atomic provenance
Project & trace W3C PROV over the provenance Atomic already captures.
Synopsis
atomic provenance <SUBCOMMAND>
atomic provenance trace <TARGET> [--json] [--sign] [--identity <IDENTITY>]
atomic provenance show <TARGET> [--sign] [--identity <IDENTITY>]
Description
Every recorded change in Atomic already carries provenance: which agent session produced it, which intents and memories justify it, which views carry it. atomic provenance projects that captured data onto the W3C PROV standard, so the story of a change can be traced — and cryptographically signed — in a standard, machine-checkable form.
Two projections are available:
trace— a human-readable walk of the flywheel chain for a change (session → turns → changes → views)show— the raw W3C PROV JSON-LD named subgraph for a change
Target Identification
Both subcommands take the same <TARGET> argument — a change to project:
| Accepted format | Example |
|---|---|
| Full change hash | 3f9c2ab1d4e5… |
| Unambiguous hash prefix | 3f9c2ab1 |
| Canonical change URN | urn:atomic:change:<base32> |
Find change hashes with atomic log (use --full-hash for the complete hash) or inspect one with atomic change.
Subcommands
provenance trace — Walk the Flywheel Chain
Synopsis
atomic provenance trace <TARGET> [OPTIONS]
Arguments
<TARGET> — Change hash, hash prefix, or urn:atomic:change:<base32> (see Target Identification).
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--json | Emit the PROV JSON-LD @graph instead of the human chain |
--sign | With --json, emit the SIGNABLE artifact — sign the graph (top-level attributedTo/contentHash/proof) instead of the plain projection |
--identity <IDENTITY> | Identity whose key signs the projection (with --json --sign, and to resolve the Person). Defaults to the current default identity |
Examples
# Human-readable chain for a change
atomic provenance trace 3f9c2ab1
# Signed PROV JSON-LD projection
atomic provenance trace 3f9c2ab1 --json --sign
provenance show — Emit the PROV JSON-LD Subgraph
Synopsis
atomic provenance show <TARGET> [OPTIONS]
Arguments
<TARGET> — Change hash, hash prefix, or urn:atomic:change:<base32> (see Target Identification).
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--sign | Emit the SIGNABLE artifact — sign the graph instead of the plain projection |
--identity <IDENTITY> | Identity used to resolve the Person (and to sign with --sign). Defaults to the current default identity |
Examples
# Plain JSON-LD named subgraph
atomic provenance show 3f9c2ab1
# Signed, attributed to a specific identity
atomic provenance show 3f9c2ab1 --sign --identity work-laptop
See Also
- change — Inspect a specific change
- log — Find change hashes
- identity — Managing signing identities
- How to See Why an AI Agent Changed Your Code — Provenance guide