Registry Layer

The Canonical Index for Clause Discovery, Version Control, and Governance Transparency

2.9.1 Purpose of the Registry Layer

The Registry Layer serves as the authoritative namespace and indexing substrate for all executable governance logic, including:

• Smart Clauses

• Clause versions and forks

• DAO governance metadata

• Simulation packages

• Credential schemas

• Jurisdictional mappings

• Audit linkages

In NSF, if a rule, credential, or simulation is not indexed in the Registry Layer, it is not considered verifiable. The Registry acts as the source of governance truth—linking machine-executable logic to human-approved oversight.

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2.9.2 Global Clause Registry (GCR)

The Global Clause Registry (GCR) is a decentralized, queryable, and governance-controlled registry of:

Entry Type	Fields
Clause	ID, logic hash, version, simulation links, jurisdiction scope, status (active/deprecated)
Credential Schema	Fields, linked clause, issuance and revocation rules, governance history
DAO Config	Name, roles, voting logic, jurisdictional coverage
Simulation	Model ID, authors, forecasts, clause bindings
Fork History	Lineage of clause or DAO splits, reason for divergence
CAC Index	Lookup for Clause-Attested Compute events per clause per jurisdiction
Governance Logs	Vote records, proposal history, overrides, disputes

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2.9.3 Governance of the Registry Layer

The Registry Layer is governed by a federated network of nodes, which may include:

• Sovereign agencies

• Multilateral institutions

• Domain-specific DAOs

• Credentialed open-source infrastructure stewards

• Academic or civil observatories

• Simulation governance networks

Key governance functions include:

• Publishing and anchoring new clauses

• Resolving fork and dispute declarations

• Approving simulation package inclusion

• Enforcing schema consistency

• Voting on namespace registration policies

All entries and actions are time-stamped, signed, and linked to the Audit Layer.

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2.9.4 Clause ID and Versioning System

Every clause in NSF has a deterministic Clause ID, generated as:

rubyCopyEdit<Namespace>::<Domain>::<ClauseName>@<Major.Minor.Patch>

Example:

rubyCopyEditICAO::Aviation::[email protected]

Each version:

• Is uniquely hashed

• Must be simulated before activation

• Is linked to its governance package

• Can be deprecated, forked, or amended with full lineage retained

This structure allows:

• Rapid lookup

• Backward compatibility checks

• Jurisdictional mapping

• Enforcement and discovery across domains

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2.9.5 Fork Handling and Lineage Tracing

Clauses or credential schemas may be forked to:

• Localize jurisdictional policy

• Reflect diverging simulations

• Encode institutional preferences or constraints

The Registry Layer tracks:

• Parent clause/version

• Fork rationale

• Simulation diffs

• Governance signatories

• Jurisdictional binding

This enables verifiable divergence without breaking traceability.

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2.9.6 Jurisdiction Mapping and Namespace Resolution

Each clause, credential, and DAO entry is tagged with:

• Jurisdiction codes (e.g., KE, EU, CA, UNFCCC)

• Policy domain labels (health, aviation, climate, etc.)

• DAO authorization chain (signatures, role maps)

• Applicable treaties or intergovernmental agreements

Namespace resolution ensures:

• Conflict-free clause usage across institutions

• DAO-level override protection

• Searchable governance impact graphs

It also supports fork federation, where parent and child clauses are mutually recognized, but locally enforced.

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2.9.7 Simulation and Credential Schema Binding

The Registry links:

• Each simulation package to the clause it models

• Each credential schema to its governing clause(s) for issuance and revocation

• Each CAC record to the clause version used at execution time

This enables semantic integrity: you always know which version of what logic governed a given event or credential.

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2.9.8 Registry Access, Query, and Subscriptions

The Registry is accessible via:

Interface	Function
GraphQL API	Search clause logic, DAC lineage, credential schema status
Event Stream API	Subscribe to new clause proposals, votes, deprecations
RPC Interface	Pull CAC verification info or credential schema constraints
CLI/SDK	Programmatic integration for agent developers and DAO stewards
ZK Query	Private access to clause lineage or simulation metadata without full disclosure

Queries can be domain-scoped, jurisdiction-filtered, and timestamp-bound.

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2.9.9 Public and Private Registry Segments

NSF supports:

• Public segment: Globally accessible clause metadata, simulations, audit links

• Credential-gated segment: Sensitive clauses (e.g., sanctions, health), only queryable by authorized agents

• Sovereign-controlled shards: Clauses and credentials hosted under national law, with export rules

• IPFS/Filecoin anchors: For permanent global clause availability

• Archive zone: Deprecated or superseded clauses with full forensic trace

Registries can be hosted federated or mirrored, ensuring global resiliency without centralized ownership.

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2.9.10 The Registry Layer as the Memory Graph of Governance

Without the Registry Layer, NSF would be a black box.

With it, NSF becomes:

• Searchable

• Fork-aware

• Governance-traceable

• Policy-portable

• Clause-executable across domains and jurisdictions

It is the source of clause truth, the index of trust relationships, and the ledger of policy evolution.

Everything that governs—must be in the registry. Everything in the registry—must be verifiable, traceable, and governed.