`docs/_source/merkle-agi-v8-consensus.rst` (834 lines, RST sister
to the v7-W substrate paper at the same path). Closes Phase 1b of
ticket #000012 — the loop-closing consensus protocol that turns
single-validator Proof-of-Upgrade into Darwinian selection across
an open validator set.
11 parts:
Part 1 Introduction & motivation — gap table from v7 § 13.4,
concrete backdoor-attack scenario, paper IS/IS-NOT
scope.
Part 2 Substrate definition — SQD A1/A2/A3 inheritance,
consensus_events row schema, consensus_policy_hash
sibling (never enters cache_key).
Part 3 Validator state machine — bonding/active/challenged/
slashed/unbonding with full transition graph + invariants.
Part 4 Acceptance protocol — proposer submission, layered
fitness floor (canonical + lab-declared ceiling),
audit-replay procedure, 2/3-stake quorum + GRANDPA-
style finalization, liveness floor.
Part 5 Challenge protocol — counter-evidence shape,
adjudication, challenger reward, frivolous-challenge
bond.
Part 6 Stake mechanics — bond/unbond/challenge window
recommendations, offense-class slashing schedule,
reward distribution, optional stake cap + sqrt-weighting.
Part 7 Fork choice rule — GRANDPA-style finality, pre-finality
constraints, liveness recovery.
Part 8 Mesh wire format extension — three new message kinds,
BLS-or-concat aggregate signatures, bandwidth profile.
Part 9 BFT analysis — safety, liveness, Sybil resistance,
bootstrap honesty, re-staking attacks.
Part 10 Worked example — 7-validator deployment, one upgrade
cycle with successful challenge against one fraudulent
validator.
Part 11 Out of scope — implementation, calibration, cross-chain
anchoring, fixture selection, bootstrap-set membership,
cross-instance slashing accumulator, branch-set
persistence.
Closure §: open questions tracked separately (initial validator
set composition, threshold-key ceremony, ZK-replay, policy-hash
transition mechanics).
Ticket #000012 status updated; Phase 1c (branch-set persistence)
remains proposed-not-opened. Implementation follow-up tickets that
cite this paper land later — one per validator-state-machine,
mesh-wire-format extension, audit-replay harness, slashing
accountant.
russell@unturf.com
fd643fe1a5