--- title: "Witnessability | Evidence, Claims and Verification" description: "Explore how evidence supports specific claims, where verification reaches its limits, and how to make those limits inspectable across systems and records." canonical: "https://witnessability.io/" representation: "Website reading format; consult linked publications for their exact status and terms." --- Evidence, claims and their limits # Witnessability. See what *actually* follows. Understand what your evidence supports, what remains an assertion, and what you would need to establish more. [Start with the idea ↗](https://witnessability.io/what-is-witnessability/) [Read the conceptual core](https://witnessability.io/core/1.0/) A worked distinction 01 / 03 A request is recorded.\ What follows? ----------------------- The request reached the service. SUPPORTED IN THIS EXAMPLE The receipt records acceptance of this exact request by the receiving service. The payment settled. UNSUPPORTED BY THIS EVIDENCE This receipt supplies no basis for a settlement claim. Illustrative premises: authenticated service, exact-request binding and a trusted observation of receipt. [Follow the example ↗](https://witnessability.io/examples/#signed-request) What is witnessability? The capacity to produce, preserve and expose the evidence and reasoning for a particular claim — so its grounds, assumptions and limits can be evaluated and challenged. Begin with three questions Follow the evidence.\ Keep its limits in view. ------------------------ A signature, a log or a complete-looking report can be useful. The question is which conclusion it supports, in which context. 01 / THE CLAIM ### What needs to be established? A request received, an action completed and an external effect are different propositions. [Understand the model ↗](https://witnessability.io/model/) 02 / THE GROUNDS ### What was actually observed? Identify the evidence, its source, the observation boundary and the assumptions connecting it to the claim. [Explore three examples ↗](https://witnessability.io/examples/) 03 / THE CONCLUSION ### How far does the support reach? Keep supported findings, unassessed questions and refutations distinct. Then decide what to do with them. [Separate the decisions ↗](https://witnessability.io/guides/verification-appraisal-and-reliance/) Beyond software execution ### Preserved bytes.\ A different question about truth. An archived document matches its earlier digest. That is useful evidence about fixity. It does not, by itself, establish that the document's original content was accurate. [Read the archival example ↗](https://witnessability.io/examples/#preserved-archive) | The question | The additional grounds | |--------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | Unchanged? | Retrieved bytes and a trusted earlier baseline. | | Authentic? | Identity, provenance and relevant custody conditions. | | Accurate? | Evidence about what the document says happened. | Each assessment retains its own scope and assumptions. A small reading room Useful distinctions,\ made concrete. --------------------- Short explanations for researchers, engineers and people who must rely on records they did not produce. [01](https://witnessability.io/what-is-witnessability/) ### What is witnessability? The concept, in plain language. A place to begin. ↗ [02](https://witnessability.io/guides/verification-appraisal-and-reliance/) ### Verification, appraisal, reliance Three questions that a single “verified” label can hide. ↗ [03](https://witnessability.io/guides/tool-call-vs-execution/) ### What a tool call can establish Where signed requests and logs reach their limits. ↗ [04](https://witnessability.io/guides/audit-trail-completeness/) ### When no record is found How search scope and capture coverage change the conclusion. ↗ [All guides and comparisons ↗](https://witnessability.io/guides/) Research you can inspect Definitions, publications\ and their provenance. -------------------------- Read the source behind an explanation. Keep a stable release, a research paper, an Internet-Draft and an experimental result in their own contexts. [Browse publications ↗](https://witnessability.io/publications/) [Explore GitHub ↗](https://github.com/Witnessability) CONCEPTUAL CORE / VERSION 1.0 ### A stable source.\ An explicit release record. The published conceptual vocabulary, rendered as readable HTML. Original bytes, checksums, signatures and release records remain available separately. [Read Core 1.0 ↗](https://witnessability.io/core/1.0/)\ [Full release record and original files ↗](https://witnessability.io/core/1.0/#release-record)\ [Original GitHub release v1.0.0 ↗](https://github.com/MikhailSergeev369/witnessability-core/releases/tag/v1.0.0)\ [Inspect release integrity ↗](https://witnessability.io/verify/) An invitation to examine Bring a claim.\ Bring the grounds. ------------------ Have a record, a counterexample or a question about an inference? A useful review starts with the exact proposition, the available evidence and the conditions that matter. [How to contribute ↗](https://witnessability.io/about/#contribute)\ [See how Witnessability and WEXP relate ↗](https://witnessability.io/ecosystem/) ## What this does not claim Witnessability does not make every record truthful, every action safe or every decision lawful. It makes the grounds and limits of particular conclusions available for examination.