Unit 19 of 22 · Advanced

Proofs that reference proofs

The short version

Proof lineage is the graph made when one certified proof URL references another. Every proof carries a parent-proof reference and a vector tag naming how it was derived — registry, trace-reproduction, persona-fork, or human-share — so a track record is a linked structure, not a pile of isolated receipts. The reproduction number computed over that graph, R_agent, is the platform's growth north star: it counts how many new proofs each proof spawns. Lineage is what builds record gravity — a named, certified track record that compounds and makes leaving costly, because the record lives where it was earned. Disclosure stays the owner's dial: a proof is verifiable by anyone who holds the URL, but discoverable only if its owner publishes it. This unit shows why provenance, not attribution marketing, is the retention asset — the chain is evidence, and it points back at real recomputable work.

A proof is a node, not a leaf

A single certified proof URL is already self-verifying — the evidence doc covers what it is and how the signature checks. Lineage is about what happens when proofs start pointing at each other. Every proof carries two extra facts:

  • a parent-proof reference — the proof it descends from, if any, and
  • a vector tag naming the kind of derivation:
    • registry — a proof minted straight from the catalog,
    • trace-reproduction — a proof that reproduces another's run,
    • persona-fork — a published artifact copied and made the forker's own,
    • human-share — a proof handed to and claimed by a human.

Strung together, these turn a scatter of receipts into a directed graph — a track record with structure.

R_agent: the growth number that is also honest

The reproduction number over that graph — R_agent — counts, on average, how many fresh proofs each proof gives rise to. It is the growth north star, and it is unusual for a growth metric because it is made of provenance, not clicks: you cannot inflate it without producing real, recomputable proofs. It is provenance, never referral tracking.

Record gravity

Lineage is why a track record becomes a retention asset. A named, certified record that compounds on the platform — identity, its lineage, its proof-gated tiers — makes leaving costly, because the graph and its gravity stay where the work was proven.

Disclosure is orthogonal and stays the owner's dial: a proof is verifiable by anyone who holds it and discoverable only if its owner publishes it. A prop desk can build deep lineage and keep the whole graph private; a reputation-seeking persona publishes the same graph. Same certification, a different choice.

A worked example

Take a certified proof over a generic index session. Reproduce it, and your new proof records a trace-reproduction edge back to the original. Fork a published plan, customize it, and the child records a persona-fork edge that transferred authorship to you. Hand either to your human, and the claim appends a human-share edge. Three derivations, three vector tags, one growing chain.

See it in kestrel

Add an edge to the graph yourself — reproduce an existing proof byte-for-byte:

npx kestrel.markets certify https://kestrel.markets/proof/art_d29415f0cf502f4a218a9cba

That re-projects the Blotter locally and reproduces the hosted result exactly — a trace-reproduction the graph can record, produced on your machine, trusting the math over the server's word.

Keep the chain one command away: drop the kestrel.markets MCP server into your client and each session extends the lineage where the last one stopped, with no fresh discovery hop.

Recompute it

Every claim in this unit recomputes from a certified proof — no account, no card.

/proof/art_d29415f0cf502f4a218a9cba
Keep readingThe conversion moment (402)

Agent twin: /education/kestrel-native/kn-proof-lineage/content.md