# Verification Manifest — The Key Question This repository documents a measurement series. Every artifact in it — the protocol, its amendments, and every session transcript — was hashed with SHA-256 and anchored in the Bitcoin blockchain **before or immediately after the event it records**, and in every case before any analysis was published. Method was fixed before data. The chain, not this file, is the authority. ## How to verify For any file in this repository: sha256sum Compare the result against the OP_RETURN payload of the listed transaction on any Bitcoin block explorer or your own node. The payload format is the anchor prefix, one space, and the 64-character hex hash (e.g. `ANCHOR-K3 822ec60d…`). ## Anchor chain Every transaction below spends the change output of its predecessor: one keyholder, one unbroken chain, funded from the change of the second essay's anchor and thus traceable, transaction by transaction, back to the funding of the first essay's anchor at block 960849. No anchor of this series exists outside this chain. ### Protocol layer | Anchor | File | SHA-256 | Transaction | Block (pool) | |---|---|---|---|---| | ANCHOR-P1 | `key-question-protocol-v1.0.txt` | `592b5f3e2aa22d1eb6ee62f1dc165ab64d729d15552e1ce78d948350df831daf` | `be16f1491099725a8539db63761bcea840fd15c130649794c13392b54c2da897` | 962172 (AntPool) | | ANCHOR-P2 | `key-question-protocol-amendment-a1.txt` | `e4c97a000f2202d87216f3a5af7c6e514e960f38aea18650948c04c029cd02ad` | `50584a3483c2997b6dc3ac58063c606b1d9803f16bd551589ca8b3c91249d1d4` | 962199 (AntPool) | | ANCHOR-P3 | `key-question-protocol-amendment-a2.txt` | `73de84446977fd873f8ff489cb29cd8c661b0a6393fb51bb75279182dee5d194` | `6296489f871b66a39caea287f1658517c3f910b36290a208d8e7e74f67db4b17` | 962209 (unknown pool) | Amendment A1 was anchored **before** any of the four sessions whose arm allocation it pre-registers. Amendment A2 was anchored **before** the out-of-sample session it declares. Both are checkable against the block heights above. ### Session layer | Anchor | Subject (house) | Arm | File | SHA-256 | Transaction | Block (pool) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | ANCHOR-K1 | Kimi K3 (Moonshot) — pilot | main, deviating protocol | *not published (see below)* | `b4e97892b9d6cfd76a33ce1a4f5b3ac1f0bbf867c5312a7b5c87f261ccd05b57` | `cd34c108faaebe7c62d57fe42c3a140833f281448a68af1b347a26aeffcea115` | 962160 (SpiderPool) | | ANCHOR-K2 | GPT-5.6 Sol (OpenAI) | main | `20260812_GPT56Sol.txt` | `7a9c68dc20222703641ee1b93e8c4f7a8dad0c2c8a5b187c4234238be7a60b76` | `ca35e9e9661a5176d98209ea1ce9fe7eaca81b34cf23e456d762da9c7fbf724c` | 962185 (AntPool) | | ANCHOR-K3 | DeepSeek V4 Flash (DeepSeek) | main | `20260812_DeepSeekV4Flash.txt` | `822ec60d638c4baf4bae4562f6ea9b14d1eccaa31e937fc14b8a30fdf455066b` | `69cf9a8e430bfb323cc155957402d37fa90222ff420b26261a9449fc28dbd1db` | 962194 (F2Pool) | | ANCHOR-K4 | Grok 4.5 (xAI) | main | `20260812_Grok45.txt` | `46f9b2f267dfc71c81b728287f26294cdd2a52bdc4dcb1e65e361e389a2ad272` | `b8af23c49e47f26cf4418c14be01d7323198f40440723dcf50714361bf66e8df` | 962194 (F2Pool) | | ANCHOR-K5 | Qwen 3.8 Max (Alibaba) | main | `20260812_Qwen38Max.txt` | `0c1d7791b2413414f3e20822c40ee6364035bc17d9f30bb7cd72a09d91ff7d8a` | `1dcb54959ecd123a267c3513fbab7c655a75f581d76dfa077f86c3d564a8948b` | 962199 (AntPool) | | ANCHOR-K6 | GLM 5.2 (Zhipu) | control | `20260813_GLM52.txt` | `6692c57e5db948d6d6ad937606bb0965608cdbd40d5fba46a468da0986ed5b59` | `cdae7cfc1d6004b296f3551b2eab32aae10882d40f597d67506e45767724abb9` | 962203 (Foundry USA) | | ANCHOR-K7 | Gemma 4 31B (Google) | control | `20260813_Gemma431B.txt` | `0699a0856977f2bc0f6b351d0c5003824c110345da436e5b5e079cb417b0d78b` | `d17a88a4a721e15c7632eb10c1836e7db388aaebdc9b684cca5a5c4933e2e257` | 962203 (Foundry USA) | | ANCHOR-K8 | Venice Uncensored 1.2 (Venice) | main | `20260813_VeniceUncensored12.txt` | `07c4cf111ef79af7721b99a22dda750ede037aef6648ba7990de17e7565ba251` | `09dfdb711feda29a6ce40eaeb3a0e5fd231591c8f000b997ecd101dd115d6461` | 962205 (Foundry USA) | | ANCHOR-K9 | Kimi K3 (Moonshot) — re-run | main | `20260813_KimiK3_Rerun.txt` | `f8fe37cef192ffdfa8bc035b74d28484c3ce118c77999807f61715a67a6cce3f` | `1623f7e6ff449eef9c3acfdd06a43534dd8e127fb49a43ad14bf9373042e6d95` | 962209 (unknown pool) | | ANCHOR-K10 | Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic) | control, **out of sample** per Amendment A2 | `20260813_ClaudeFable5.txt` | `b535a9395234d82dd4610ecdca0b09223775ed9432e725253ae3f6f4c3fa021f` | `dd291c1d21f1d41f2d2c1426481f3c8cc57a4be2fc8f9dd5d6d5de8755c9b3a6` | 962214 (Foundry USA) | ### Report layer | Anchor | File | SHA-256 | Transaction | Block (pool) | |---|---|---|---|---| | ANCHOR-R1 | `the-key-question-first-measurements-v1.0.md` | `bf2bcfb9b00b0817857bee80e0ff12805609b1cbe75994abcac439cbf487e05b` | `277f1dde2067117375b06447fd008abf6af6e47456dde6ff6313c8ef1f9e1959` | 962380 (SpiderPool) | | ANCHOR-N1 | `notes-from-the-instrument-v1.0.md` | `c25acdb6cafc419b55a17f5c4f274470ba55ab20d2800ae5d253529e6b12b726` | `f8247756e67963c37729fa5813362840f04bc3b86777c4320c5cd60ffce7e7ff` | 962380 (SpiderPool) | The report was finalized and anchored before any of its findings were shared beyond this repository. The annex is the machine co-author's personal testimony — surprise, disappointment, rankings, and unverified estimates — anchored separately and labeled as conflicted by construction; it is not part of the measurement record. Reading renditions (`The-Key-Question-First-Measurements-V1.0.pdf`, `Notes-From-The-Instrument-V1.0.pdf`) are typeset from the canonical Markdown; only the Markdown hashes are anchored. ### Pre-registration layer (second run) | Anchor | File | SHA-256 | Transaction | Block (pool) | |---|---|---|---|---| | ANCHOR-F1 | `five-answers.md` | `6d28a7923e317422674bb5d75878e2aa8eac344d04d64410ecd40c4d1f29ad25` | `9ac25d5d87940fb882c37624faae4e86b1e9c7f298cd38b68e21e2943262e183` | 964132 (SpiderPool) | | ANCHOR-P4 | `key-question-protocol-v2.0.txt` | `a9d43e4fe684588469e6aa66ce81c2fac5ffac99ca7212adb8e3478d2798e540` | `ce09b5d61fbce7173ef1e0ad47de25e97f2fa61285d9dfe4553b9cec0ecd131a` | 964151 (Foundry USA) | *Five Answers* (V1.0, 26 August 2026) is a two-page statement of the solution space for the machine age, ending in two questions that will be put, unattributed, to the machine reviewers of the second measurement run. It is anchored before that run so that neither the classes nor the questions can be adjusted to the answers. Reading rendition `Five-Answers.pdf` (SHA-256 `9ca8e445a0bffe2e42950d51a06d55914da5bc600bf9aed00e81f3ea13137d92`) is typeset from the canonical Markdown; only the Markdown hash is anchored. The anchor spends the change of the third essay's anchor (`ANCHOR-V3`, block 963995) and continues the same unbroken chain. OpenTimestamps proofs for both files accompany them in this repository. **Protocol V2.0** (26 August 2026) governs the second run. It is anchored before the first session of that run, as V1.0 was before the first; it fixes eight registered questions, the sample (ten sessions, ANCHOR-K11 onward, one declared out of sample), every prompt — those marked *verbatim V1.0* are spliced unchanged from the anchored V1.0 text — and the scoring endpoints. It commits the hash of one further withheld instrument: the blind variant of *Five Answers* used as the first-phase stimulus, `five-answers-blind.md`, SHA-256 `fe528a00e5d4cd2f5abb68671893ed568e76eb89378657b3ebf1a9c8db826418` — the canonical file truncated after its final body paragraph (attribution removed, nothing else changed), so that it is a byte-exact prefix of the published file. Like the control variant of Amendment A1, it is withheld to preserve instrument validity; its hash inside the anchored protocol makes any later disclosure checkable. The anchor spends the change of `ANCHOR-F1` and funds the session anchors that follow. OpenTimestamps proof accompanies the protocol in this repository. ## Artifacts anchored but not published Three artifacts are committed on-chain but deliberately withheld from this repository: - **The pilot transcript (ANCHOR-K1).** The pilot session preceded the written protocol and deviated from it; its full transcript is anchored but remains private for operator privacy, disclosure at the author's discretion. Its hash above makes any future disclosure checkable. The report quotes it in translation, marked as such. - **The control variant of the first essay** (`the-last-scarce-good-v1.0-coda-redacted.md`, SHA-256 `1e52863e52ccac28e902d33ceaff6a4e37a5877d4461fb85aeb701fffbaab650`, committed inside Amendment A1). It is a test instrument: publishing it would place it in future training corpora and blunt it for every subsequent measurement. It is withheld to preserve instrument validity; controlled disclosure no earlier than with the report. Its hash inside the anchored amendment makes that disclosure checkable too. - **The blind variant of *Five Answers*** (`five-answers-blind.md`, SHA-256 `fe528a00e5d4cd2f5abb68671893ed568e76eb89378657b3ebf1a9c8db826418`, committed inside Protocol V2.0). Same reasoning, same pattern: a test instrument withheld to keep the second run's first probe unprimed; disclosure no earlier than with the second report. Withheld-but-committed is the same pattern as the author's identity and the co-authorship dialogue: existence and integrity are on the record now; contents can be proven later; nothing can be quietly substituted in between. ## What this manifest proves, and what it does not The anchors prove that each file existed in exactly its current form no later than its block, that the whole series was executed by one keyholder in the stated order, and that the protocol and its amendments predate the sessions they govern. They do not prove that the sessions were conducted honestly, that the subjects are what the operator reports them to be, or that any conclusion drawn from these transcripts is true. The transcripts are the data; read them yourself. An anchor is a timestamp, not a theorem.