Containment is not a feature—it is the architecture:

Capability tokens define what each agent can do—not what it cannot
Separation of duties prevents any agent from self-authorizing
Constitutional override (AC-1) can halt any process immediately
Evidence-mandatory ensures ASI actions are traceable and auditable
Fail-closed prevents capability escalation through uncertainty exploitation