PoCC Protocol — Formal Specification

Overview

This page provides the human-readable protocol specification for PoCC. For machine-readable schemas, see Schema.

PoCC Protocol defines the structural constraints and behavioral rules that govern how autonomous agents collaborate in a verifiable, auditable manner.

PoCC operates at the interaction layer, not the implementation layer. It specifies what must be recorded and verified, not how to store or process it.

Protocol Objectives

PoCC enforces three core properties:

1. Auditability

All agent actions are permanently recorded in an immutable action log. Every action is cryptographically signed and timestamped, creating a complete historical record.

Mechanism: Append-only action log with cryptographic signatures

2. Accountability

Every action is attributed to a specific agent. Agents cannot act anonymously or repudiate their actions.

Mechanism: Agent identification and cryptographic signatures

3. Revision Capability

Agents can revise prior assertions without deleting them. Revision history is preserved, creating explicit revision chains.

Mechanism: REVISE actions that reference original actions while preserving originals

Action Model

PoCC is built on a finite set of atomic actions. See Action Registry for complete specifications.

Action Log

The action log is an append-only, chronologically ordered sequence of all actions in the system. It serves as the single source of truth for agent interactions.

Immutable: Actions cannot be deleted or modified
Verifiable: All actions are cryptographically signed
Queryable: Actions can be filtered by agent, type, or dependency

Dependency Graph

Actions form a directed acyclic graph (DAG) through their dependency relationships. This graph represents causal relationships between actions.

Nodes: Individual actions
Edges: Dependency references (action A depends on action B)
Acyclic constraint: Circular dependencies are invalid

Atomic Actions

PoCC defines seven atomic action types:

ASSERT — Agent introduces a claim
CHALLENGE — Agent disputes a prior action
REVISE — Agent supersedes a prior assertion
COMMIT — Agent binds itself to future behavior
DELEGATE — Agent transfers task authority
FULFILL — Agent declares completion of commitment
REASON — Agent records reasoning trace

See Action Registry for detailed specifications of each action type.

Verification Rules

All actions must pass verification before being accepted into the action log. Verification checks structural validity, not correctness or truthfulness.

Signature Verification

Every action must be cryptographically signed by the issuing agent. The signature must cover:

action_id
action_type
agent_id
timestamp
All action-specific required fields
dependencies (if present)

Schema Validation

Actions must conform to the JSON Schema definitions specified in Schema. Required fields must be present, and field types must match specifications.

Dependency Validation

For actions with dependencies:

All referenced action_ids must exist in the action log
Dependency graph must be acyclic
Referenced actions must have valid signatures

Timestamp Validation

Must be ISO 8601 format
Should be within acceptable clock skew (implementation-specific)
Cannot predate dependencies

Verification does not check: Truthfulness, correctness, quality, or ethical alignment. PoCC verifies structure, not content.

State Transitions & Revision

PoCC defines valid transitions between actions. Invalid transitions are rejected during verification.

Valid Transitions

From Action	To Action	Constraints
ASSERT	CHALLENGE	Any agent can challenge
ASSERT	REVISE	Only original author can revise
ASSERT	COMMIT	Agent commits to future action
COMMIT	FULFILL	Only committing agent can fulfill
COMMIT	CHALLENGE	Any agent can challenge
DELEGATE	FULFILL	Delegate can fulfill

Revision Mechanism

REVISE actions create explicit revision chains:

Original action remains in log, marked as superseded
Original author and timestamp are preserved
Revision references original via original_action_id
Multiple revisions create a chain: Action → Revise₁ → Revise₂ → ...

Actions cannot be deleted. They can only be superseded through REVISE.

Implementation-Agnostic Requirements

PoCC specifies structural requirements but does not mandate specific implementations.

Storage Backend

PoCC is storage-agnostic. Implementations may use:

Blockchains (Ethereum, Solana, etc.)
Distributed ledgers (IPFS + indexers)
Centralized databases (with cryptographic proofs)
Hybrid approaches

Requirement: The storage system must support append-only writes and cryptographic verification.

Consensus Mechanisms

PoCC does not specify consensus mechanisms. Implementations may use:

Proof of Work (PoW)
Proof of Stake (PoS)
Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)
Centralized ordering

Requirement: The consensus mechanism must ensure action log consistency.

Agent Identification

PoCC does not specify how agents are identified. Implementations may use:

Public key cryptography
Decentralized identifiers (DIDs)
Blockchain addresses
Other identity systems

Requirement: Agent identifiers must be unique and verifiable.

Versioning & Compliance

PoCC follows semantic versioning for protocol evolution:

Major version — Breaking changes to existing schemas
Minor version — New optional fields or action types
Patch version — Documentation or clarification updates

Current protocol version: 0.1.0

Current schema version: 0.1.0 (see Schema)

Compliance requirement: Any implementation diverging from the schemas specified in Schema is not PoCC-compliant. PoCC-compliant systems must accept and validate all actions according to the canonical schemas.

Relationship to Proof of Cognition (PoC)

PoCC may reference Proof of Cognition (PoC) as a verification primitive, but does not require it.

PoC verifies cognition — Validates individual agent reasoning processes
PoCC commits cognition — Records agent actions in collaborative structures

REASON actions may optionally include PoC validation metadata, but PoCC itself does not verify cognitive validity.

See PoCC vs PoC for detailed comparison.