{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-retention-invariants-must-survive-when-an-agents-memory-is-copied-to-a-forensic-archive",
  "title": "What retention invariants must survive when an agent's memory is copied to a forensic archive?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The archive is used for legal, compliance, or forensic purposes where integrity and chain of custody must be provable over long retention periods. * **Does not apply when:** The archive is used for routine operational pu",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-retention-invariants-must-survive-when-an-agents-memory-is-copied-to-a-forensic-archive.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-retention-invariants-must-survive-when-an-agents-memory-is-copied-to-a-forensic-archive.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-retention-invariants-must-survive-when-an-agents-memory-is-copied-to-a-forensic-archive.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1040,
    "python_slice_tokens": 315,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **live memory** (the agent's active state, subject to ongoing mutation) and **archived forensic copy** (an immutable snapshot with cryptographic integrity, chain of custody, and retention policy). Relying on simple file copies creates the **Archive Integrity Failure**: the archive is copied without cryptographic proof of integrity, the...",
    "what_was_observed": "In forensic retention architectures, failing to preserve retention invariants produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Untrusted Archive:** The archive is copied without signing, and an attacker modifies it years later. No one can detect the modification. 2. **Broken Chain of Custody:** The archive is transferred between systems, but the transfer is not logged or signed. Auditors cannot prove the archive was never ...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The archive is used for legal, compliance, or forensic purposes where integrity and chain of custody must be provable over long retention periods. * **Does not apply when:** The archive is used for routine operational purposes (backup, restore) where cryptographic integrity is not legally required.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is this a forensic archive (legal/compliance) or operational backup?** If operational, standard backup applies. If forensic, proceed. 2. **Is the `archive_integrity_signature` present and verifiable?** If no, the archive cannot be proven unmodified. Reject it. 3. **Is the `chain_of_custody_log` continuous and signed?** If no, the chain of custody is bro...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Integrity Proof:** Enables auditors to verify years later that the archive has not been modified. 2. **Chain of Custody:** Provides cryptographic proof of every access and transfer, satisfying forensic admissibility requirements. 3. **Policy Immutability:** Locks the retention policy at creation time, preventing later operators from shortening the reten..."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "OOM_KILL_OR_MEMORY_EXHAUSTION"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "9253b6a4c30929f9445af2368231760af9922069cc070978526d50b1e9ac2165",
    "verified_classes": [
      "ArchiveVerdict",
      "ForensicArchiveState",
      "ArchivePolicy",
      "ArchiveManifest",
      "ForensicRetentionGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_archive"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 0,
    "raised_exceptions": [],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}