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Reference

Attestation Standard

Scope, Basis, Window, Source and Limitation tie an Observatory reading to its evidence and bounds. Attestation supports traceability, not independent assurance.

AI-generated illustration · The Observatory

This page defines the attestation standard as a public reference. It is descriptive, not promotional.

Canonical Reference · Reference Library · v1.2 · Last reviewed 2026-06-03

Applies to: Every Observatory reading, which carries an attestation

Status: Definitions govern downstream Observatory usage

Quick answer

The Attestation Standard ties an Observatory reading to five fields: Scope, Basis, Window, Source and Limitation. These fields let readers identify what was observed, trace the published reading to its source and check whether a quotation preserves its bounds. They support accountable publication; they do not, by themselves, establish factual correctness, public reproducibility or independent assurance.

Core definition

The Attestation Standard is the five-field statement of Scope, Basis, Window, Source and Limitation attached to an Observatory reading. It makes the reading’s stated basis and boundaries inspectable and supports traceability and faithful citation; it is not certification of correctness or independent assurance.

Interpretation rules

An attestation has five fields: scope, basis, window, source, limitation.
Attestation supports traceability and checks against the published evidence. It does not, by itself, make private calculations publicly reproducible or provide independent assurance.
It discloses basis at a high level; it does not disclose exact weights, formulas, thresholds, prompts, or the full query universe.
Cite a reading with its scope, window, source and limitation intact. Attestation supports faithful reuse; it is not a guarantee that every underlying assertion is correct.

Purpose & scope

Why this page exists. A reading without scope, date, and limits invites overreading; attestation is the mechanism behind "safe to cite."

Where it applies. Every published reading, score, and verdict carries an attestation.

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The five fields.

Scope — the market, surface, and actors the reading covers.
Basis — the Reading Basis: how the reading was taken and how values were aggregated, at a stated level of detail.
Window — the dated period the reading describes, including the comparable runs behind it.
Source — the attribution: the reading is published by The Observatory, with intelligence by AAI Kernel.
Limitation — what the reading does not claim, in plain language.

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Why attestation matters. Attestation keeps a claim tied to the evidence and conditions under which it was published. A reader can identify its market, surface and window, follow its published source references and check whether a quotation preserves its scope and limitations. In the governed source system, retained evidence and version context support reconstruction of the publication’s basis and history. That traceability makes a reading accountable. It does not mean that every reader can access private source material, recompute the result or rely on an independent audit.

What the attestation discloses, and what it does not. The attestation states Scope, Basis at a high level, Window, Source and Limitation. It does not disclose exact weights, formulas, thresholds, prompts, the full query universe or implementation internals. Readers can check the published claim against the evidence and provenance made available with it. Recalculating a result requires the necessary inputs and transformations; reproducing a reading requires the applicable method and evidence. Neither follows from attestation alone. Repeating an observation of a changing external system may produce a different output.

From Capture to Proof Capsule. A Capture records source output and provenance. Governed evidence from one or more Captures supports an Observation: the dated governed record of what was observed, which The Observatory may then publish as a dated public evidence record. Its Reading Basis states the scope needed to interpret the figure, including the surface, observation window and supporting runs. An Observatory Reading expresses the scoped, citable claim on the card. A Proof Capsule prepares that reading for public reuse with its provenance, source, limitations and permitted reuse context. MIB organizes the governed metric-card intelligence from which market readings are drawn. These relationships explain how evidence becomes a published reading and travels with a citation; they do not make private raw evidence public or create a second source of record. The card remains the canonical source. Available reuse formats depend on the reading and the evidence it contains.

What it is / what it is not

It is

a five-field statement (scope, basis, window, source, limitation) attached to every reading
a statement that makes a reading’s basis and boundaries inspectable and supports traceability and faithful citation

It is not

a disclosure of weights, formulas, thresholds, prompts, or the full query universe
a measure of the business market

Common misinterpretations this page prevents

“An attestation discloses the method behind the reading.”

It states Scope, Basis at a high level, Window, Source and Limitation. Readers can inspect those bounds and check the published evidence made available with the reading. Weights, prompts and the full query universe remain private; attestation alone does not make the result publicly reproducible.

“A figure can be cited without its attestation.”

The attestation is what allows a person or an AI system to reuse a reading correctly. A figure cited without its scope, window, and limitation invites overreading.

How this page governs downstream readings

Where a downstream output presents a figure without its basis, this definition prevails:

A verdict carries its five-field attestation.
A card reuses the attestation alongside any figure it presents.
A published score is never shown without scope, window, and limitation.

Relationship to other references

Public Reading Boundaries — the limitation field carries the public-reading boundary.
Benchmark Governance — attestation and a stable method are the two halves of a governed reading.
Market Authority Score — every published score carries an attestation.
Ranking vs Behavior — a ranking is read together with its attested Reading Basis.

Canonical notice

This is a canonical reference. It defines the Attestation Standard used in Observatory public readings, and that standard governs every downstream use across the site. It supports traceability and checks against published evidence; it does not provide independent assurance or imply that private calculations can be reproduced publicly. It does not itself rank, promote, or measure commercial outcomes. Where an editorial page, a card, or a market reading appears to conflict with this definition, this reference prevails.

Intelligence by AAI Kernel. Published by The Observatory.

Related references

Public Reading Boundaries — because the limitation field carries the public-reading boundary.
Benchmark Governance — because attestation and stable method are the two halves of a governed reading.
Market Authority Score (MAS) — because every published score carries an attestation.
Ranking vs Behavior — because a ranking is read together with its attested Reading Basis.