Reference
The open specifications of the discipline
A discipline becomes infrastructure when its claims are written precisely enough for someone else to implement them. These ten specifications state what an authority is, how a stranger recognizes who issued it, and how one exact action is proven legitimate by the system it would change.
They are published openly, with test vectors, at github.com/nomos-spec/spec. NOMOS is one implementation. Specifications marked Draft stay Draft until an implementation by someone other than the authors reproduces their verdicts.
Authority artifacts
How is an institution's authority written down so a machine can execute it?
NOMOS-SPEC-001
Activev2.1.0
The sealed authority artifact: definitions, decisions, conflict resolution, data contract, canonical JSON and the seal.
DefinesAuthority ArtifactDeterministic ExecutionCanonical EncodingEscalation
NOMOS-SPEC-002
Activev1.2.0
An agents manifest, guard phases and a constraints language for authority shared among several agents.
NOMOS-SPEC-003
Activev1.3.1
When an artifact and its rules apply, how staleness is signalled, and deterministic replay of past decisions.
DefinesPolicy Versioning
NOMOS-SPEC-004
Activev1.4.0
Artifacts that extend a shared base, and detached co-signatures by regulators or auditors over one exact version.
NOMOS-SPEC-005
Draftv1.5.0
Keyless queries against a published authority, answered with a permanent transcript.
Trust
How does a stranger recognize who issued it, and who may state facts or approve under it?
NOMOS-SPEC-006
Activev1.6.0
The issuer withdrawing one sealed version: detached signed statements and a signed revocation list.
NOMOS-SPEC-007
Draftv1.7.0
Key certificates and scope, target-first resolution to a pinned root, key and certificate revocation, freshness staples.
DefinesKey CertificatePinned RootScopeTarget-First ResolutionEffective ScopeStatement KeyRevocation AuthorityFreshness Staple
NOMOS-SPEC-010
Draftv0.2.0
The closed registry of signature suites (Ed25519, ES256, WebAuthn-ES256) and canonical keys.
Acts
How is one exact action proven legitimate where the change lands?
NOMOS-SPEC-008
Draftv0.6.0
The Act: testimony, consents and the binding digest; the authority in force; fact channels and types; three-valued evaluation; the commit rule; receipts.
DefinesActRelying PartyTestimonyConsentBinding DigestFact ChannelThree-Valued EvaluationINCOMPLETECurrency PolicyReceipt
NOMOS-SPEC-009
Draftv0.2.0
Discovery documents as hints, statement and approval requests, the certificates an Act presents, and the HTTP submission binding.
DefinesCertificate ClosureCarrier
How an implementation is checked against these texts is on Conformance. What they do not yet answer is on Open Problems.
Cite this
This is a field in formation; this page will be revised. Cite the version date below, not the day you happen to be reading this.
Suggested citation
SafeHaven (2026). Specifications. Computable Authority, version of 2026-10-28. https://www.computableauthority.com/specifications
BibTeX
@misc{computableauthority-specifications,
author = {SafeHaven},
title = {Specifications},
howpublished = {Computable Authority},
year = {2026},
note = {Version of 2026-10-28},
url = {https://www.computableauthority.com/specifications},
}