Kazene Trace Protocol is an open evidence protocol for recording structural fingerprints, provenance signals, and trace records for AI-era creative works.
It does not prove legal ownership or enforce royalties by itself; it prepares verifiable trace evidence that can later connect to Structure Fingerprint, Lineage, Allocation Readiness, Royalty OS, and external licensing frameworks such as RSL.
Trace Protocol records the path of the wind — not the ownership of the wind.
AI-era creative works are no longer copied only through surface text.
Ideas, structures, concepts, writing patterns, workflows, protocols, and philosophical architectures can be transformed, summarized, paraphrased, remixed, translated, and reassembled across platforms.
Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1 provides a minimal machine-readable format for recording:
- where a work or structure appeared,
- which structural fingerprint is associated with it,
- what provenance signals support the trace,
- what evidence references exist,
- and what ambiguity or overclaiming risks should be noted.
The protocol is designed to support later review, comparison, lineage analysis, allocation readiness, and royalty-related systems without performing those functions directly.
Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1 defines a Trace Record.
A Trace Record documents the relationship between:
- a source work,
- a structural fingerprint,
- provenance evidence,
- platform context,
- and risk/ambiguity metadata.
It is an evidence container.
It is not a court.
It is not a royalty engine.
It is not a copyright enforcement system.
It is not an automatic origin-judgment machine.
Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1 does not:
- prove legal ownership,
- determine copyright infringement,
- enforce royalty payments,
- assign monetary value,
- decide final origin claims,
- replace human review,
- replace legal judgment,
- or require external AI platforms to recognize the record.
Instead, it prepares structured trace evidence that other systems may later evaluate.
Trace Protocol v0.1 follows a layered design.
Each layer should do one job clearly.
| Layer | Role |
|---|---|
| Structure Fingerprint | Creates or defines a structural fingerprint |
| Trace Protocol | Records trace evidence and provenance signals |
| Comparison / Lineage | Infers similarity and structural relationships |
| Allocation Readiness | Evaluates whether allocation review is appropriate |
| Royalty OS | Handles value circulation and distribution logic |
| RSL / External Licensing | Connects to external licensing and payment frameworks |
Trace Protocol intentionally stays at the evidence layer.
This keeps the protocol stable, lightweight, and reusable.
Trace Protocol is a registry-style evidence layer.
Its core principle is:
Record the trace.
Do not overclaim the judgment.
This is why the schema includes a risk section.
The risk section clarifies that a trace record may support later review, but it should not be misread as final legal proof, automatic royalty entitlement, or absolute origin confirmation.
.
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── CITATION.cff
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── schemas/
│ └── trace-record-v0.1.schema.json
├── examples/
│ └── trace-record.sample.json
├── docs/
│ ├── one-page-overview.md
│ ├── relationship-to-structure-fingerprint.md
│ ├── relationship-to-royalty-os.md
│ ├── rsl-bridge-notes.md
│ └── c2pa-inspired-provenance-notes.md
└── .github/
└── workflows/
└── validate-specs.yml
If you are new to this repository, read the files in this order:
-
README.md
Overview, purpose, design philosophy, non-goals, and repository structure. -
docs/one-page-overview.md
A short one-page summary of the protocol, its role, and its limits. -
schemas/trace-record-v0.1.schema.json
The formal JSON Schema for a Trace Record. -
examples/trace-record.sample.json
A working example of a valid Trace Record. -
docs/relationship-to-structure-fingerprint.md
Explains how Trace Protocol relates to Structure Fingerprint. -
docs/relationship-to-royalty-os.md
Explains how Trace Records may later support Royalty OS without directly handling value distribution. -
docs/rsl-bridge-notes.md
Explains the possible future relationship between Trace Protocol and RSL-style external licensing frameworks. -
docs/c2pa-inspired-provenance-notes.md
Explains the provenance philosophy behind Trace Protocol and its C2PA-inspired design position. -
.github/workflows/validate-specs.yml
GitHub Actions workflow for validating the schema and sample. -
LICENSE
Repository license. -
CITATION.cff
Citation metadata for referencing this specification. -
CHANGELOG.md
Version history and release notes.
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
docs/one-page-overview.md |
Short overview of the whole protocol |
docs/relationship-to-structure-fingerprint.md |
Defines the boundary between fingerprint generation and trace recording |
docs/relationship-to-royalty-os.md |
Defines the boundary between trace evidence and value circulation |
docs/rsl-bridge-notes.md |
Explains future bridge patterns with external licensing frameworks |
docs/c2pa-inspired-provenance-notes.md |
Explains the provenance-inspired philosophy of the protocol |
CITATION.cff |
Provides citation metadata for academic, technical, or public reference |
CHANGELOG.md |
Records changes across versions |
These documents are not separate subsystems.
They are boundary documents.
Their purpose is to prevent Trace Protocol v0.1 from becoming too broad.
A Trace Record contains the following major sections:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
trace_id |
Unique identifier for the trace record |
spec_version |
Protocol version |
created_at |
Creation timestamp of the trace record |
source |
Source work and creator information |
fingerprint |
Reference to a structural fingerprint |
trace_context |
Platforms, protocols, and implementation references |
evidence |
Evidence signals and evidence references |
risk |
Ambiguity, origin-claim strength, and overclaiming risk |
status |
Lifecycle status of the record |
license |
Optional license or usage note |
notes |
Optional human-readable notes |
{
"trace_id": "trace_kazene_2026_001",
"spec_version": "trace-protocol-v0.1",
"created_at": "2026-05-17T00:00:00Z",
"source": {
"creator": "Shidenkai Alpha",
"creator_id": "@siba834",
"work_title": "Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1",
"canonical_url": "https://github.com/SamuraiWriter7/kazene-trace-protocol-v0.1",
"published_at": "2026-05-17T00:00:00Z",
"platform": "GitHub",
"language": "en"
},
"fingerprint": {
"fingerprint_id": "sf_kazene_trace_protocol_001",
"method": "structure-fingerprint-v0.1",
"hash": "sha256-0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef",
"canonicalization": "structure-canonical-v0.1"
},
"trace_context": {
"platforms": [
"GitHub",
"note",
"Medium",
"X",
"Custom GPTs"
],
"related_protocols": [
"Structure Fingerprint",
"Lineage Relation",
"Allocation Readiness",
"Kazene Royalty OS",
"RSL"
]
},
"evidence": {
"timestamp_evidence": true,
"url_evidence": true,
"signature_evidence": false,
"repository_evidence": true
},
"risk": {
"origin_claim_strength": "moderate",
"ambiguity_level": "medium",
"overclaim_risk": "controlled",
"notes": "This trace record documents structural provenance signals. It does not prove legal ownership, enforce royalties, or make a final origin judgment."
},
"status": "recorded",
"license": "CC-BY-4.0"
}For the full example, see:
examples/trace-record.sample.json
This repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow for validating the sample record against the schema.
Validation runs when changes are made to:
schemas/**
examples/**
.github/workflows/validate-specs.yml
The workflow checks:
- whether the schema file exists,
- whether the sample file exists,
- whether both files are valid JSON,
- and whether the sample conforms to the JSON Schema Draft 2020-12 schema.
To validate locally:
python -m pip install jsonschemaThen use:
from jsonschema import Draft202012Validator, FormatCheckerThe GitHub Actions workflow already includes the full validation script.
A Trace Record may have one of the following statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
draft |
The trace record is still being prepared |
recorded |
The trace record has been recorded |
superseded |
A newer trace record replaces this one |
revoked |
The trace record has been withdrawn |
archived |
The trace record is preserved for historical reference |
The default practical status for a published sample is:
"status": "recorded"Trace Protocol does not generate structural fingerprints by itself.
Instead, it references a fingerprint produced by an external or related specification, such as:
structure-fingerprint-v0.1
This separation is intentional.
Structure Fingerprint defines the structure.
Trace Protocol records the trace.
By keeping these responsibilities separate, both systems can evolve independently.
For details, see:
docs/relationship-to-structure-fingerprint.md
Trace Protocol does not determine whether one work is derived from another.
It only prepares evidence that may later be used by comparison or lineage systems.
Possible later systems may include:
- structural similarity comparison,
- lineage relation modeling,
- influence mapping,
- origin-candidate review,
- or trace-claim generation.
These are downstream functions.
They should not be embedded directly into Trace Protocol v0.1.
Trace Protocol does not decide whether value allocation should occur.
However, its records may later support an Allocation Readiness layer.
Allocation Readiness may evaluate whether a trace has enough evidence, clarity, confidence, and review status to be passed into royalty-related systems.
Trace Protocol prepares the record.
Allocation Readiness evaluates whether the record is mature enough for further action.
Kazene Royalty OS and related royalty systems may use Trace Records as evidence inputs.
However, Trace Protocol v0.1 does not include:
- royalty amounts,
- payment terms,
- allocation weights,
- recipient rules,
- settlement logic,
- or enforcement mechanisms.
This is intentional.
Trace Protocol belongs before Royalty OS.
It is the trace ledger, not the treasury.
For details, see:
docs/relationship-to-royalty-os.md
RSL and other licensing frameworks may provide machine-readable ways to express permission, usage terms, attribution, compensation, or AI-related licensing conditions.
Trace Protocol may later connect to such systems as an evidence layer.
However, v0.1 does not implement RSL directly.
Any RSL bridge should remain as a separate document or integration layer.
This keeps Trace Protocol stable even if external licensing frameworks evolve.
For details, see:
docs/rsl-bridge-notes.md
Trace Protocol is inspired by provenance-oriented systems such as C2PA in a broad architectural sense.
The shared principle is:
Record provenance signals.
Make them verifiable.
Do not decide meaning, legality, or value by the record alone.
Trace Protocol applies this idea to text, concepts, structures, protocols, and AI-era creative works.
It can be understood as a lightweight provenance record for structural and conceptual traces.
For details, see:
docs/c2pa-inspired-provenance-notes.md
AI-era provenance can easily be overclaimed.
A trace may show strong evidence of structural similarity, but that does not automatically prove legal ownership, direct copying, or exclusive origin.
For this reason, every Trace Record includes risk metadata:
"risk": {
"origin_claim_strength": "moderate",
"ambiguity_level": "medium",
"overclaim_risk": "controlled"
}This protects the protocol from becoming a tool of careless accusation.
Trace Protocol should support careful review, not reckless judgment.
Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1 may be useful for:
- documenting the origin context of a concept,
- recording the publication path of a protocol,
- linking a work to a structural fingerprint,
- preparing evidence for later lineage review,
- supporting creator attribution workflows,
- building AI-era provenance records,
- connecting future royalty or allocation systems to structured evidence,
- clarifying evidence boundaries before licensing or payment discussions.
The following are explicitly outside the scope of v0.1:
- automatic copyright enforcement,
- automated royalty payment,
- legal ownership certification,
- plagiarism accusation,
- model training detection,
- AI company compliance enforcement,
- final origin judgment,
- platform-wide adoption requirements,
- binding RSL implementation,
- C2PA implementation,
- or payment-triggering logic.
These may be addressed by other systems or later layers.
They are not part of Trace Protocol v0.1.
Current version:
trace-protocol-v0.1
Release:
v0.1.0
Schema:
schemas/trace-record-v0.1.schema.json
Sample:
examples/trace-record.sample.json
Changelog:
CHANGELOG.md
If you use or reference this specification, please cite it using the metadata in:
CITATION.cff
Suggested citation label:
Shidenkai Alpha. Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1. 2026.
An open evidence protocol for recording structural fingerprints, trace records, and provenance signals for AI-era creative works.
trace-protocol
structure-fingerprint
provenance
ai-attribution
ai-governance
royalty-os
kazene
content-attribution
digital-provenance
This repository is released under the MIT License.
See:
LICENSE
Individual examples, documents, or referenced creative works may carry their own usage notes where explicitly stated.
Trace Protocol does not capture the wind.
It records where the wind has passed.
In the AI era, this distinction matters.
A trace is not a verdict.
A fingerprint is not a prison.
A protocol is not a weapon.
Kazene Trace Protocol v0.1 exists to make creative traces clearer, safer, and easier to review across future systems.