Specification register

Proofscaling, version 0.2

A shared, typed, extensible vocabulary for proving a venture on quarterly data. This page states the Standard. It is precise on purpose.

Version: 0.2
Status: Draft, open for comment
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Content hash: sha256:32a7156f488e6ef84b873d7edc5d1c41b9123be9030465ae208b5c2f8148ee60

The Standard and data are openly readable, shareable, and citable with attribution. Commercial reuse and derivatives are not licensed.

An instrument adopting the Standard pins it by name, version, and content hash. The hash is the sha256 of the manifest linked above, which carries the normative vocabulary on this page and the hash of every published schema and example. Check it with shasum -a 256 manifest.json. The connective prose here is explanatory and is not covered; the website around it is not covered either, so a design pass never moves the hash.

Scope

Proofscaling defines base types for proof and a cadence on which they report. It says what is reported, on what cadence, in what form. It does not collect data, custody value, or execute agreements. It is a vocabulary, and the vocabulary is the product.

Proof on this property means third-party attestation: a filing, a review, a cadence. It is a claim the record can carry and a reader can inspect, not a status the venture asserts about itself.

Terms

Four named mechanics carry the Standard. The names are canonical.

Proof Dimension: A base type of the vocabulary. A mechanic of proof: what a venture measures, commits to, delivers, sustains, and reports. There are five in version 0.2.
Domain Thesis: A fund manager's specialization of the base types for a domain. The way a publisher extends a schema.org type. A Domain Thesis declares its Thesis Scope, direct or diversified, and may add proofs or narrow reporting. It may never alter a base type.
Proof Cycle: The quarterly cadence on which every dimension reports. One cycle, all dimensions. Consequential items ship as event driven notices between cycles.
Pinned Thesis: A Domain Thesis at a specific version, identified by content hash. Adopted by consent. Two parties agree on one hash, so both read the same shapes for the term of the agreement.

A Domain Thesis declares its Thesis Scope. The scope is direct, one operating thesis, or diversified, a portfolio of theses. Thesis Scope extends existing fund thesis vernacular. It does not replace it.

Proof Dimensions

A Proof Dimension is a base type of the vocabulary: a mechanic of proof reported each Proof Cycle. There are five in version 0.2: Form, Playbook, Conversion, Streak, Stats. Stats is issuer self-reported, with no filing-record path, and is stated in the Standard but left unscored in version 0.2 until that data exists.

3.1

Form

Form is the quality of how a venture measures and discloses. It reads the assurance level a third party attached to the financials, whether the filing arrived inside its window, and whether the cost side is instrumented well enough to derive a margin rather than assert one. It binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard schema, version 0.07, for the financial reporting shape it reads. The term is Ledger Base, never Ledger NAV.

Reported each cycle

Assurance level: reviewed, audited, or filed
Filing timeliness against the reporting window
Completeness of the financial statements
As-of date and source filing

Binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard schema, version 0.07.

3.2

Playbook

Playbook is the commitment a venture put on record and how binding it is. A revenue-share security or a defined-return note is a binding forward commitment with a defined payoff; a cooperative charter or an employee-ownership plan is a structural one. A mission stated only on a website is marketing, not a commitment, and does not count.

Reported each cycle

The forward commitment on record
How binding it is: charter, security, or declaration
Use of proceeds or milestone declared
Source filing and as-of date

3.3

Conversion

Conversion is what a venture delivered measured against what it declared. In version 0.2 the filing record supports two readings: revenue disclosed across fiscal years, and a repeat raise, which is the market's verdict that the last cycle delivered. It is the narrowest dimension the public record can currently populate, and it grows as commit-and-prove cycle detection matures.

Reported each cycle

Revenue disclosed against what was declared
A repeat raise after a prior cycle
Delivered against declared, to the extent the record supports it
Source filings and as-of date

3.4

Streak

Streak is how long and how consistently a venture has reported. One annual report is a filing; four on an unbroken cadence is a streak. It reads the number of annual-report periods, the operating history behind them, and whether the cadence held. It is the dimension the designation ladder climbs: three or more consecutive cycles is what a Seasoned designation asks for.

Reported each cycle

Annual reports on file
Consecutive reporting periods, unbroken
Years of operating history
Cadence against the reporting window

3.5

Stats

Stats is what a venture reports directly beyond its filings. It is issuer self-reporting with no filing-record path, so there is nothing in the public record to score. It is stated in the Standard and left unscored in version 0.2 until that data exists, rather than approximated from something else.

Reported each cycle

Self-reported operating metrics
Provenance: source system and as-of date
Method and baseline where stated
Unscored in version 0.2

Issuer self-reported, with no filing-record path. Unscored in version 0.2.

Proof Cycle

Every dimension reports on one cadence: the Proof Cycle. It is quarterly. One cycle covers all dimensions a venture reports, so a reader compares like against like across quarters.

Consequential items do not wait for the next cycle. They ship as event driven notices between cycles, with the same provenance a cycle record carries. A liquidity date, a covenant breach, a K-1 event: these are notices, dated and sourced.

Visibility and provenance

Reports are projections of one registry, not separate documents. Every metric carries provenance: the source system it came from, the location meter it was read at, and the as-of date it holds for.

Every proof carries a visibility tag. Operating metrics are universal. Capital facts are permissioned. Data unifies, cash does not.

Public: Readable by anyone.
Investor: Readable by holders of record.
Layer: Readable within a named layer of the structure.
Internal: Readable by the venture only.

Extension rule

A Domain Thesis may add proofs and may narrow reporting within a base type. It may never alter, remove, or redefine a base type. A change to a base type ships only by versioned amendment to the Standard, never by per-thesis exception.

Versioning and pinning

The Standard is versioned. This is version 0.2. Base types change only by versioned amendment to the Standard, never by per-thesis exception.

A Domain Thesis is pinned by content hash. A Pinned Thesis is that document at a specific version, adopted by consent. Two parties agree on one hash, and both read the same shapes for the term.

The Standard is pinned the same way. A host instrument adopts it by naming it, its version, and the content hash printed at the top of this page, and both sides can verify that pin from the published manifest without asking the publisher.

Prior versions stay served so a pin never breaks. Version 0.1 is frozen and superseded; its schemas and examples remain at their published addresses.

0.1: Frozen, superseded by version 0.2. sha256:2b352c56fd67c93f3c933a5b641fc133afb5d62cb1b26ca80bbee415c4cf5852

JSON Schema

Stubs for version 0.2. Each dimension record shares one envelope, the Proof Record, and adds its own proofs. The envelope carries the Proof Cycle, the as-of date, the visibility tag, and provenance. A Domain Thesis may add proofs within the proofs object. It may never alter the envelope.

Proof Record, the shared envelopeproof-record.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/proof-record.schema.json",
  "title": "Proof Record",
  "description": "The shared envelope for every Proof Dimension record. One Proof Cycle, one dimension, one record. Stub for Proofscaling version 0.2.",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "description": "The Proof Dimension this record reports.",
      "enum": [
        "form",
        "playbook",
        "conversion",
        "streak",
        "stats"
      ]
    },
    "standardVersion": {
      "const": "0.2"
    },
    "pinnedThesis": {
      "description": "The Domain Thesis this record is reported under, pinned by content hash. Optional for base reporting.",
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^sha256:[0-9a-fA-F]{64}$"
    },
    "proofCycle": {
      "$ref": "#/$defs/proofCycle"
    },
    "asOf": {
      "$ref": "#/$defs/asOf"
    },
    "visibility": {
      "$ref": "#/$defs/visibility"
    },
    "provenance": {
      "$ref": "#/$defs/provenance"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "standardVersion",
    "proofCycle",
    "asOf",
    "visibility"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "$defs": {
    "proofCycle": {
      "title": "Proof Cycle",
      "description": "The quarterly cadence. One cycle, all dimensions.",
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "year": {
          "type": "integer",
          "minimum": 2000
        },
        "quarter": {
          "enum": [
            "Q1",
            "Q2",
            "Q3",
            "Q4"
          ]
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "year",
        "quarter"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "asOf": {
      "description": "The date this record holds for.",
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date"
    },
    "visibility": {
      "description": "Scoped reporting. Operating metrics are universal, capital facts are permissioned.",
      "enum": [
        "Public",
        "Investor",
        "Layer",
        "Internal"
      ]
    },
    "provenance": {
      "title": "Provenance",
      "description": "Where a metric came from. Every metric carries provenance.",
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "source": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The source system that produced the value."
        },
        "meter": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ],
          "description": "The location meter the value was read at, where applicable."
        },
        "asOf": {
          "$ref": "#/$defs/asOf"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "source",
        "asOf"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "amount": {
      "title": "Amount",
      "description": "A quantity in a stated unit. The unit may be a currency or a system unit of account.",
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "value": {
          "type": "number"
        },
        "unit": {
          "type": "string",
          "examples": [
            "USD",
            "REV",
            "kWh"
          ]
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "value",
        "unit"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "measure": {
      "title": "Measure",
      "description": "A measured value with an optional method.",
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "value": {
          "type": "number"
        },
        "unit": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "method": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "value",
        "unit"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    }
  }
}

Form Proof Dimensionform.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/form.schema.json",
  "title": "Form Proof Dimension",
  "description": "How the venture measures and discloses: assurance level, timeliness, and completeness. Form binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard schema, version 0.07, for the financial reporting shape it reads. It does not redefine it.",
  "type": "object",
  "$comment": "Form binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard schema 0.07 for the financial reporting shape it reads.",
  "allOf": [
    {
      "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "const": "form"
    },
    "binding": {
      "description": "This dimension binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard for the financial reporting shape it reads. It does not redefine it.",
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "standard": {
          "const": "SAFR Reporting Standard"
        },
        "version": {
          "const": "0.07"
        },
        "schema": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The pinned SAFR schema URL, where one is bound.",
          "format": "uri"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "standard",
        "version"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "proofs": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "assurance": {
          "description": "The assurance level attached to the financials: filed, reviewed, or audited.",
          "enum": [
            "filed",
            "reviewed",
            "audited"
          ]
        },
        "timeliness": {
          "description": "Whether the filing arrived inside its reporting window, and the lag in days.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/measure"
        },
        "ledgerBase": {
          "description": "The economic base of the venture. The term is Ledger Base, never Ledger NAV.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/amount"
        },
        "completeness": {
          "description": "Whether the cost side is instrumented well enough to derive a margin rather than assert one.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/measure"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "assurance"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "binding",
    "proofs"
  ]
}

Playbook Proof Dimensionplaybook.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/playbook.schema.json",
  "title": "Playbook Proof Dimension",
  "description": "What the venture committed to, and how binding the commitment is. A commitment verified from the record, not marketing language on a page.",
  "type": "object",
  "$comment": "Stub for Proofscaling 0.2.",
  "allOf": [
    {
      "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "const": "playbook"
    },
    "proofs": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "commitment": {
          "description": "The forward commitment on record, in the venture's own filed words.",
          "type": "string"
        },
        "bindingKind": {
          "description": "How binding the commitment is, from strongest to weakest structural form.",
          "enum": [
            "security",
            "charter",
            "employee_ownership",
            "use_of_proceeds",
            "declaration"
          ]
        },
        "unitOfAccount": {
          "description": "The unit of account the commitment is denominated in, where it defines a payoff.",
          "type": "string",
          "examples": [
            "REV",
            "USD"
          ]
        },
        "reserveCoverage": {
          "description": "Coverage of the commitment by any reserve backing it, as a ratio.",
          "type": "number",
          "minimum": 0
        },
        "liquidityCadence": {
          "description": "The dates the commitment comes due, where it defines them.",
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "date"
          }
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "commitment",
        "bindingKind"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "proofs"
  ]
}

Conversion Proof Dimensionconversion.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/conversion.schema.json",
  "title": "Conversion Proof Dimension",
  "description": "What the venture delivered against what it declared. Delivered-versus-declared to the extent the filing record supports it.",
  "type": "object",
  "$comment": "Stub for Proofscaling 0.2.",
  "allOf": [
    {
      "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "const": "conversion"
    },
    "proofs": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "declared": {
          "description": "What the venture declared it would deliver, from the filed record.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/amount"
        },
        "delivered": {
          "description": "What the venture delivered against that declaration.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/amount"
        },
        "revenue": {
          "description": "Revenue disclosed for the cycle, with its direction period over period.",
          "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/measure"
        },
        "repeatRaise": {
          "description": "Whether a repeat raise followed a prior cycle: the market's verdict that the last one delivered.",
          "type": "boolean"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "revenue"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "proofs"
  ]
}

Streak Proof Dimensionstreak.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/streak.schema.json",
  "title": "Streak Proof Dimension",
  "description": "How long and how consistently the venture has reported. Cadence, consecutive periods, and operating history.",
  "type": "object",
  "$comment": "Stub for Proofscaling 0.2.",
  "allOf": [
    {
      "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "const": "streak"
    },
    "proofs": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "reportingPeriods": {
          "description": "The count of annual-report periods on file.",
          "type": "integer",
          "minimum": 0
        },
        "consecutivePeriods": {
          "description": "The longest unbroken run of consecutive reporting periods.",
          "type": "integer",
          "minimum": 0
        },
        "operatingYears": {
          "description": "Years of operating history since formation.",
          "type": "number",
          "minimum": 0
        },
        "cadenceHeld": {
          "description": "Whether the reporting cadence held across the declared periods, with no gap.",
          "type": "boolean"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "reportingPeriods"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "proofs"
  ]
}

Stats Proof Dimensionstats.schema.json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://proofscaling.org/schema/0.2/stats.schema.json",
  "title": "Stats Proof Dimension",
  "description": "What the venture reports directly beyond its filings. Issuer self-reporting with no filing-record path, unscored in version 0.2 until that data exists.",
  "type": "object",
  "$comment": "Stub for Proofscaling 0.2. Stats is issuer self-reported and has no filing-record path, so it is unscored in this version.",
  "allOf": [
    {
      "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "dimension": {
      "const": "stats"
    },
    "selfReported": {
      "description": "Stats is issuer self-reported. It carries no filing-record path and is unscored in version 0.2.",
      "const": true
    },
    "proofs": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "metrics": {
          "description": "Self-reported operating metrics, each carrying its own provenance.",
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "key": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "reading": {
                "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/measure"
              },
              "provenance": {
                "$ref": "proof-record.schema.json#/$defs/provenance"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "key",
              "reading",
              "provenance"
            ],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        }
      },
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "dimension",
    "selfReported"
  ]
}

The Form dimension binds to the SAFR Reporting Standard schema, version 0.07, for the financial reporting shape it reads. Proofscaling does not redefine it. See the SAFR relationship.