Node Onboarding

Establishing Trust-Minimized, Policy-Compliant Entry Points into the Global NSF Ecosystem

10.1.1 Purpose and Strategic Role

NSF nodes are not merely network participants—they are:

• Clause execution authorities

• Forecast validators and simulation relays

• Credential issuance endpoints

• Governance units with localized or domain-specific autonomy

The process of onboarding nodes and accrediting credential issuers must therefore ensure:

• Alignment with simulation-based governance principles

• Compliance with jurisdictional, treaty, or sectoral requirements

• Capability to participate in verifiable, fault-tolerant execution architectures

• Participation in global trust infrastructure under zero-trust conditions

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10.1.2 Node Types and Functions

Node Type	Function
GCR Nodes	Operated by national or regional foresight authorities (e.g., ministries, research centers)
DAO Nodes	Govern clause lifecycles, credential logic, simulation approvals
Execution Nodes	Run enclave-based clause execution, CAC bundles, and ZK verifiers
Credential Nodes	Host credential issuance, revocation, and audit trails
Observer Nodes	Read-only mirrors for treaty zones, institutions, or verification agencies
Edge Nodes	Lightweight offline or low-power clause agents in field deployments

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10.1.3 Node Onboarding Lifecycle

Step 1: Intent Registration

• DID submission + jurisdiction declaration

• Node type, clause domain, and expected simulation class

Step 2: Simulation Environment Validation

• Proof of simulation capability (test templates, outputs)

• Performance benchmarking under adversarial inputs

Step 3: VC Authority Attestation

• Submission of VC signer keys

• DAO-verified schema registry alignment

• Merkle-linked revocation registry with test proofs

Step 4: Governance Pledge and Policy Lock

• Node accepts a governance profile (e.g., SDG alignment, treaty clauses, DAO obligations)

• Fallback triggers and accountability circuit installed

Step 5: Multisig Anchoring and Snapshot Inclusion

• Final onboarding logged to global node registry

• Enclave configuration hash signed by onboarding quorum

• Revocable endorsement credential issued

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10.1.4 Credential Issuer Accreditation Protocol

To become a recognized VC issuer, an entity must:

• Submit a VC schema proposal via CredentialDAO

• Demonstrate domain authority or legal mandate

• Sign initial test credentials with full ZK audit capability

• Anchor signer DIDs in the global DID registry with cross-DAO recognition

• Pass simulation tests to demonstrate impact-neutral role issuance

Issuers are graded along:

• Jurisdictional trustworthiness

• ZK privacy compliance

• Simulation-informed impact score

• Rate-limited VC emission history

Revocation rights can be delegated, audited, or clawed back by DAO quorum.

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10.1.5 Post-Quantum and Metadata Policy Requirements

All nodes and issuers must:

• Use post-quantum safe signing algorithms (e.g., Dilithium, FALCON)

• Rotate keys per issuance schedule or policy update

• Avoid cross-clause or cross-jurisdiction metadata leakage

• Support selective disclosure and Merkle-based ZK inclusion proofs

• Accept DID decoupling mandates for privacy-preserving issuance

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10.1.6 Continuous Node Scoring and Probation Logic

NSF maintains real-time scoring across all active nodes:

Metric	Tracked By
Uptime and CAC reliability	ExecutionDAO
Clause divergence rate	SimulationDAO
Revocation responsiveness	CredentialDAO
Quorum participation	GovernanceDAO
Error rates / rollback logs	AuditDAO
Adversarial simulation pass/fail logs	StressSimDAO

Nodes falling below performance thresholds are automatically:

• Flagged for DAO review

• Isolated from new clause sets

• Downgraded to observer role

• Subject to multisig freeze or key revocation

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10.1.7 Anchoring in Treaty Zones and National DPIs

NSF allows nodes to be scoped to:

• Treaty zones (e.g., Paris Agreement, IPBES, WHO)

• National Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) stacks

• Intergovernmental institutions (e.g., ICAO, FAO, UN regional centers)

Special profiles enforce:

• Legal signature compliance

• SDG binding schema

• AI clause simulation sandboxing

• Multi-jurisdictional clause registry mirroring

• Interoperability with W3C, ISO, and WHO standards

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10.1.8 Governance Identity and Accountability Structures

All nodes and issuers must:

• Be associated with a governance DID

• Publish public keys with revocation policies

• Sign governance participation records

• Participate in clause audits when requested

• Bind their operations to minimum simulation thresholds

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10.1.9 Emergency Suspension and Recovery Triggers

DAO-governed triggers can:

• Revoke issuer rights immediately under threat conditions

• Freeze clause execution on specific nodes

• Suspend simulation participation or credential validation

• Force fallbacks to other regional nodes or treaty anchors

• Require re-onboarding and fresh simulation validation

Every action is:

• Logged

• Signed

• Auditable via ZK rollups and multisig attestations

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10.1.10 Node and Issuer Governance as Planetary-Scale Trust Mechanism

NSF’s onboarding and accreditation processes enable:

• Multilateral trust across jurisdictions, disciplines, and simulation domains

• Sovereign-grade credential flows with revocation and verification

• Disaster-proof resilience through replication and fallback

• Clause composability based on authorized execution zones

• Institutional-grade accountability, encoded in execution logic itself

NSF does not assume trust—it constructs it, layer by layer, through simulation, verification, and protocol-enforced governance.