here is the updated standard incorporating your input and some from claude as well.  do a fresh review.

###### ChatGPT said:

Thought for 1m 8s

Love the direction—this rev lands a bunch of the big ideas we discussed (DID pivot, pairwise IDs, explicit profiles, witness roles). Here’s a crisp, merit-focused review of what’s now strong and what still blocks an independent implementation.

# What’s improved

- **Identifiers:** moving to `did:web4:` (core-spec/data-formats.md) is the right call. It aligns you with DID tooling and avoids the custom `web4://` parsing mess.
- **Separation of concerns:** protocols split out (handshake, LCT, metering, entity-relationships) + profiles (edge, p2p, cloud, bridge) + governance. Nice layering.
- **Privacy posture:** pairwise `W4IDp` derivation is present in the handshake; GREASE is called out; transcript binding is described.
- **Ecosystem glue:** initial tests/schemas and profiles show implementation intent, not just philosophy.

# P0 (blocking) issues

1. **Truncated / placeholder spec text in critical docs.**
    Several normative docs include literal `...` cutoffs or mid-token truncations, which makes them non-implementable:
   - `protocols/web4-handshake.md` (JSON example breaks at `w4_ext_no…`)
   - `protocols/web4-metering.md` (fields cut mid-line)
   - `core-spec/mrh-tensors.md` (schema and tensor definition clipped)
   - `core-spec/security-framework.md` shows ellipsized sections (signature/KEX text mid-word).
      And the conformance test `implementation/tests/test_web4_protocol.py` path is truncated (`'..', 'refere…'`).
      ▶ **Fix:** restore full text; run a “no ellipsis + valid JSON blocks” linter over the repo (I can supply one).
2. **Crypto baseline is inconsistent across docs.**
   - Handshake table sets **X25519/Ed25519 + ChaCha20-Poly1305** as MTI (good), but `core-spec/security-framework.md` still reads like **P-256/ECDSA** is the only MUST.
      ▶ **Fix:** make MTI **W4-BASE-1 (X25519/Ed25519/ChaCha20-Poly1305/SHA-256)**. Keep **W4-FIPS-1 (P-256/ECDH/ECDSA/AES-GCM)** as a SHOULD/FIPS profile. Ensure this is the single source of truth referenced everywhere (handshake, security, profiles).
3. **Canonicalization + signature profile need crisp MUSTs.**
    The handshake mentions JCS/CBOR canonicalization but doesn’t set a **single MTI** serialization/signature stack.
    ▶ **Fix:** declare **COSE/CBOR (MTI)** with deterministic CBOR and Ed25519; **JOSE/JSON (SHOULD)** with JCS + ECDSA-P256. Make every signed example select one of those two and say which is used.
4. **Pairwise W4IDp derivation is underspecified.**
    You show the HKDF shape but don’t define storage/rotation, collision domain, and misuse guidance (e.g., salts must be random per relationship; not derived from stable IDs; lifecycle when keys rotate).
    ▶ **Fix:** add a short normative subsection: *salt requirements*, *lifetime*, *renegotiation on key rotation*, and *privacy warning against reuse across counterparties*.
5. **Error taxonomy vs. Problem Details schema.**
    You added a schema in `implementation/tests/problem_details_schema.json`, but the taxonomy doc is generic and doesn’t tie to it, and several example errors are not schema-conformant.
    ▶ **Fix:** declare RFC 9457 Problem Details as the error envelope; list the canonical `code` strings and require `application/problem+json` (or `+cbor`) for protocol errors.
6. **LCT spec incomplete.**
    `protocols/web4-lct.md` is promising but stops mid-fields (e.g., `binding_proof: Signatur…`) and doesn’t fully define **rotation**, **revocation**, **witness attestation shape**, or **policy evaluation**.
    ▶ **Fix:** finish the object, add binding algorithm (key → LCT), rotation (old/new grace and split-brain), and the minimal witness claim set.

# P1 (important, not blocking)

- **Transport matrix:** handshake mentions QUIC; profiles mention P2P; but a small “transport capability” table (QUIC/TLS, WebTransport, WebRTC DataChannel, BLE GATT, TCP/TLS) with MUST/SHOULD/MAY would help.
- **Discovery:** add minimal discovery options (mDNS/DNS-SD, QR OOB, DNS bootstrap) + a normative “witness relay” discovery path.
- **GREASE procedure:** specify the reserved ranges/format for GREASE extension IDs and require at least one unknown ext in every ClientHello.
- **Witness classes:** metering lists time/audit/oracle; centralize witness classes and their protected headers (role, policy) in one canonical place and reference it from LCT and Metering.

# P2 (polish)

- **Profiles:** they’re good; add “MUST pass interop test vectors X/Y/Z” to each profile so they’re testable.
- **IANA/registries:** the initial registries look implied; add a concrete `IANA Considerations` section to each protocol that creates a registry (suite IDs, extension IDs, error codes).

------

## Targeted redlines (ready to drop)

### 1) Make MTI crypto unambiguous (put this in both handshake + security-framework)

```
| Suite ID          | KEM     | Sig       | AEAD                | Hash    | Profile |
|-------------------|---------|-----------|---------------------|---------|---------|
| W4-BASE-1 (MUST)  | X25519  | Ed25519   | ChaCha20-Poly1305   | SHA-256 | COSE    |
| W4-FIPS-1 (SHOULD)| P-256   | ECDSA-P256| AES-128-GCM         | SHA-256 | JOSE    |
```

> Implementations MUST support W4-BASE-1. FIPS-bound environments SHOULD support W4-FIPS-1. Other suites MAY be offered but MUST NOT be negotiated as MTI.

### 2) Canonicalization MTI (in handshake §“Authentication & Signatures”)

- **COSE/CBOR (MUST):** deterministic CBOR encoding per CTAP2; Ed25519 (`crv: Ed25519`) with `alg: EdDSA`; payload is the canonical CBOR map.
- **JOSE/JSON (SHOULD):** JCS canonical JSON; `ES256` with compact serialization or JWS JSON serialization.

### 3) Pairwise W4IDp lifecycle (handshake §“Identifiers”)

```
- peer_salt MUST be 128-bit random, unique per counterparty relationship.
- A W4IDp MUST be re-derived when either party rotates its master key.
- W4IDp MUST NOT be reused across counterparties or exported into logs/URIs visible to unrelated parties.
- Implementations SHOULD support at least 4 concurrently valid W4IDp values per peer to cover overlapping rotations.
```

### 4) Problem Details envelope (errors.md + all examples)

Use:

```
{
  "type": "about:blank",
  "title": "Unauthorized",
  "status": 401,
  "code": "W4_ERR_AUTHZ_DENIED",
  "detail": "Credential lacks scope write:lct",
  "instance": "did:web4:key:z6Mkh.../sessions/123"
}
```

…and reference `implementation/tests/problem_details_schema.json` as the normative schema.

### 5) LCT object (complete the fields)

```
{
  "lct_id": "lct:web4:mb32...",
  "subject": "did:web4:key:z6Mk...",
  "binding": {
    "entity_type": "device|service|user|oracle",
    "public_key": "mb64:coseKey",
    "hardware_anchor": "eat:mb64",         // optional
    "created_at": "2025-09-11T15:00:00Z",
    "binding_proof": "cose:Sig_structure"   // COSE Sig over canonical LCT fields
  },
  "policy": {
    "capabilities": ["pairing:initiate","metering:grant","write:lct"],
    "constraints": {"region":["us-west"], "max_rate": 5000}
  },
  "attestations": [
    {"witness":"did:web4:...","type":"time","sig":"cose:...","ts":"..."}
  ],
  "lineage": [{"parent":"lct:web4:...","reason":"rotate","ts":"..."}],
  "revocation": {"status":"active|revoked","ts":"...", "reason":"compromise|superseded"}
}
```

Add rotation rules: parent → child overlap window; reject dual-writer after grace.

### 6) Metering replay & rate-limit text (protocols/web4-metering.md)

- `(grant_id, seq)` MUST be strictly increasing; duplicates MUST be rejected.
- Receivers MUST implement token-bucket using `window.size_s` and `rate.max_per_min` (convert units precisely).
- Witness `audit-minimal` MAY validate only digest trees and token-bucket math without raw usage samples.

------

## Quick correctness nits

- `web4-handshake.md` JSON examples: ensure they parse (one is cut at `"w4_ext_no…"`). Run them through a linter.
- `test_web4_protocol.py`: the `sys.path.insert` target is truncated; fix the `'reference'` segment.
- Close out stray placeholders like `Signatur` in LCT, and underscore lines `_`.
- Ensure every fenced JSON block includes valid quotes and no trailing comments.

------

## Suggested next deliverables (I can draft these immediately)

1. **Repo linter** (`tools/validate_snippets.py`): walks all `.md` code fences, validates JSON/CBOR-diag snippets, rejects `...`/ellipsis artifacts, and checks example conformance to the Problem Details schema.
2. **Interop vectors**: a small `vectors/` set (Hello ↔ Auth ↔ Rekey; CreditGrant/Usage/Settle) in both **COSE/CBOR** and **JOSE/JSON** so two independent teams can implement without the reference stub.
3. **Discovery mini-spec**: mDNS + QR OOB + “witness relay” bootstrap, one page each with ABNF and security notes.

If you’d like, I’ll (a) repair the truncated files with the redlines above, (b) add the linter + interop vectors, and (c) PR back a clean **alpha-implementable** cut.