Semantic Ledger: Trace Structures

Executable semantic order presupposes that meaningful actions remain traceable beyond the moment of execution.

Within the research, the Semantic Ledger is examined as a trace structure through which semantic commitments, interactions, and attribution events may be recorded in an externally inspectable manner.

It is not treated as a financial ledger or consensus system, but as a structural mechanism for accountability.

Structural Perspective

When semantic commitments participate in execution, the question of recording becomes inseparable from the question of responsibility.

From this perspective, a ledger structure functions to:

  • preserve evidence of declared commitments,
  • retain traces of interaction and execution,
  • and support later verification independent of model internals.

The emphasis lies on inspectability and persistence, not on economic exchange.

Classes of Recorded Events

At the structural level, a semantic ledger is concerned with recording events such as:

Commitment Declarations

Records that capture when a subject publicly enters a semantic commitment, together with contextual information necessary for later interpretation.

Inter-Agent Semantic Interactions

Records associated with semantically meaningful interactions across agents, where declared interfaces or commitments are invoked.

These interactions are recorded as events of relevance, not as low-level execution logs.

Verification Outcomes

Records indicating whether observed behavior aligns with previously declared semantic commitments.

The ledger does not prescribe how verification is performed, but preserves the outcome as an inspectable artifact.

Attribution Events

Records that associate specific actions or violations with identifiable subjects.

Such records support post-hoc reasoning about responsibility without assuming perfect foresight or centralized control.

Structural Role and Limits

The Semantic Ledger is not proposed as:

  • a universal blockchain,
  • a consensus protocol,
  • or a complete governance mechanism.

It functions as a structural support through which accountability and traceability may be expressed within executable semantic order.

Design choices concerning distribution, immutability, and trust anchors are treated as implementation-dependent.

Relation to Other Structures

This section delineates how semantic actions may remain externally accountable without presupposing specific institutional arrangements.