Historical note on the pre-rebuild Alpha 5 experiment with signed events, hash-only anchors, and Railgun linkage. It does not describe the current build.
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What changed
Operational events are represented through canonical JSON hashes and Ed25519 signatures before any optional public anchor is considered.
Anchors retain hashes rather than private payloads, while payment linkage records carry acceptance hashes, nullifiers, and commitments.
The same event trail connects approvals, contracts, milestones, change orders, invoices, payment requests, and receipts without making the chain the primary data store.
Local records remain authoritative
Contracts, milestones, approvals, change orders, invoices, payment requests, and receipts remain application records. The proof layer derives canonical event representations from that state; it does not move the operational database onto a public chain.
Each event can be serialized deterministically, hashed, and signed before an external anchor is considered. That order gives the local workflow a verifiable history without making ordinary operation depend on public settlement infrastructure.
Disclosure is separated by layer
Private payloads, signatures, hash anchors, and payment linkage are treated as separate objects. A public anchor can retain a digest without publishing the contract, property record, evidence file, or household identity behind it.
The payment record links milestone acceptance to settlement through commitments and nullifiers. That establishes continuity between an approved unit of work and a private transfer while avoiding a plaintext payment history.
Verification follows the workflow
The useful claim is not merely that an event was signed. The trail has to preserve order across relationship, contract, milestone evidence, acceptance, payment request, settlement linkage, and receipt.
This makes failure boundaries visible: an unsigned event, a mismatched acceptance hash, or an absent linkage record cannot be presented as a completed verified payment flow. The interface can remain usable while showing exactly which proof stage is missing.
Engineering note
This architecture belongs to the archived pre-rebuild branch. The current application uses a Next.js interface, Go API, PostgreSQL, private attachments, and scoped contractor invitations; live payment-provider integration remains unfinished.
Provenance
This note is based on verified source from the archived pre-rebuild branch at commit fafa17d. It is retained as engineering history and does not describe the current product.