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HS-Core Profile v1.0

Deterministic Policy Combination of Intent, Quality, and Cost (Decision Layer for Tick-Canonical Phase-Window Actions)

Status: Official Spec (v1.0)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18225005

Abstract

Timeverse phase-window stacks (Conventions/Q-Address/TAQA) guarantee when actions may occur, but do not by themselves decide whether an action should occur. HS-Core Profile v1.0 specifies a deterministic, signable policy layer that combines three independent signals: (1) HS-Intent (what is being attempted and at what declared risk), (2) HS-Bloch (quality/coherence gating), and (3) HS-bit (alignment cost signal for budgets and rate limits). HS-Core defines a policy profile object, a verdict object, fixed-point cost encoding (milli-HS-bits), and a deterministic evaluation algorithm producing one of ALLOW, DENY, DELAY, or DEGRADE. HS-Core does not redefine execution semantics, cryptographic primitives, or scheduling algorithms; integrity and anti-replay are delegated to the Timeverse Security Profile.

Normative Dependencies

1. Scope and non-scope

Policy profile, not a protocol: HS-Core defines deterministic policy evaluation logic only. It MUST NOT define execution semantics, timing rules, cryptographic primitives, or scheduling algorithms.

Separation of responsibilities: Execution remains defined by Conventions, Q-Address, and TAQA. Security, integrity, canonical encoding, and anti-replay remain defined by the Timeverse Security Profile. HS-Core consumes their outputs but does not replace them.

2. Identifiers and objects

HS-Core schema identifier: HS-Core v1.0 objects defined in this document MUST declare: hscore_schema_id = TV-HSCORE-2026-01.

3. Verdicts and semantics

Verdict enumeration:

HS-Core v1.0 defines:
  • ALLOW: execution may proceed normally,
  • DENY: execution MUST NOT proceed under this signed context,
  • DELAY: execution MUST NOT proceed now; a scheduler MAY propose a future window,
  • DEGRADE: execution MAY proceed only under a named degraded mode (requires degrade_mode_id).

DEGRADE requires a mode identifier: If the verdict is DEGRADE, the verdict object MUST include degrade_mode_id (non-empty string). If degrade_mode_id is missing, consumers MUST treat the verdict as not allowing execution.

Unknown degrade mode handling: If a consumer does not recognize degrade_mode_id, it MUST treat DEGRADE as DELAY (safe default), unless deployment policy explicitly requires DENY.

4. Fixed-point cost signal (HS-bit)

Cost encoding (milli-HS-bit): HS-Core represents an HS-bit cost signal as a non-negative integer cost_millihsbit_u32, interpreted as cost_millihsbit_u32/1000 HS-bits. This is a fixed-point integer encoding to avoid float comparisons in enforcement.

Canonical conversion from HS-bit reports: If a system has a real-valued HS-bit cost, it MUST derive the HS-Core cost signal as: cost_millihsbit_u32 := ⌊1000 * c_HSbit⌋, with saturation.

5. HS-Core policy profile object

HSCorePolicyProfile:

An HS-Core policy profile is a deterministic, signable object:
  • hscore_schema_id (MUST)
  • hscore_profile_id (MUST)
  • unknown_intent_verdict (MUST)
  • cost_missing_verdict (MUST)
  • risk_rules (MUST)
  • allow_intent_classes (OPTIONAL)
  • deny_intent_classes (OPTIONAL)

RiskRule:

For each risk tier, HS-Core defines a rule:
  • quality_floor_req (OPTIONAL)
  • on_quality_fail (MUST)
  • max_cost_millihsbit_u32 (OPTIONAL)
  • on_cost_fail (MUST)

Higher risk cannot weaken enforcement: For increasing risk_tier_u8, a conforming profile MUST NOT define weaker enforcement.

6. HS-Core verdict object

HSCoreVerdictObject:

A policy decision is represented as:
  • hscore_schema_id (MUST)
  • hscore_profile_id (MUST)
  • verdict (MUST)
  • reason_code (OPTIONAL)
  • degrade_mode_id (OPTIONAL)
  • bound_scope (MUST)
  • bound_cycle_index (MUST)
  • bound_action_hash (OPTIONAL)

Signing and binding for enforcement: If HS-Core is used for enforcement, the policy profile and verdict MUST be carried in a signed context.

7. Deterministic evaluation algorithm (normative)

Determinism: Given the same signed inputs, a conforming evaluator MUST return the same verdict. Randomization is not permitted in v1.0.

Recommended system evaluation order: A conforming deployment SHOULD evaluate in this order: (1) verify signatures/anti-replay, (2) verify tick-window membership, (3) evaluate HS-Core policy verdict, (4) execute only if allowed by both.

HS-Core evaluation (normative):

Given profile 𝑃, HS-Intent 𝐼, HS-Bloch data 𝐵, and optional cost signal 𝐶:
  1. Intent class gating. If allow/deny lists are present, check if 𝐼.intent_class_id is permitted.
  2. Select risk rule. Let 𝑟 := I.risk_tier_u8. If no rule exists, return DENY.
  3. Quality dominance. If a policy floor requirement is present, evaluate it. If an action-carried requirement is also present, it must also be satisfied. On failure, return `on_quality_fail`.
  4. Cost check. If a budget is defined and the cost signal exceeds it, return `on_cost_fail`.
  5. Otherwise, return ALLOW.

8. Examples (informative)

Example: HS-Core policy profile (signed context)

{
  "security_profile_id": "TV-SECPROFILE-2025-12",
  "ext_signed": {
    "hscore_profile": {
      "hscore_schema_id": "TV-HSCORE-2026-01",
      "hscore_profile_id": "TV-HSCOREPROFILE-LAB-2026-01",
      "unknown_intent_verdict": "DENY",
      "cost_missing_verdict": "DELAY",
      "risk_rules": {
        "1": {
          "quality_floor_req": {
            "hsbloch_schema_id": "TV-HSBLOCH-2026-02",
            "coherence_meter_id": "TV-COH-RAMSEY-Z-VIS-2026-01",
            "coh_encoding": "u16",
            "coh_min_u16": 42000
          },
          "on_quality_fail": "DELAY",
          "max_cost_millihsbit_u32": 5000,
          "on_cost_fail": "DELAY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Example: HS-Core verdict (bound and signed)

{
  "security_profile_id": "TV-SECPROFILE-2025-12",
  "ext_signed": {
    "hscore_verdict": {
      "hscore_schema_id": "TV-HSCORE-2026-01",
      "hscore_profile_id": "TV-HSCOREPROFILE-LAB-2026-01",
      "verdict": "DELAY",
      "reason_code": "QUALITY_BELOW_FLOOR",
      "bound_scope": "link:A-B/op:ENT_ATTEMPT",
      "bound_cycle_index": 1188,
      "bound_action_hash": "..."
    }
  }
}

References