The Proof Contract: From Consensus to Receipts

Mathematics still closes proofs through expert consensus and time, but machine-speed work adds a new requirement: trust must travel across institutions, kernels, libraries, budgets, and toolchains. That’s where many “truth disputes” actually come from — people disagreeing about regimes without realizing it. A Proof Contract makes proof status relational: Verified-under-(R), backed by replayable receipts and explicit reason codes when verification can’t be replayed. It also makes YELLOW legitimate: trusted, socially closed, but not yet portable — with a clear upgrade path rather than vague doubt.