Conformance defines what it means for an Attestor object, implementation, or governed process to conform to the Attestor architecture, specification, or profile applicable to it.
A conformance claim is always bounded: it identifies the target being assessed, the requirements set being claimed, and the evidence supporting that determination.
Conformance defines what it means for an Attestor object or implementation to satisfy the declared Attestor specification or profile applicable to it. Conformance is a governed claim against an identified requirements set, not a general statement of quality or trustworthiness.
Every conformance determination must identify what is being assessed. A target may be an Attestor object, an implementation that produces or processes Attestor objects, or a governed process where a specification explicitly defines process requirements.
A conformance claim must identify the applicable Attestor architecture, normative schema or profile, validation requirements, and any other declared requirements against which the target is assessed.
An Attestation or Trust Statement conforms only when it satisfies the complete applicable normative requirements for its declared object class/profile. Passing a subset of structural checks is not sufficient for a broader conformance claim.
An implementation conforms only within the capabilities and profiles actually tested. Producing one valid example does not establish that an implementation correctly handles every Attestor object, lifecycle state, relationship, version, or evaluation context.
Where Attestor defines a normative process profile, conformance may assess whether required governed steps, authority boundaries, provenance preservation, reviewability, and outputs are followed. Process conformance must not be inferred merely from a valid final file.
Specialized profiles may impose requirements beyond a shared base specification. A target conforming to a base profile must not be represented as conforming to a stricter specialized profile unless those additional requirements are satisfied.
A conformance determination must be supported by traceable validation results and other required evidence. The evidence must identify the target, applicable requirements, tested representation/version, and result context sufficiently for review.
Attestor conformance may operate at several levels. These dimensions must remain explicit because conformance at one level does not automatically establish conformance at another.
No target is simply “Attestor conformant” without qualification when multiple object classes, profiles, versions, or capabilities exist. A conformance claim must be scoped to the requirements actually assessed.
Validation supplies evidence that a particular object or representation satisfies applicable normative checks. Conformance uses those results, together with any additional profile or implementation requirements, to determine whether the declared target meets its claimed specification.
A conformance claim requires satisfaction of all requirements designated as mandatory for the declared target and profile. Implementations must not select only passing requirements while omitting applicable failures or untested mandatory requirements.
Attestor may define a shared base specification and specialized profiles for particular Attestation types, Trust Statement contexts, representations, or implementation capabilities. Specialized profiles may add constraints but must not silently weaken foundational Attestor requirements unless the governing architecture explicitly permits variation.
Conformance is assessed against an identifiable version of the applicable specification, profile, schema, or implementation capability. A later architectural or schema revision does not retroactively change what an earlier conformance determination meant.
A target is non-conformant to the declared scope when one or more applicable mandatory requirements are not satisfied. Where testing is incomplete, the result should not be overstated as either full conformance or definitive non-conformance unless the tested failure itself is sufficient to establish non-conformance.
Conformance can support interoperability by giving producers and consumers a common requirements basis. It does not guarantee that every conformant implementation will interoperate in every operational environment unless the relevant interoperability profile and exchange requirements are also satisfied.
Conformance does not transfer or elevate institutional authority. A conformant representation of a Registry Record remains a reference to a Registry-owned object; a conformant reference to a Beacon Discovery Signal remains within Beacon authority; and a conformant Trust Statement remains an Attestor-owned conclusion.
A conformant object or implementation is not automatically authorized for publication, and publication does not itself prove conformance. Publication remains a separate governed dimension that determines public representation.
The Conformance architecture is implemented for governed object-level determinations. Production Conformance uses a declared target and requirements set together with Validation evidence, governed Review evidence, and applicable conformance mechanics to produce a bounded determination.
The first controlled production operation exercised object-level Conformance for both canonical production objects. Each determination used the applicable declared requirements together with production Validation and governed Review evidence.
The first-production determinations establish conformance only for the assessed canonical objects and their declared requirements sets. They do not establish universal Attestor implementation conformance, process conformance, or automatic conformance for future objects.
Conformance is a bounded requirements determination. It does not independently establish truth, evaluation outcome, authority, publication, universal interoperability, security, quality, or trustworthiness.
Conformance is no longer only conceptual or downstream of Validation implementation. The architecture has been exercised through real object-level production determinations for the first canonical Attestation and Trust Statement.
The first-production determinations establish a bounded object-conformance baseline. They do not pre-authorize a conformance claim for any future object, implementation, or process.
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