68e057209c
Lock alpha scope, tracker auth, TOPLOC fraud verification, and deferred multi-tracker money-path work; supersede legacy fraud issues with ADR-0018. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
53 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# ADR-0016: Alpha scope and known limitations
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## Status: Accepted
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## Context
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Pre-release audits found the routing layer is solid (ADR-0013) but the money and trust paths are not alpha-ready: unauthenticated gossip, free starting credit, node-reported accounting, ephemeral strike/ban state, and plaintext tracker HTTP undermine release. The owner locked an **alpha scope** that ships real inference and devnet settlement while explicitly deferring multi-tracker trustlessness and cryptographic verification.
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## Decisions
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### 1. Single settlement tracker
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One operator-designated tracker holds the treasury keypair and runs the settlement loop (ADR-0015). Third-party trackers may join the hive for routing and state replication but **never** sign payouts. Raft elects a leader for shard-assignment commands only; settlement leadership is operator-configured, not democratic.
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### 2. Open node join
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Any wallet may register a node without invite, stake deposit, or hardware attestation. Anti-sybil cost comes from probation (first N jobs unpaid), carried-forward reputation, and fraud penalties — not from closed admission.
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### 3. Devnet mock-USDT
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Development and alpha target **Solana devnet** with a self-created mock-USDT SPL mint (ADR-0015). Mainnet USDT is a config change, not an architecture change. TAI settlement (ADR-0002) remains deferred; the 10% protocol cut accumulates as future TAI liquidity.
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### 4. Reputation carries forward
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Strike count, ban status, graduated reputation, and audit history **persist across tracker restarts** and are intended to survive alpha → mainnet cutover. A banned operator cannot evade penalties by restarting the tracker or re-registering under a fresh node id with the same wallet.
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### 5. Known alpha limitations (explicit, not bugs)
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| Limitation | Alpha posture | Post-alpha path |
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|---|---|---|
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| Tracker is trusted referee for audits and blame | Acceptable — see ADR-0018 | Decentralized verifier market; Verde-style on-chain games |
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| Plaintext HTTP on tracker/node paths | Acceptable on LAN/dev; relay TLS only (ADR-0010 amended) | Full TLS + cert pinning per ADR-0010 intent |
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| Unauthenticated gossip replication | **Blocker** — fix before alpha (ADR-0017) | HMAC/mTLS between hive members |
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| zkML / GPU TEE verification | Roadmap-only | ADR-0018 §9; re-evaluate yearly |
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| Multi-tracker money-path safety | Design now (ADR-0019), implement later | Consensus-gated settlement, idempotent payouts |
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| Bitwise output equality across GPUs | Not required — logit/activation tolerance (TOPLOC) | Optional Gensyn RepOps tier for referee |
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### 6. Fraud must be bounded
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Because reputation carries forward, correctness fraud (bad outputs) and accounting fraud (inflated tokens/shard spans) must be **economically irrational** at the locked ~5% audit budget. Detection, blame, and penalty design are ADR-0018; implementation is Bucket 1 in `.scratch/alpha-hardening/`.
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## Consequences
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- Alpha release criteria are Bucket 1 blockers in `.scratch/alpha-hardening/README.md`, not "all 35 user stories done."
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- Documentation and runbooks must state trust assumptions plainly — custodial treasury, trusted tracker, devnet funds.
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- Bucket 2 (multi-tracker) issues are tracked but not alpha-blocking.
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## Related
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- Supersedes the spirit of prototype-only trust in ADR-0003 for production alpha behavior — see ADR-0018.
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- Settlement mechanics: ADR-0015.
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- Research grounding: `.scratch/alpha-hardening/research-verifiable-inference.md`.
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