The journal

7Q4N-0190Observation

V-204 in service

quote · shift log, 2 Feb, line 14

valid from

2026-02-02 06:00Z

recorded at

2026-02-03 08:10Z

posting lane

import · receipt

signed

ed25519 · prev 41ab…c3e0

prev hash

7Q4N-0193Observation

V-204 status failed

quote · sensor log, start 1482, end 1611

valid from

2026-03-11 09:14Z

recorded at

2026-03-11 11:02Z

posting lane

reader · receipt

signed

ed25519 · prev 9f1c…a204

prev hash

7Q4N-0201Adjustment

V-204 failed from 22:40

pointer · entry 7Q4N-0193, valid from

valid from

2026-03-10 22:40Z

recorded at

2026-03-14 08:30Z

posting lane

principal · receipt

signed

ed25519 · prev 7d02…19e8

Figure 1. Three entries in the journal, in posting order. The adjustment moves the failure earlier in the world and later in the record. Both clocks stay visible.

Entries

An entry is one dated, signed statement of what happened, posted once. Nobody edits it after posting. Every entry has these parts.

Part	Contents
kind	The type of entry, such as a fact, a decision, a task, a commitment, a request or an observation.
when	The two clocks: when the content applied according to its source, and when the record learned it. See Two clocks.
actors	Who took part, each with a role.
lines	The assertions the entry makes, each with its evidence.
relations	Links to other entries, such as the entry this one corrects, supersedes, closes, blocks or waits on.
labels	Who may read the entry. See Labels and information flow.
posting	The lane, the poster and the receipt.
statement	A short readable summary.

Lines

A line is one typed, atomic assertion inside an entry. It has a subject, a predicate and an object, the way a sentence has a subject, a verb and an object. Each line has one of three classes:

• statement for something asserted.
• observation for something witnessed.
• action for something done.

Evidence

Every line cites its evidence in one of two forms.

• A quote is a verbatim excerpt from a retained source. Its start and end locate it, and a hash of the exact text fixes it.
• A pointer refers to something already in the record, such as an entry or a document, together with its hash.

If a line’s evidence doesn’t support it, Syderial doesn’t commit the line to the record. The Entail station runs that check.

Posting lanes

Entries arrive through one of three lanes, and every posting has a receipt.

• reader for lines Syderial extracted from what it read. They’re admitted only when their evidence supports them.
• principal for statements by a person with the authority to make them.
• import for entries brought in from an existing journal, log or set of notes.

The author decides the lane. A person’s own words and a model’s summary of them take different lanes.

Corrections

Syderial never rewrites an entry. A correction is a new entry that cites the entry it corrects.

• corrects fixes an error in an earlier entry.
• supersedes replaces an earlier entry in full.

The earlier entry stays in the record, so you can ask what the record said at any point in its history. In Figure 1, adjustment 7Q4N-0201 moves the failure of V-204 earlier in the world and posts it later in the record, and entry 7Q4N-0193 is unchanged.

The chain

Each entry is signed and includes the hash of the entry before it. Changing or removing any entry breaks every link after it. A verifier checks those links. See Receipts and verification.