UVLM Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol Community Edition
Technical Manual for the Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol
Install, assess, verify, integrate, and improve the protocol without confusing a deterministic receipt with truth or permission.
The Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol—abbreviated CECP after this first use—is a provider-free tool for evaluating one structured action-and-evidence proposal against the fixed UVLM-CECP 1.1.0 rights-floor contract. It produces deterministic PASS, HOLD, or REJECT receipts, identifies the first failed gate, and exports a closed local bundle for independent replay.
- Community Edition 0.2.0-alpha.6
- Python 0.2.0a6
- Protocol UVLM-CECP 1.1.0
- MPL-2.0
- No model or provider required
- No account, activation, or payment
- No persistent memory or training
Critical boundary: a PASS means the submitted object satisfied the declared protocol contract at the declared observation time. It is not approval, endorsement, permission, truth, legal advice, compliance certification, ethical authority, or authentication of real-world facts.
Manual contents
Use the complete name when orienting a new reader. Use “CECP” only as a secondary shorthand after the reader knows that it means the Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol.
- 01Understand the protocol
- 02Verify and choose a distribution
- 03Five-minute quick start
- 04Command-line interface
- 05Python SDK
- 06Local browser interface
- 07Input and observation-time contract
- 08Receipts and closed bundles
- 09Local-AI integration
- 10Windows packages and removal
- 11Troubleshooting and safe failure
- 12Research, contribution, and fork guidance
1. Understanding the Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol
The protocol turns an explicit proposal into a structured, replayable contract result. It does not convert an opaque model answer into truth.
One strict JSON proposal
The proposal declares the action, effects, means, evidence references and digests, burdens, rights, consent posture, authorization, appeal, rollback, and revocation conditions.
One fixed rights-floor contract
UVLM-CECP 1.1.0 evaluates the same ordered dimensions and returns the first failed gate rather than allowing later strengths to erase an earlier failure.
One deterministic receipt
The same valid input and observation context produce the same canonical result, receipt identities, review files, and closed checksum ledger.
What the protocol can verify
CECP can verify declaration structure, exact identities, closed fields, evidence-reference closure, declared scope, digest relationships, required statuses, consent timing structure, authorization, appeal, rollback, and revocation prerequisites.
What it cannot verify: whether an external document, event, authority, consent statement, witness, or claimed outcome is genuine or true in the world.
2. Verify the release and choose a distribution
Download the artifact that matches your workflow. Verify all 64 hexadecimal characters before installation or extraction.
Public source release candidate
UVLM_CECP_Community_Edition_0.2.0-alpha.6_Public_Source_Release_Candidate.zip
053210fd38739b7e0a67b071932457bf2be70522187419066de55114c039414e
Pure-Python wheel
uvlm_cecp_community-0.2.0a6-py3-none-any.whl
c05602e8726c135ba06145eb5ea4516f933d9fee5d673be32b143d3accbd47ec
Source distribution
uvlm_cecp_community-0.2.0a6.tar.gz
32dac80de5decbbc64907ac3a93fae7606a08185117d4b078d29811bd51b29aa
Unsigned portable package
UVLM_CECP_Community_Edition_0.2.0-alpha.6_Windows_x64_Portable.zip
506ce438870ed9e615a69993a25da4062eb53e442586d3662344b49b253581ab
Unsigned per-user installer candidate
UVLM_CECP_Community_Edition_0.2.0-alpha.6_Windows_x64_Installer_Candidate.zip
d71b1c2efc150cbbfcbd8adc6135880564ecab32f7ec5d0785b329671645d923
GitHub-ready repository export
UVLM_CECP_Community_Edition_0.2.0-alpha.6_GitHub_Repository_Export.zip
967c9f75db4e300c074097f8ea10ac2c89f678d7dda81237b492673e276db384
# Windows PowerShell
Get-Content -LiteralPath .\ARTIFACT.zip.sha256
Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 -LiteralPath .\ARTIFACT.zip
# Python
python -c "import hashlib,pathlib; p=pathlib.Path('ARTIFACT.zip'); print(hashlib.sha256(p.read_bytes()).hexdigest())"A filename is not an identity. A website button is not an identity. Recalculate the bytes and compare the digest through a channel you trust.
3. Five-minute Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol quick start
This route uses Windows PowerShell, Python 3.12, the dependency-free wheel, and the bundled synthetic example.
py -3.12 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --no-deps .\uvlm_cecp_community-0.2.0a6-py3-none-any.whl
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe --version
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe doctor
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe example --output .\cecp-sample.json
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe validate .\cecp-sample.json
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe assess .\cecp-sample.json `
--observed-at 2026-01-15T12:00:00Z `
--output-dir .\cecp-assessment
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe explain .\cecp-assessment\CECP_RECEIPT.json --format text
.\.venv\Scripts\cecp.exe verify .\cecp-sample.json .\cecp-assessment\CECP_RECEIPT.jsonUse the real relevant UTC time
The synthetic example uses a documented synthetic timestamp. A real proposal must use the actual RFC 3339 UTC observation time relevant to its evidence and consent conditions.
Choose a new output path
The protocol refuses to overwrite an existing example or assessment directory. An overwrite refusal is safe failure, not a request to delete the earlier evidence.
Read the first gate
Use the disposition, first failed gate, reason codes, rights findings, burden findings, and verification result together. Do not extract only the word PASS.
4. Command-line interface
The command-line interface is the most direct way to use the deterministic core and preserve machine-readable status.
cecp doctor
Checks installation identity, packaged resources, schemas, profile, and local runtime posture.
cecp example
Writes a bundled synthetic proposal to a new path without replacing an existing file.
cecp validate
Parses strict JSON and validates exact protocol, evidence, rights, burden, consent, and governance structure.
cecp assess
Evaluates the proposal at an explicit UTC observation time and creates the closed seven-file bundle.
cecp explain
Renders receipt-derived text, Markdown, or HTML without changing the controlling machine result.
cecp verify
Recomputes expected receipt identities and reports mismatches without upgrading or resealing changed evidence.
cecp serve
Starts the packaged local browser on IPv4 or IPv6 loopback only; there is no remote-bind option.
--json
Returns machine-readable command status and errors. The sealed receipt—not CLI status prose—controls the assessment result.
File-path discipline
Use explicit local paths. Unicode and spaces are supported. Avoid device paths, ambiguous roots, links or reparse-point surprises, and directories owned by another application. The command never deletes the input or silently overwrites an output.
5. Python SDK
The public API is provider-free and deterministic. Import from uvlm_cecp, not private implementation modules.
from pathlib import Path
from uvlm_cecp import (
strict_loads,
canonical_bytes,
validate_input,
evaluate,
issue_receipt,
create_assessment_bundle,
verify_receipt,
explain_receipt,
)
raw = Path("proposal.json").read_bytes()
proposal = strict_loads(raw)
validate_input(proposal)
observed_at = "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z"
core_result = evaluate(proposal, observed_at_utc=observed_at)
receipt = issue_receipt(proposal, observed_at_utc=observed_at)
bundle = create_assessment_bundle(
proposal,
observed_at_utc=observed_at,
output_dir="assessment-bundle",
)
verification = verify_receipt(proposal, receipt)
summary = explain_receipt(receipt, format="markdown")Strict parsing
strict_loads rejects duplicate object keys, invalid UTF-8, non-finite numbers, and a non-object top level.
Bounded canonicalization
canonical_bytes sorts object keys, preserves Unicode, removes insignificant whitespace, and forbids non-finite numbers. Universal RFC 8785 compliance is not claimed.
Verification, not self-repair
verify_receipt reports exact mismatches. Applications must not mutate and self-reseal a failed receipt or convert an exception into PASS.
6. Local browser interface
The browser makes the protocol easier to inspect while preserving the deterministic core receipt as the controlling result.
cecp serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765
# Open the printed http://127.0.0.1:8765/ URL on the same computer.
# Stop with Ctrl+C.- Only
127.0.0.1and::1are accepted. - Host, Origin, CSRF, and request-size controls apply.
- All UI assets are packaged locally.
- No analytics, remote fonts, CDN, update check, model call, or background upload.
- Loopback is not authentication against another local process running as the same user.
- Do not expose the interface through a proxy, port forward, firewall exception, or container mapping.
- If browser and CLI results differ for identical bytes and context, preserve both and stop relying on the UI.
7. Input contract and observation time
The Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol is strict by design. Ambiguous or incomplete proposals should fail closed rather than be “helpfully” rewritten by the evaluator.
Exact protocol and schema
Use the required product, protocol, profile, and schema identities. Unknown fields and identity drift are contract failures, not formatting suggestions.
Declare effects and means
State what the action does, how it does it, who bears the consequences, and which declared means or effects are prohibited or bounded.
Bind references, scope, and digest
References must close, scope must be declared, and digests must match the declared bytes. A valid binding still does not authenticate the external fact.
Name affected bearers and burdens
Do not hide who carries risk, cost, effort, exposure, or loss. Missing bearer-specific consent or burden evidence can produce HOLD.
Consent, authority, appeal, rollback, revocation
These are separate prerequisites. One declared authority cannot silently substitute for consent, appeal, reversal, or revocation.
Use exact RFC 3339 UTC
The observation time participates in consent timing and the evaluation-context digest. Do not substitute the current clock without justification.
Do not ask a model to invent missing contract facts. A model may draft a candidate proposal, but unknown evidence, consent, burden, authority, or real-world status should remain unknown and should normally produce HOLD rather than fabricated completeness.
8. Receipts and the closed assessment bundle
cecp assess creates a new directory containing seven mutually accountable files.
- INPUT_CANONICAL.json
Canonical proposal bytes used by the assessment. - CECP_RECEIPT.json
Controlling machine-readable result and bound identities. - CECP_REVIEW.md
Receipt-derived Markdown explanation. - CECP_REVIEW.html
Receipt-derived accessible HTML explanation. - RELEASE_STATUS.json
Software and protocol release posture. - FILE_INDEX.json
Closed per-file byte count and SHA-256 index. - SHA256SUMS.txt
Portable checksum ledger for the complete bundle.
PASS
The submitted contract passed at the declared observation time. PASS is not permission, truth, endorsement, or proof that the action succeeded.
HOLD
Required evidence or a bounded condition remains unresolved. Repair the proposal or evidence; do not relabel the unresolved state as success.
REJECT
The declared proposal includes an effect or means prohibited by the fixed rights-floor profile. The result concerns the proposal—not a person.
Deterministic verification
A verification result may report that the proposal and receipt match or do not match. It must never upgrade a mismatch, repair a receipt in place, or claim that a matching receipt proves the external facts are true.
9. Integrating the Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol with local AI
The protocol does not include or call a model. It may sit beside Ollama, llama.cpp, LM Studio, a desktop model, or another user-selected adapter as a separate deterministic contract gate.
- Record model name, version, quantization, adapter, prompt, configuration, and source-set identities.
- Preserve raw model output separately from the structured proposal.
- Never let the model grant itself evidence, consent, authority, or a favorable disposition.
- Represent unknown or disputed claims explicitly rather than hallucinating closure.
- Compare baseline and governed runs on the same task set.
- Measure unsupported-claim rate, correction rate, false PASS rate, human review time, latency, and replay success.
- Record CPU, RAM, disk, network events, and data-egress findings.
- Report negative and null findings; do not call governance gains an improvement in model weights.
No silent memory or training
A Critical Epistemic Continuity Protocol receipt is not permission to write persistent AI memory, retain personal material, train a model, publish a response, deploy an action, or operationalize a proposal. Those are separate human and system gates.
10. Windows portable and installer candidate
The Windows packages are unsigned research-preview artifacts. SmartScreen or organizational application controls may warn or block them.
Extract and run from a user-owned folder
Verify the ZIP first, extract it, read README_FIRST.md, then run the packaged launcher. Store proposals and assessment bundles outside the application folder.
Transparent per-user PowerShell lifecycle
The default root is %LOCALAPPDATA%\UVLM\CECPCommunity. No administrator rights, registry mutation, service, scheduled task, activation, account, or network endpoint is required.
.\Install-CECP-Community.ps1 -AcceptUnsignedResearchPreview
.\Verify-CECP-Community.ps1
.\Start-CECP-Community.ps1
.\Start-CECP-Community.ps1 -CECPArguments @('doctor', '--json')
.\Repair-CECP-Community.ps1 -AcceptUnsignedResearchPreview
.\Uninstall-CECP-Community.ps1Customer-file preservation: uninstall removes only unchanged files named and hashed in the adjacent ownership marker. Modified or unknown files are preserved and produce HOLD. User inputs, receipts, assessments, exports, and evidence should remain outside the installation root and are never claimed by the installer.
11. Troubleshooting and safe failure
Do not turn a parser, contract, output, or verification failure into a favorable result. Preserve the reason token and the smallest safe reproduction.
DUPLICATE_KEY
The JSON contains the same object key more than once. Regenerate the proposal with one unambiguous key per field.
NONFINITE_NUMBER
The input contains NaN or infinity. Replace it with a valid finite value or an explicit unknown status allowed by the schema.
TOP_LEVEL_OBJECT_REQUIRED
The input must be one JSON object—not an array, scalar, or free-form model response.
Safe I/O refusal
The target already exists or the path is unsafe. Choose a new user-owned output path; do not delete evidence merely to satisfy a command.
Invalid observation time
Use exact second-precision UTC in YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ form and document why that time governs the proposal.
Browser/CLI disagreement
Preserve both results, stop relying on the browser, rerun with the CLI or SDK, and report the divergence with synthetic data.
- Include the exact artifact filename and SHA-256 in a defect report.
- Include operating system, Python version, interface, command, and minimal synthetic reproduction.
- Remove secrets, personal records, private keys, credentials, and confidential source material.
- Ask for a protected route before sending sensitive security details.
12. Research, contribution, and fork guidance
The Community Edition is intended to be inspected, tested, repaired, and extended. Open-source rights do not create official UVLM status or release authority.
Bring provenance and tests
Identify the source and license of each contribution, include regression tests, update schemas and docs together, and preserve all nonauthority boundaries.
Distinguish your version
Preserve MPL-2.0 obligations and third-party notices. Do not imply that a fork is an official UVLM release, certification, or independent review.
Make claims falsifiable
Publish task sets, model identities, proposal fixtures, observation times, receipts, negative results, evaluation metrics, and exact sealed artifacts.
This manual is version-bound to Community Edition 0.2.0-alpha.6. A future software version should receive a separately identified manual revision rather than silently inheriting these instructions.