deviant/Parameters/project-context.md

Here is the project context document. Use it as reference for our session.

> Synthesized from all 135 snapshot files in `snapshots/` (read oldest-first by modification date, `0001-init` → `0132-modest-...arithmetic-vote`). This is a condensed master reference — for primary detail consult the individual snapshot, `wiki/decisions.md` (ADRs), and `deviant_technical_spec_v2.7.md`.

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## 1. Project overview and goals

**Deviant** is a non-custodial Bitcoin Cash (BCH) wallet plus an on-chain asset protocol (issuance, backing, and permissionless exchange) built on CashTokens and CashScript covenants. The author/owner is **Deviant** (a Bitcoin Cash, big-blocker / on-chain-scaling–aligned project). The thesis: Deviant's core distinction is *what it introduces* — **MBA** (assets with intrinsic, consensus-enforced BCH backing, unilaterally redeemable with no counterparty) and the **counterparty-free ASM** (permissionless swaps with no DEX/AMM/oracle/operator) — built *directly on Layer 1*, **eliminating trusted third parties wherever the chain can enforce a rule itself**. BCH's design — a UTXO model with native CashTokens and covenant introspection, proof-of-work, and large-block on-chain scaling — is the *enabling substrate* that makes these consensus-enforced *and* economical at scale; it is not itself the differentiator (other chains also run financial primitives on-chain, on different models, and it is unclear any other UTXO/PoW chain matches what CashScript enables here). The differentiator is the backing (MBA) and the counterparty-free exchange (ASM) Deviant adds on top.

The recurring design principle, stated explicitly in the voting work and applied throughout: **"What the chain CAN enforce, the chain SHOULD enforce."** A UI is a *reporter* of consensus facts, never an *authority*.

Core product pillars:

- **ASM (Automated Swap Mechanism)** — permissionless, BCH-backed asset swaps with no DEX/AMM/oracle/operator. Every asset UTXO is *self-backed* (carries its own BCH inside at a fixed rate); swaps are atomic single transactions enforced by consensus, not by coupled covenants. The protocol-as-immutable-liquidity-provider layer is branded **Poseidon** (deep as an ocean — always available, unlimited liquidity).
- **MBA (Minted Backed Asset)** — the backed-asset family. Each unit carries an intrinsic, consensus-enforced BCH backing redeemable unilaterally by the holder (no counterparty, oracle, or market needed). Sub-types: DEA (Direct Emission Asset / hard-backed), PLA (commodity), MCA (bond), MTA (tranche). *Naming runs dual-register, in parallel: technical docs use these expansions (Minted Backed Asset / Direct Emission Asset); broad-audience material uses Mathematically Backed Asset / Deviant Equilibrium Asset.*
- **NBA (Non-Backed Asset)** — assets with no per-unit consensus invariant: game currency (PTU), mineable coins (PTL), meme/tokens (MTU), NFT/collectibles (MTL). CDP-style stablecoins (DAI-shape) classify as **PTU** — *collateral backs the debt, not the token*.
- **DRA (Dynamic-Rate Asset)** — MBA whose backing rate is a transparent, published, deterministic function of contract state (bonding curve, escalating/decreasing fee, exponential/step/arithmetic ladders).
- **Event/prediction markets** — pari-mutuel "totes," oracle-settled bilateral escrows, and "Family D" collateralized binary-share markets (Polymarket-shape, CLOB + AMM).
- **On-chain governance — Athena (Athenae)** (goddess of wisdom and protection) — a bicameral-sortition voting system with anti-plutocracy economics, implemented as a stack of covenants (CitizenToken, ApplicationCovenant, RegistryState, BallotCovenant, EndorsementCovenant, ElderFreezeAction, ComplaintCovenant). The Tier-4 Elders are **Themis (Themidae)** (goddess of divine law/justice/order); documents use **Athenian Democracy** terminology (sortition, citizens, chambers) as accompanying synonyms.
- **The CosmoGenesis wallet shell** (*cosmo* = world/universe + *genesis* = birth) — a Capacitor + React app running the wallet core client-side in-WebView (non-custodial), with a four-tab IA: Main / Assets / **Avalanche** (create/mint) / **Apps** (dApp connectors + **Agora**, the asset launchpad, discovery, and swap/exchange marketplace — the space where users meet and trade). (**Orbital** = the asset listing / explorer — a market-cap-style index of all assets and their data, cf. coinmarketcap / cashtokensmarketcap.)

Process conventions: staged validation **regtest → chipnet → mainnet**; every milestone recorded as a numbered `snapshots/NNNN-*.md`; architectural decisions recorded as ADRs in `wiki/decisions.md`. The protocol's first end-to-end swap was validated on chipnet at snapshot 0008; 52,998 swaps have run since with zero exploits (canonical count: `ASM_Native/ASM-single-asset-throughput.md` §4a).

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## 2. Key architectural decisions (chronological)

Early foundational pivots (snapshots 0001–0020):

- **0001–0003** — TS + CashScript SDK stack; OP_RETURN-tagged token design; regtest harness via `MockNetworkProvider` (no Docker).
- **0004 (ADR-0006)** — *Pivot to CashTokens.* OP_RETURN tagging abandoned; CashTokens FT becomes the consensus primitive, BCMR for metadata, rate floor raised to 1000 bits/unit. ADR-0004 superseded.
- **0007–0008** — *Self-backed UTXO model + reservoir model.* Each FT UTXO carries `tokenAmount × backingRateSats` of BCH inside it; redemption is a plain P2PKH spend (contract-free). Full FT supply (up to 2⁶³−1) is pre-minted at genesis into a contract "reservoir"; `claim()` drains it at the protocol rate. **Q4 answered YES on chipnet** (0008): a single tx can atomically redeem one token and mint another — atomicity is BCH-level, not covenant-coupled. Category bytes use consensus LE ordering (`txidToConsensusBytes = hexToBin(hex).reverse()`).
- **0009** — Open-mint validated cross-wallet: anyone can reconstruct a contract from public params and claim; no founder approval needed when `founderFeeBps=0`.
- **0011–0012, 0017–0020** — *Threat model established.* The **rate-peg check** (`output[recipient].value == amount × rate`) is the single load-bearing security invariant; without it a contract is trivially drained (V-002). Other threats: V-001 rogue minting NFT (mitigated by output-cap / picker filter on `nft.amount > 0`); T-001 non-canonical "backdoor" contract issuing underbacked FTs (mitigated by D-1 + D-2); T-002 B-model definition poisoning (irreducible; mitigated by wallet friction D-4..D-8).

The verify/defense layer (snapshots 0022, 0031):

- **D-1 — canonical contract verification:** reconstruct the canonical template with published params, compare P2SH32 address *and* byte-exact redeem script on chain (0031 removed the collision-resistance caveat). Pinned bytecode hash is the third independent layer (ADR-0008 Decision A: embedded canonical artifact, not a signed manifest).
- **D-2 — per-UTXO backing check:** `expected = units × rate`; flag UNDERBACKED and exclude from redeemable balance.
- **D-3 — verification source:** canonical artifacts embedded as JSON imports (0052) so the core bundles for browser with no `fs`/`path`.

Mid-arc taxonomy and asset-class ADRs:

- **ADR-0015 (0027/0037)** — Dynamic-Rate Asset (DRA) recognized; transparency of the curve is mandatory (a masked single rate is a T-003 masquerade attack). Multi-template D-1.
- **ADR-0025 (0044/0049)** — obligor-free MBA (backing intrinsic + present, not a third party's promise) + denomination schedule (display decimals scale with order of magnitude; BCH's 8 decimals is the ceiling).
- **ADR-0026 (0053)** — CosmoGenesis four-tab UI + glossary (ASM = **Automated** Swap Mechanism).
- **ADR-0027 (0054)** — NBA = Non-Backed Assets family (replaces "Token" label).
- **ADR-0028 (0055)** — per-class real-world peer labels; stablecoins (USDT/USDC) reclassified MTU; consensus-backing test for MBA membership.
- **ADR-0029 (0058/0059)** — stepped founder fee accepted; **supply trigger** is canonical (`feeBps = min(base + (issued/step)·feeStep, maxFee)`); decreasing-fee sibling promoted; block-height trigger rejected (`tx.time` not readable as an arithmetic value, only a CLTV lower bound).
- **ADR-0030 (0060)** — Family D collateralized binary share market (Polymarket model): fixed-terminal-value shares, `split`/`merge` invariant `1 collateral → 1 YES + 1 NO`, oracle-settled, no pro-rata residual.
- **ADR-0031 (0065/0075)** — oracle-priced vault / synthetic-USD hedge leg. Amendment named two rejected dynamic-rate-MBA "stablecoin" variants (minting price ≠ a maintained peg).
- **ADR-0032 (0066)** — ExpiringMBA: time-boxed self-backed instrument; "automatic expiry" = consensus time gate (CLTV) + permissionless conversion to a fixed owner. Nothing is truly automatic on UTXO (no scheduler).
- **ADR-0033 (0067–0073)** — CDP stablecoin taxonomy, 9 decisions. Headline: *collateral backs the debt, not the token*; CDP token is PTU (unbacked). "Secured ≠ backed." The **volatility paradox** (Decision 7): the asset marketed as safe is the one whose advertised property fails under stress; an MBA promises nothing it cannot keep. Value-flow asymmetry (Decision 9): upside always flows *past* the stablecoin holder.
- **ADR-0034 (0069)** — buyer-funded PoS cashback is a wallet tx-construction feature, **not a covenant** (a locking script runs only when its own UTXO is spent, never on receipt).
- **ADR-0035 (0075)** — BCH as a self-custodied USD rail; four-option matrix (raw BCH+ASM / synthetic-USD hedge / custodial USD-on-BCH / oracle-stamped transit receipt); Deviant's contribution is the *assembly*, not the primitives.
- **ADR-0036 (0080, 0085, 0092)** — on-ramp providers in Apps→Discover; ranking = **transparency, not endorsement** (three never-merged signals: objective facts, external plural reputation via kycnot.me, device-local user rating). External link-outs; Tier-3 transactional API deferred (later narrowly admitted for SideShift in 0103).
- **ADR-0037 (0087)** — supply semantics: (A) seed reservoir at 2⁶³−1 so "depletion" is a non-event for circulating MBAs; (B) Token-family supply is not scarcity.
- **ADR-0039 (0101, refined 0104)** — **MBA divisible by default.** Atomic floor pinned at dust-safe 1000 bits; decimals carry value. Refined to a uniform 2-decimal default (clamping only when the whole-unit rate isn't cleanly divisible). New creations only — deployed artifacts are immutable.
- **ADR-0040 (0107, + Addenda)** — voting systems: three primitives (PollCovenant allowlist / TallyState trustless tally / StakeVoteTote stake-weighted); sybil resistance lives upstream (issuer allowlist or sortition); co-spend-as-oracle idiom; bicameral sortition + adaptive bootstrap + Elder/founder tiers; removal-bond and per-vote-fee economics.

Shell / platform decisions:

- **ADR-0022 (0041)** — embed `nodejs-mobile` for the mobile shell → **SUPERSEDED same-era**.
- **ADR-0023 (0042)** — *crypto shim:* replace libauth WASM with `@noble` at build time, proven byte-for-byte, so one in-process core runs in any JS engine. This is the **current** crypto backend.
- **0043–0044** — mobile shell reopened; **Capacitor spike → GO.** Core runs client-side in the WebView with no `nodejs-mobile` and no IPC; converges mobile/desktop/web onto one in-WebView core.

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## 3. Important code patterns and mechanisms worth preserving

- **Self-backed UTXO / reservoir / claim:** the heart of the protocol. `claim(amount, recipientLockingBytecode)` mints from the reservoir and the contract enforces output shapes: `[0]` reservoir back, `[1]` FT to recipient backed at rate, `[2]` optional founder fee. Output count is capped and trailing outputs checked for zero `tokenCategory` (V-001 fix).
- **The rate peg** — the one invariant that must never be removed: `require(tx.outputs[i].value == tokenAmount × backingRateSats)`. Pegged tokens cost ~10²¹ bits to drain (impossible); unpegged cost ~675 bits (free). 18 orders of magnitude.
- **Atomic swap** — two inputs (source FT P2PKH spend + target reservoir/minting NFT), one tx. The source side releases whatever BCH its UTXO carries; the target `claim()` mints at whatever rate *it* computes. ASM is rate-function-agnostic. A 1% fee produces a consensus-enforced ~2% round-trip bid/ask spread.
- **Carried-rate trick (DRA / escalating NFTs):** store the current rate/price in a **mutable NFT commitment** at the contract address; read it via `int()` (CashScriptNum round-trips cleanly), enforce payout, then ratchet the commitment (×multiplier, +increment, etc.). Un-resettable because the position UTXO returns to the contract address. CashScript has no `pow`/loops, so escalation is done by reading carried state, and batch buys use **bounded unroll** (fixed N: `claim3()`, `claimBatch(k ≤ remainingInTier)`) rather than a variable `claimMany(n)`.
- **Co-spend-as-oracle:** one covenant attests by reading another covenant's NFT-commitment state in the same transaction (no signer, no external oracle). General idiom used in totes, Family D, and the voting tally primitives. Pin layout by fixed `tx.inputs[i]`, **not** `this.activeInputIndex`, to avoid re-execution at input 1.
- **`checkDataSig` oracle settlement:** 16-byte message, all uint32 LE (`timestamp, sequence, contentSequence, price`). Same format used by AnyHedge and Paryon PriceContract. Verifies *that* a key signed, not the *truth* of the claim.
- **Two-phase plan/execute:** every mutating wallet op splits into `plan*` (pure, previewable) and `execute*` (signs + broadcasts). Reifies D-5 friction (BCH magnitude shown before consent). Pre-broadcast audit gate refuses txs implying illicit minting. CLI is preview-only unless `--yes`.
- **Contract-free batch burns:** `redeem-all` (all MBAs → BCH at peg), `sweep-tokens` (non-MBA categories → raw bits), `swap-all <target>` (redeem-all then claim, non-atomic with a first-class resume path). All are P2PKH spends — work on any registered MBA regardless of contract type. Only `claim` (covenant mint) needs per-template integration.
- **Dependency-injected chain layer:** the pure core (`src/`) is tested with no network; `runtime.ts` provides `ElectrumUtxoSource`, broadcaster, and `connectWallet()`. Barrel `index.ts` excludes runtime so pure consumers avoid cashscript/mainnet-js.
- **Dust facts:** CashToken FT outputs need **675 bits** minimum (vs 546 P2PKH) due to the ~42-byte token prefix. Sub-dust FT remainder is folded into the burned amount rather than left unsendable. Founder fee output must clear 546 bits.
- **KeyStore contract** (`src/wallet/keystore.ts`): platform-agnostic key-custody seam; each shell implements once (WebKeyStore AES-GCM/PBKDF2; CapacitorKeyStore Keychain/EncryptedSharedPreferences + biometric). R-017 fix (0100): `create()` and `restore()` must both derive at the canonical BCH path so funds are visible to standard wallets.

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## 4. What was tried and abandoned (and why)

- **OP_RETURN-tagged token architecture** (0001–0003) → replaced by CashTokens FT (ADR-0006); the consensus primitive made it obsolete.
- **Mutable post-genesis FT supply** (assumed pre-0008) → CashTokens fixes supply at genesis; adopted the reservoir model instead.
- **`nodejs-mobile` embedded runtime** (ADR-0022) → superseded by the noble crypto shim (ADR-0023); replacing WASM at build time let the same core run in any JS engine, with no IPC.
- **Block-height fee-escalation trigger** (0058) → rejected; `tx.time` is only a CLTV lower bound, not adversarially enforceable as an arithmetic value. Supply trigger is canonical.
- **Tier-2 NFT-free tote first** then **NFTs ruled out** (0047) → reversed by ADR-0024 Addendum 2 (0048): NFTs permitted as *covenant machinery*, not collectibles — enabling covenant-enforced double-claim guards.
- **Two dynamic-rate "stablecoin" MBA variants** (ADR-0031 amendment, 0075) → rejected: a minting price is not a maintained peg; funding recalibration either does nothing or collapses into the already-covered hedge model.
- **Pool-funded / circular cashback** (0069) → rejected as circular; cashback is buyer-funded.
- **Two-slider founder-fee (feeRate + maxFeeRate) UI fiction** (0082) → removed; covenant bytecode is immutable, so a single flat slider with a lock icon is honest.
- **Off-chain pre-gate endorsement counting** (0120) → abandoned (0124, user correction): an off-chain attestation reintroduces a trusted verifier — the exact manipulation surface the design exists to remove. Replaced by on-chain `EndorsementCovenant`. The "too expensive on-chain" argument was also shown false (~$0.15/day at 100 admissions/day).
- **Dead-man's switch (founder mitigation Layer 6)** (0112) → removed; conflicts with the founder's hands-off reserve role. Replaced by elevated multi-chamber demotion paths.
- **Two-chamber interim governance** (0111) → dropped; a candidate-controlled "friend" chamber was a capture weakness. Replaced by three-stage gating (independent pre-gate + two sortitioned chambers).
- **Escalating-backing anti-plutocracy vote asset** (0125) → corrected (0126): backing must be *fixed and always-redeemable*; only the non-recoverable fee escalates. A voter must never hold more than `baseBacking` recoverable per vote.
- **Variable-N batch claim `claimMany(n)`** (0129) → impossible without `pow` (final commitment `r·mⁿ` + geometric sum); replaced by fixed-N bounded unroll. Sequential `claim()` is economically identical with no cap and is the default UX.
- **Deviant-hosted aggregate on-ramp ratings** (0080) → rejected; no accounts ⇒ no sybil resistance. Device-local ratings only.

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## 5. Current state and what's left to do

**Wallet core (`src/`) — feature-complete and live-validated on chipnet.** ~445 tests passing — the majority exercising MBAs across use cases, configurations, and adversarial / vulnerability scenarios (the early 129+ atomic swaps were the foundational proof the mechanism works; 0 exploits / 100% peg integrity throughout). Operations proven on live chipnet: balance, claim (incl. decreasing-fee `DeviantDescFeeSupply` covenant), swap, tier-A send, tier-B send, redeem, redeem-all, sweep-tokens, swap-all (both directions). D-1/D-2/D-3 verify layer in place. SQLite + LocalStorage registries. CLI (`deviant …`) and a local web UI both wired over the same `runCommand` seam.

**Assets validated on chipnet:** ASM/ASM2 (fixed-rate), metal MBAs GLD/SLV/CUP (decreasing-fee, max-reservoir) plus divisible variants GLDd/SLVd/CUPd. Route B made `DeviantDescFeeSupply` a first-class wallet asset (genesis → verify → claim → display, with founder fee correctly accruing).

**Shell (CosmoGenesis, Capacitor + React) — UI-complete, runs core client-side non-custodial.** All four tabs + Settings; live balance/class derivation; swap flow with live rates + route detection + two-phase broadcast; on-ramp Discover (provider cards, KYC/reputation chips, jurisdiction gating, SideShift Tier-3 in-wallet shift); seed-sweep; QR (qrcode.react); activity history; token import; code-split bundle (~315 kB app). Loading splash + manifesto UX. **PWA beta deployed live at `testchipnet.duckdns.org`** (chipnet + testnet4 only, mainnet structurally absent, non-dismissible beta banner, Let's Encrypt TLS).

**Event/prediction + Family D — chipnet-validated spikes.** Totes (binary, K=4, MBA-denominated, operator rake, refund/sweep); Family D configs 1–3 (BCH CLOB, MBA CLOB, fungible two-category), resting limit orders, SharePairAMM, oracle-priced vault, ExpiringMBA.

**AnyHedge / ParyonUSD integration track (multi-turn, ~6–9 turns).** Turn 0 compat validated (all 11 critical contracts compile under cashc 0.12.1, repos pinned). Turn 1 (AnyHedge half) chipnet-validated: maturity settlement + liquidation paths match the BCH-frame simulation exactly. Turn 2 (Paryon half — bootstrap 7 contracts, borrow/liquidate/redeem) is scoped and pending. Turn 3 (composition + triggers) and the `DeviantHedgePair` tradeable-FT design (Turns 4–6) follow.

**On-chain governance (ADR-0040) — Phases A–F + EndorsementCovenant complete on chipnet.** CitizenToken, ApplicationCovenant A→E (single-chamber → bicameral → anti-grinding cap/fail-fast → paid-regardless escrow → commit-reveal secret ballot), RegistryState (adaptive threshold), BallotCovenant, EndorsementCovenant (on-chain pre-gate), ElderFreezeAction, ComplaintCovenant. A full spectrum of anti-plutocracy DRA curves proven on chipnet (linear/arithmetic, exponential ×2/×10, step/tiered, super-exponential `(r·3.14)³`, dual-ladder). **Phase G remains:** canonical templates + wallet UI + regulatory pass; plus RemovalBondEscrow/TreasuryVault wiring and lazy-voter instrumentation.

**Remaining / deferred across the project:**
- Native device builds (Android Studio / Xcode) — runbook ready, needs the SDKs; iOS WKWebView + biometric/camera plugins unproven on-device.
- Mainnet validation + per-jurisdiction availability gating + regulatory counsel (R-016 blocking for any real-money pilot).
- Live re-verification of on-ramp Tier-2/kycnot.me API shapes before mainnet.
- Wallet-side genesis of DRA/descfee/escalating MBAs (claim already works; genesis UI builds only the canonical contract today).
- Spec amendment for the max-reservoir recommendation (ADR-0037 A).
- `scripts/snapshot.mjs` numbering bug (uses `length+1` not `max+1`) — repeatedly flagged, manually worked around (note the duplicate-numbered snapshots in the history).

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## 6. Open questions and unresolved issues

- **Oracle price-freshness binding** — load-bearing and production-blocking for every price-triggered instrument (ADR-0031 hedge, ADR-0033 CDP analog, OraclePricedVault). Covenants can verify *that* an oracle key signed but not *when*; no freshness bound is enforced yet.
- **MBA-floored meta-stable / basket-stable** (usd-rail §4.4) — design candidates needing pressure-testing on governance, rebalancing triggers, eligibility, maturity rollover, and regulatory bucket before any ADR.
- **B-model definition poisoning (T-002)** — irreducible by design; only mitigated by wallet friction and ecosystem plurality (D-4..D-8). B-model is restricted to closed, trusted groups; surfaced as "Drafts / Labels," not real tokens.
- **Founder permanence** in the governance design — retained against the usual sunset recommendation ("look what happened to Bitcoin without Satoshi"); flagged for a possible dedicated ADR if it becomes contentious.
- **CDP round-trip without triggers** — the killer scenario in the BCH-frame simulation (−37.7% BCH): the CDP loss is permanent while the hedge BCH gain reverses. Trigger-based defenses recover it but assume idealized timing and add an oracle-trust assumption.
- **Family D / tote multi-outcome (K>2)** — Approach #1 (fixed K=4 inline totals) is validated; per-outcome sub-pool and merkle-accumulator approaches for arbitrary K are still open.
- **CashConnect co-sign payload mapping** — `WcTransactionObject → SignTransactionV0Params[]` differs from WalletConnect; device validation of CashConnect/WizardConnect handshakes deferred.
- **Governance hardening still on paper** — CLTV announcement delays, strict 3/3 unanimous Elder freeze (MVP uses 2), elevated demotion path on-chain, per-complainer fee ramp, treasury-routing of bonds/fees, lazy-voter detection.
- **Knowledgebase corpus drift** — older HTML overview files retain pre-ADR-0027/0033 framing ("soft-backed," old taxonomy); intentionally left until a full corpus repaint.