Verify a proof

A complete proof is a ProofBundle. It may contain the home threshold signature, home batch inclusion, peer cross-anchors, and external-anchor records. The CLI runs the same witness-core::verify_proof_bundle checks used for local bundle verification.

Fetch and verify

witness --gateway http://localhost:8080 verify-proof \
  --hash a591a6d40bf420404a011733cfb7b190d62c65bf0bcda32b57b277d9ad9f146e \
  --online

--online fetches the home network's secret-free verification configuration and fetches missing peer configurations referenced by the home federation policy. Use --output json for the machine-readable result.

Verify a saved bundle

witness verify-proof --bundle proof-bundle.json \
  --network-config network-verification.json \
  --peer-config peer-a.json \
  --peer-config peer-b.json

--bundle and --hash are mutually exclusive. The home configuration is required for an offline run. Peer files are required for cross-anchor checks that are to be performed locally; a missing peer is reported as unverified, not assumed valid.

Interpret the result

A successful text result begins with VALID and reports the home hash and network, verified and required signatures, batch status, each peer result, external-anchor count, and a level. JSON reports valid, verified_signatures, required_signatures, batch_inclusion_verified, cross_anchors_verified, external_anchors_present, and level.

Basic means the home threshold signature verified. Batched additionally means the home Merkle inclusion verified. Federated additionally requires the configured number of distinct peer networks to verify their cross-anchor signatures and minimums. External anchors are counted as present only; this command does not validate provider-specific evidence.

This is evidence about signed digests and commitments. It does not prove the source content, its ownership, a globally agreed time, or future availability.