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AER-1 Draft -22 Changelog: Independent Validator Convergence

Draft -22 of AER-1 records the moment the format stopped depending on its author's checker. An independent validator, WhiteMagic Labs, maintained by Lucas Bailey, converged with the reference kit keylessly: it checked the same receipts and reached the same outcomes, without keys, accounts, or access to the reference implementation's internals. Lucas Bailey is listed in the draft as an independent validator.

Read the current text at draft-zambo-aer1 on the IETF Datatracker. Cross-check a receipt yourself: run the kit from the AER-1 kit repository, then check the same receipt free at zambo.dev/verify.

Updated October 20, 2026.

What convergence means here

Two checkers converge when, given the same receipt, they reach the same outcome for the same reason: the same canonical bytes, the same output hash recompute, the same verdict on intact records and the same verdict on altered ones. WhiteMagic Labs reached that agreement with the reference kit keylessly, which matters because a check that needs a vendor key or a vendor account is a check only customers can run. Anyone can run this one.

Why an independent validator changes the claim

Before -22, a skeptic could say the kit passes its own tests. After -22, the record includes another implementation, built and run by someone else, agreeing on real receipts. That is the difference between a test suite and an ecosystem: the format, not the codebase, is what both sides share. Lucas Bailey is listed in the draft as an independent validator, so the convergence is part of the draft's own record, not a claim on a marketing page.

What implementers must do

Treat cross-checking as part of conformance, not an extra. Run the open kit against your verifier, and where an independent validator is available, check the same receipts there too and compare outcomes receipt by receipt. A disagreement is a finding: work out which reading of the draft produced it, and file it. The draft's history, from Genesis in -20 to the id-binding clarification in -21, is a record of exactly that loop producing better text. Implement against the current revision, -24, which keeps the -22 validation record and the Section 6 anchor-outcome vocabulary added in -23.

Cite this draft

Cite AER-1 as the IETF Internet-Draft draft-zambo-aer1, current revision -24, posted October 20, 2026 and expiring April 23, 2027, at datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-zambo-aer1.

@misc{zambo-aer1,
  author = {Brennan Zambo},
  title = {AER-1: Agent Execution Receipt, version 1},
  howpublished = {IETF Internet-Draft draft-zambo-aer1-24},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-zambo-aer1/}
}

Honest limits

Convergence proves two implementations read the current draft the same way on the receipts tested. It does not prove every receipt either checker will ever see, and it does not certify the work inside any receipt. Draft -22 is also a historical revision, superseded by -23 on October 19, 2026 and by -24 on October 20, 2026. And the standing limit applies: a receipt proves the saved result was not changed after the fact, never that the work was correct.

Frequently asked questions

What changed in AER-1 draft -22?

Draft -22 records independent validator convergence. WhiteMagic Labs, maintained by Lucas Bailey, converged with the reference kit keylessly, checking the same receipts to the same outcomes. Lucas Bailey is listed in the draft as an independent validator, so the convergence is part of the draft's own implementation record.

What does validator convergence prove?

It proves two independent implementations read the draft the same way on the receipts tested: same canonical bytes, same output hash recompute, same verdicts on intact and altered records. The format, not one codebase, is what both sides share. It does not prove the work inside any receipt was correct.

What does keyless mean for the WhiteMagic validator?

It means the independent check ran without keys, accounts, or access to the reference implementation's internals. A check that needs a vendor key is a check only customers can run. A keyless public validator lets anyone cross-check a receipt, which is the conformance idea applied between implementations.

What must implementers do about draft -22?

Cross-check, do not just self-test. Run the open conformance kit against your verifier, check the same receipts with an independent validator where one is available, and compare outcomes receipt by receipt. Treat any disagreement as a finding and file it. Implement against the current revision, -24.

Is draft -22 the current AER-1 revision?

No. Draft -22 was superseded by draft -23, posted October 19, 2026 and expiring April 22, 2027. Draft -23 keeps the validation record and adds the Section 6 anchor-outcome vocabulary, including reporting an unevaluated anchor as not checked. Draft -24, posted October 20, 2026 and expiring April 23, 2027, is the current revision: an editorial update that corrects the corpus count to 119 vectors and 122 checks and refreshes three citations, with no normative change. The current text is at datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-zambo-aer1/.

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