third-party-review-readiness.md

Third-Party Review Readiness (Compact Index)

Snapshot date: 2026-04-24 (UTC)
Audience: External technical reviewers, enterprise diligence teams, and audit-oriented evaluators.
Positioning boundary: This is a repository navigation index for review readiness, not a third-party certification.

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1) What this product currently claims

VERITAS OS claims a governance-first control plane for AI decisions, with a bind boundary before real-world effect:

• Decision Governance + bind-boundary control plane semantics.
• Operator-facing governance workflows and APIs.
• Reviewable / traceable / replayable / auditable / enforceable decision lifecycle.

Primary claim sources:

• README (fact vs roadmap boundary)
• Public Positioning Guide
• Bind-Boundary Governance Artifacts

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2) What is implemented now (repository-verifiable)

Use these as the shortest implementation entrypoints:

1. Public API contract and operator bind vocabulary
   • openapi.yaml (bind_summary, bind_outcome, governance/bind endpoints).
2. Bind artifact contract
   • veritas_os/policy/bind_artifacts.py (ExecutionIntent, BindReceipt).
3. Operator-facing API binding
   • veritas_os/api/bind_summary.py
   • veritas_os/api/routes_governance.py
   • veritas_os/api/routes_system.py
4. Scope boundary statement
   • Implemented vs Pending Boundary
5. Evidence Bundle reviewer verification
   • Evidence Bundle verification separates file/hash integrity from manifest authenticity and supports strict Ed25519 manifest verification using a trusted public key.
   • Evidence Bundle Reviewer Checklist
   • Evidence Bundle Signature Verification Demo
   • Sample Evidence Bundle Verification Output
   • Trusted Public Key Provenance Receipt
   • Reviewer Key Provenance Walkthrough
   • Reviewer Handoff Guide
   • Reviewer Handoff Sample Quickstart
   • External Audit Readiness Pack

Related documentation map:

• Technical Proof Pack
• Validation Evidence Map
• Lara / PromptLedger Static Review Response Matrix

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3) Which automated checks exist

For external reviewers, start with validation strategy + release-gate definitions:

• Production Validation Strategy
• Backend Parity Coverage
• .github/workflows/main.yml (PR/push blocking checks)
• .github/workflows/release-gate.yml (release-blocking checks)
• .github/workflows/production-validation.yml (scheduled/manual production-like checks)

Representative bind/governance test surfaces:

• tests/test_bind_admissibility.py
• tests/test_continuation_enforcement_integration.py
• frontend/app/governance/control-plane.test.tsx
• frontend/app/governance/components/PolicyBundlePromotionFlow.test.tsx
• frontend/app/governance/components/BindCockpit.test.tsx

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4) What is roadmap or environment-specific

Treat the following as explicitly out-of-scope for repository-only assurance:

• Independent third-party certification completion.
• Regulatory certification.
• Completed third-party audit approval.
• Tenant-specific production controls (IdP, key custody, retention, HA/DR, ops execution quality).
• Universal guarantee across all deployment environments.

Evidence Bundle verification is reviewer-facing verification support, not a certification or audit approval claim. Trusted public keys must come from an out-of-band reviewer/operator trust channel, not from the Evidence Bundle alone.

Primary boundary sources:

• Implemented vs Pending Boundary
• External Audit Readiness
• PostgreSQL Production Guide
• Security Hardening Checklist

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5) 15-minute reviewer path (recommended)

1. Read Short DD Summary (orientation).
2. Read this compact index (claim/implementation/check/boundary split).
3. Read Implemented vs Pending Boundary.
4. Read Recent Hardening Notes for recent auditability, observability, CI gate, API compatibility, and dependency-risk visibility updates.
5. Spot-check API contract in openapi.yaml and one bind mutation path.
6. Confirm validation gates in Production Validation Strategy.
7. For Evidence Bundle verification, run through the Evidence Bundle Reviewer Checklist.

If deeper verification is needed, continue with External Reviewer Checklist.