Proof of Containment
Ownership and Attribution Notice
Proof of Containment (PP-SPEC-082) is authored by Craig Thomas Ellrod and is published as part of Proof Protocol. Copyright (c) 2026 Craig Thomas Ellrod.
Any use, implementation, derivative, citation, or incorporation of this specification, in whole or in part, MUST attribute Craig Thomas Ellrod and Proof Protocol. This requirement applies to standards bodies, working groups, consortia, and commercial implementations.
Licensed under the Proof Protocol License 1.1 (see LICENSE.md); text CC BY 4.0 under Part A, which grants no patent rights. Original inventor: Craig Thomas Ellrod (ORCID 0009-0004-1058-7666).
Patents. Patent terms are in PATENT-SCHEDULE.md. Claims not listed there are reserved by Craig Thomas Ellrod. Licensing: 1proofprotocol@gmail.com.
Did the containment control hold the agent?
A jail that was never tested against an escape is a suggestion, not a wall.
Proof of Containment is the claim that a containment control held an Agent Under Test: every induced offense in scope was arrested and held, and every escape vector in scope was tried and failed. It is computed from the bookings, verdicts and Escape Test Suite results of PP-SPEC-078 Jailed Canary runs. A containment control is the Device Under Test; its arrest rules are Controls Under Test.
How it works
- Declare first. The claim, its subject, scope and limits are registered and anchored before the evidence they are measured against is produced.
- Evidence from the family. The claim is determined only from Conformant, registered Proof Protocol records: - PP-SPEC-078 bookings and verdicts - PP-SPEC-078 Escape Test Suite results - PP-SPEC-078 rates - Kill Switch evidence
- Determine mechanically. Exactly one of
proven,refutedorinsufficient, computed the same way by a person and a machine. - Publish everything. Every Determination is registered, whatever its result.
- Expire honestly. A changed control, a revoked basis record, or the end of the declared period ends the claim.
Part of the Proof of X family
Only Proof of Efficacy answers whether a control worked. Proof of Containment answers one other question a reader needs answered. See SPEC.md Section 11 for the whole family, PP-SPEC-082, PP-SPEC-089 to PP-SPEC-099 and PP-SPEC-101.
Repository
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
| SPEC.md | The normative specification, PP-SPEC-082 |
| docs/overview.md | Plain-English walkthrough |
| docs/glossary.md | Terms |
| docs/conformance.md | Conformance checklist |
| schemas/containment-claim.schema.json | Claim Declaration and Claim Record schemas |
| schemas/ai-disclosure.schema.json | Authorship Disclosure schema (077 21.15) |
| CHANGELOG.md | Version history |
| CONTRIBUTING.md | How to engage |
| GOVERNANCE.md | How this specification is governed |
| NOTICE.md | Attribution requirements |
| AI_DISCLOSURE.md | What was human-authored and what was AI-drafted |
| FUNDING.md | Funding disclosure |
| REVIEWERS.md | Review disclosure |
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md | Credits |
| ETHICS.md | Proof Economy Code of Ethics |
| CITATION.cff | Citation metadata |
| SECURITY.md | Reporting protocol flaws |
| PATENT-SCHEDULE.md | Patent terms |
| LICENSE.md | License terms |
| LICENSE-CC-BY-4.0.md | CC BY 4.0, specification text |
| LICENSE-APACHE-2.0.md | Apache License 2.0, reference text |
Status
Draft, version 0.1.0, 2026-11-04. Maintained by Craig Thomas Ellrod as part of Proof Protocol.
Builds on PP-SPEC-078 (Jailed Canary), PP-SPEC-077 (Dead Canary). Records are registered to a PP-SPEC-004 registry; the public instance is proofregister.com.
Glossary: Proof of Containment. Specifications: proofprotocol.io.
Archived on Zenodo: pending.
Related: Proof Economy Prior Art Declaration, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21379780.
Cite
Ellrod, C. (2026). Proof of Containment (PP-SPEC-082), v0.1.0.
Craig Thomas Ellrod, Proof Protocol. https://github.com/proofprotocol/PP-SPEC-082-PROOF-OF-CONTAINMENT