Hash chain
A sequence of records where each one cryptographically includes the hash of the previous.
category ▸ Data & Provenance
Hash chain, in plain language.
A hash chain links records so that each entry carries a fingerprint (a cryptographic hash) of the entry before it. Because changing any record changes its hash — and therefore every record that follows — the chain makes tampering self-evident: recompute the hashes and the first mismatch points exactly to where history was altered.
It is the simplest reliable construction for tamper-evidence and the core idea behind both audit ledgers and blockchains. The chain does not prevent edits; it makes them impossible to hide.
How Cortex implements it.
This term isn't abstract here — it maps to a real capability in the runtime. Here is exactly how Cortex enforces or relates to it.
Cortex computes a stable, key-sorted canonical form of each event, hashes it, and links it to the previous record's hash, with a monotonic per-tenant sequence number. The verifyChain function recomputes the chain and returns a verdict with the broken sequence if any record was inserted, edited, deleted, or reordered.
The same primitive secures solution packs: a pack's contents are hashed and signed, so any tamper breaks hashOk and any wrong key breaks signatureOk.
Keep building the vocabulary.
These terms sit next to this one in the governed-AI model — follow the thread to see how the controls connect.
Trust Ledger
A tamper-evident, hash-chained record of every governed run, action, and approval.
Tamper-evident
A record whose integrity can be proven — any change to it is detectable after the fact.
Provenance
The recorded origin of a fact or output — what source it came from, and where.
Solution Pack
A versioned, signed bundle of a governed solution you can verify and re-deploy.
See Hash chain enforced, not just defined.
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