DA-04 · LESSON 10

Production-readiness boundaries

KEY DEFINITIONS

Terms used in this lesson

DKG: Distributed key generation: participants create shares of a group key without one party learning the complete secret.
Guardian: A Ducat policy-checking signer that can authorize or reject defined protocol transactions.

Implemented policy gates, test proofs, live cloud rehearsals, external audits, and real-funds enablement are separate milestones.

45 min Difficulty 5/5 Not started

VISUAL MODEL

See the whole mechanism before going step by step

Use the diagrams to orient yourself. Then the guided explanation below teaches every part in depth.

4 explanatory views

CONCEPT-SPECIFIC MAP · ducat vaultA Ducat action moves one Bitcoin-anchored vault state to a successorSelect any state to inspect its exact role.

RELATIONSHIP MAPInputs, rule, and outputs

01
PREDECESSORCurrent vault outpoint
The current Bitcoin output anchors collateral and identifies the state being spent.
02
REQUESTProduction-readiness boundaries
The Production-readiness boundaries workflow proposes one exact action and successor state.
03
POLICYProfile, oracle, signatures
Applicable policy, price evidence, authorization, and transaction shape are checked.
04
BITCOIN SPENDScript-valid transaction
Bitcoin miners and nodes can include only a transaction that satisfies Bitcoin rules.
05
SUCCESSORNew outpoint and state
Ducat validators reconstruct debt, collateral, token, and account changes from the confirmed transaction.

Rule shown: Bitcoin checks the spend; Ducat components independently reconstruct and validate the additional protocol state.

STAGE 1 OF 5PREDECESSOR: Current vault outpoint

The current Bitcoin output anchors collateral and identifies the state being spent.

Governing relationship: Bitcoin checks the spend; Ducat components independently reconstruct and validate the additional protocol state. Complete path: 1. PREDECESSOR, Current vault outpoint. The current Bitcoin output anchors collateral and identifies the state being spent. 2. REQUEST, Production-readiness boundaries. The Production-readiness boundaries workflow proposes one exact action and successor state. 3. POLICY, Profile, oracle, signatures. Applicable policy, price evidence, authorization, and transaction shape are checked. 4. BITCOIN SPEND, Script-valid transaction. Bitcoin miners and nodes can include only a transaction that satisfies Bitcoin rules. 5. SUCCESSOR, New outpoint and state. Ducat validators reconstruct debt, collateral, token, and account changes from the confirmed transaction.

1. State transitionWhat exists, what changes, and what results

BEFORE

A candidate has a pinned build and unit-test report but no integration demo, adversarial report, rehearsal, production observation, topology evidence, monitoring evidence, en…

MECHANISM

Record source commits, dependencies, reproducible artifacts, policy digest, profile, and group key.

AFTER

Publish only the tested status and list every missing evidence layer rather than inferring deployment from source or tests. Required practice uses a separate server-executed…

Text equivalent: Starting from A candidate has a pinned build and unit-test report but no integration demo, adversarial report, rehearsal, production observation, topology evidence, monitoring evidence, enablement control, or audit. Required practice… The mechanism begins when Record source commits, dependencies, reproducible artifacts, policy digest, profile, and group key. The resulting lesson is Publish only the tested status and list every missing evidence layer rather than inferring deployment from source or tests. Required practice uses a separate server-executed vector.

2. Mechanism pathSelect a stage to inspect its job

STAGE 1 OF 4

Pin the build

Record source commits, dependencies, reproducible artifacts, policy digest, profile, and group key.

Complete path: 1. Pin the build: Record source commits, dependencies, reproducible artifacts, policy digest, profile, and group key. 2. Exercise adversarial paths: Test invalid requests, replay, nonce misuse, quorum loss, attestation mismatch, coordinator substitution, and migration. 3. Rehearse operations: Run DKG, signing, monitoring, incident, backup, and rollback procedures with the intended operators and environment. 4. Observe deployment separately: Verify the running artifact, configuration, attestations, participants, and real-funds enablement instead of inferring them from repository state.

3. Rule and failure boundaryWhat accepts the result and where it can stop

ACCEPTED PATH

The worked case executes the named inputs and checks in the displayed order. Verify the running artifact, configuration, attestations, participants, and real-funds enablement instead of inferring them from repository state.

CHANGED CONDITION

A missing, malformed, stale, unauthorized, or inconsistent required input stops at its first named boundary. Key custody, policy, integration, deployment, operators, monitoring, incident response, and audit remain independent readiness dimensions.

Important distinction: Passing cryptographic tests proves the Guardian service is safe for real funds. Key custody, policy, integration, deployment, operators, monitoring, incident response, and audit remain independent readiness dimensions.

Text equivalent: The accepted path is enforced by The worked case executes the named inputs and checks in the displayed order. Verify the running artifact, configuration, attestations, participants, and real-funds enablement instead of inferring them from repository state. If the required condition changes, A missing, malformed, stale, unauthorized, or inconsistent required input stops at its first named boundary. Key custody, policy, integration, deployment, operators, monitoring, incident response, and audit remain independent readiness dimensions.

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Learn the idea

Production readiness is a chain of evidence, not one label. Implementation proves code exists; tests prove selected cases; integration proves components interact; rehearsal proves an environment exercise; deployment proves a running artifact; audit provides an independent review scope.

GUIDED EXPLANATION1/4 ideas inspected

Pin the build

Record source commits, dependencies, reproducible artifacts, policy digest, profile, and group key.

The worked example follows the explanation

Inspect every idea above to open it.

Important distinction“Passing cryptographic tests proves the Guardian service is safe for real funds.”

Key custody, policy, integration, deployment, operators, monitoring, incident response, and audit remain independent readiness dimensions.

FINISH LEARNING FIRST

The questions unlock after every required learning activity

Inspect every guided idea, open the worked example, rebuild its mechanism, and complete the deterministic lesson tool. Your progress is saved automatically.