KNOBE Protocol v1 is an open specification for plain-text knowledge objects that carry source, history, limits, and obligations across tools, institutions, and AI systems.
A KNOBE file remains readable as ordinary Markdown. Its sealed payload records declared provenance, transformation history, fidelity limits, use conditions, and an integrity hash that can be checked locally.
Authorship and status
KNOBE Protocol v1 is authored by David Kyle, University of California, Davis. The affiliation identifies the author. KNOBE is an independent open protocol, not an official UC Davis standard, product, or endorsement.
What defines the protocol
The protocol is defined by its specification, test vectors, reference verifier, and implementation corpus. Verification is local: a sealed file and the published verifier are sufficient to check whether the sealed record still matches the file. A match confirms integrity, not truth: the verifier does not evaluate whether the declared content is accurate.
The reference verifier is a single standard-library Python file with no external dependencies. Other implementations can be checked against the same corpus.
License
The specification and public documentation are released under CC BY 4.0. Reference code and implementation licenses are stated in their repositories.
Stewardship
David Kyle is the current steward of the protocol. Governance will move toward an advisory structure as independent implementations and institutional uses develop.
Proposed changes, bug reports, and implementation questions are handled through the public source repository. Substantive changes receive public discussion and documented decisions.
v1 is frozen
The canonical hash rule, marker format, required fields, three-layer structure, and verification semantics will not change in v1.x. Backward-compatible additions may be issued as v1.x updates. Breaking changes require a v2.0 declaration. Files sealed under v1.0 remain valid under any v1.x verifier.
Semantics follow the sealed version
A verifier must apply the verification semantics of the spec version a file was sealed under. A future verifier may report additional advisory information, but must not reinterpret a previously valid KNOBE as failed.
Open protocol and application layers
Commercial, institutional, or experimental tools may be built around KNOBE. These tools belong to application layers. The open protocol remains separately specified and locally verifiable.
Identity, credentialing, trusted time, hardware authentication, ledgers, payments, and institutional compliance are application-layer concerns. They are not requirements of the open protocol.
Evaluating the artifacts
The protocol is best evaluated through its artifacts:
KNOBE is an open protocol for auditable plain-text knowledge objects that carry their source, history, limits, and obligations across human and AI systems. Built for accessibility, interoperability, and portability.