# Compare

How Nobulex compares to other approaches to AI agent accountability.

| Nobulex | ScopeBlind | Guardrails / Filters | Observability (LangSmith, Datadog)
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
APPROACH | Open protocol | Product + patents | Input/output filters | Monitoring dashboards
PRE-EXECUTION ENFORCEMENT | Yes, covenant middleware | Yes, Cedar policies | Partial, prompt level | No, post-hoc only
CRYPTOGRAPHIC RECEIPTS | SHA-256 hash chain + Ed25519 | Ed25519 signed receipts | No | No
OFFLINE VERIFICATION | Yes, public key only | Yes, public key only | No | Requires vendor access
POLICY LANGUAGE | Covenant DSL (permit/forbid/require) | Cedar + JSON config | Vendor-specific | N/A
CROSS-AGENT VERIFICATION | Bilateral handshake (both sides verify) | One-sided receipts | No | No
OUTCOME HASH | Full payload (tool + args + result) | Decision only | No | No
COVENANT IN RECEIPT | Rules carried in every receipt | Policy digest only | No | No
COMPLIANCE REPORTS | EU AI Act, SOC2, ISO 42001, Colorado AI Act | OWASP, SOC2, EU AI Act | No | Custom dashboards
OPEN SOURCE | MIT, full protocol | MIT gateway, FSL platform | Varies | Proprietary
VENDOR LOCK-IN | None, protocol is neutral | Patents pending | High | High

## Why the difference matters

Guardrails filter what goes in and out of a model. They don't prove what happened between input and output. Observability tools show you dashboards. Dashboards are written by the vendor and can't be independently verified.

Receipts are different. A Nobulex receipt is a self-contained proof artifact. It carries the action, the arguments, the result, the rules that were in effect, and a cryptographic signature. Anyone with the public key can verify it. No vendor access needed. No dashboard login. No trust required.

## vs ScopeBlind specifically

ScopeBlind builds a product. Nobulex builds a protocol. Both sign receipts with Ed25519. The differences:

Nobulex receipts carry the full covenant (the rules in effect at execution time), not just a policy digest. This means you can answer "what was allowed" and "what happened" from a single artifact.

Nobulex cross-agent handshake requires both agents to verify each other before transacting. ScopeBlind receipts are one-sided.

Nobulex is MIT licensed with no patents. ScopeBlind has 5 Australian provisional patents and uses FSL licensing for the platform.

Nobulex is positioned as the neutral protocol that frameworks adopt (currently in the LangChain governance RFC #35691). ScopeBlind is positioned as a managed product with hosted infrastructure.

Both approaches have value. The question is whether your compliance team wants a vendor or a verifiable standard.

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