Gordian Envelope

Semantic & Data Protocol

Specification for a "smart document" structured data format providing hierarchical binary documents with built-in Merkle-like digest tree, deterministic CBOR encoding, signatures, encryption, and selective elision/redaction. The defining feature is hash-based elision: holders can selectively reveal or hide parts of a document for specific recipients without invalidating the digest tree, supporting both privacy-preserving disclosure and cryptographic proofs of original content. Foundation for the Blockchain Commons "Gordian" stack and underlying format for XID controller documents, Gordian Clubs, and GSTP transport. Sub-specs include Known Values (vocabulary), Permits (cryptographic access control), GSTP (Gordian Sealed Transaction Protocol), and ESC (Encrypted State Continuation)

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Detalhes

Licença BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License — bc-envelope (Rust), BCSwiftEnvelope (Swift), bc-envelope-cli, multiple TypeScript ports
Status de Dev 🟢 Ativo
Detalhe do Status de Dev Released — production-ready libraries (Rust, Swift, TypeScript); IETF Informational Draft (Experimental track), draft-mcnally-envelope-10; ongoing W3C Credentials Community Group discussion
Proprietário Blockchain Commons LLC (not-for-profit benefit corporation founded by Christopher Allen, April 25, 2019; Berkeley, California). Specification authors: Wolf McNally (Lead Researcher) and Christopher Allen
País USA (Berkeley, California)
Ano de Início 2022
Stack Rust (bc-envelope), Swift (BCSwiftEnvelope), TypeScript ports; CLI tool (bc-envelope-cli)
Financiamento Blockchain Commons donations and patron sponsorships (GitHub Sponsors, BTCPay)
Última Investigação 1 de jul. de 2026

Domínios de Caso de Uso

Co-Creation & Knowledge

Semantic & Data Protocol Atributos

Origins Blockchain Commons; built atop dCBOR foundation
Database N/A — data format specification; envelopes can be stored in any database, file, or transmitted over any channel
Query Language N/A directly — Envelope structure supports selective-disclosure queries via inclusion proofs; expression evaluation supported via BCR-2023-012 but not a general query language
Data Formats CBOR (deterministic via dCBOR); SHA-256 Merkle digest tree; recursive subject-predicate-object semantic triples
Collaborative Live Editing N/A — data format, not a collaborative editor
Rich Text Editing N/A — data format; rich-text concerns belong to applications using Envelope
Mobile Support Yes (via Swift and Rust libraries)
Web Support Yes (via TypeScript ports)
Native Apps Yes — used in Gordian Seed Tool (iOS/macOS), Gordian Coordinator, and other reference apps
Terms Open standard, BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License
Funds Unknown — funded under Blockchain Commons general operating budget (GitHub Sponsors and corporate sponsors); specific Envelope allocation not separately published
Based On dCBOR (Deterministic CBOR Application Profile); RFC 8949 (CBOR); SHA-256
Semantic Web Compatibility Subject-predicate-object model derived from RDF; Known Values include Schema.org assignments; cross-references possible to RDF/JSON-LD vocabularies
Protocol Maturity / Standardization IETF Informational Draft (draft-mcnally-envelope-10, Sep 30, 2025, Experimental track); W3C CCG discussion ongoing; production-ready libraries
Vocabulary / Ontology Type Smart document structure with Known Values registry (predicate vocabulary); subject-predicate-object semantic triples
Usage Pattern Foundation for higher-level Blockchain Commons specs (XID, Gordian Clubs, GSTP, ESC); used as a structured data carrier in airgap protocols, credential systems, autonomous cryptographic objects