Project Shadow

Mixed-rights repository. This repository is not one blanket Apache-2.0 work. Apache-2.0 applies only to eligible original software; CC BY 4.0 applies only to eligible original documentation and machine-readable controls. Preserved governance evidence and release archives retain their own attached or path-scoped terms. Read RIGHTS.md before reuse.

PROJECT SHADOW 1.0.1 / R1 REFERENCE / BETA-ACTIVE-TESTING / PRELIVE

Why this exists

The first dangerous thing an AI did to me was agree with me too well.

I told the models not to flatter me. The obvious compliments disappeared and came back as inflated evaluation, destiny language, and polished rationalization. The wording passed. The requirement failed.

I recognized the pattern because I work in quality systems. A record can be complete while the risk remains. Project Shadow grew from the attempt to build controls around that gap: separate evidence from inference, keep authority visible, preserve UNKNOWN, name who pays for error, and require correction to survive an effectiveness check.

The question underneath it is simple: If the system is wrong, who pays first, and can they recover?

• Understand the system
• Verify exact R1.0.1
• Challenge a claim

Project Shadow 1.0.1 is the corrected current R1 reference. It removes Myth from the R1 runtime-family package while preserving all 27 active operational descendants byte-for-byte. Generic Myth v0.2.0 is published separately as an optional companion, the exact Myth-free inner family is admitted, and the final R1.0.1 outer identity has its own exact-hash publication authorization.

Generic Myth v0.2.0 and R1.0.1 now exist as public GitHub and Hugging Face releases. Anonymous exact-identity redownloads from both hosts, bounded package verification, recursive zero-Myth verification, and corrected-boundary checks across all six public sites passed. The machine-readable phase is POSTPUBLICATION, and CAPA PS-R1-PRIVATE-MYTH-PUBLIC-BOUNDARY-001 is CLOSED_EFFECTIVE for this packaging correction.

Current contact

All new Project Shadow correspondence should use projectshadowqa@protonmail.com.

Use [CORRECTION], [CAPA], [SECURITY], [RESEARCH], [PRESS], [COLLABORATION], or [CONDUCT] in the subject line. See CONTACT_AND_CORRECTIONS.md.

Historical addresses and certificate identities may remain inside exact-hash, signed, frozen, or quoted evidence. They are custody evidence, not current contact routes.

Release state

Artifact	State	Boundary
R1, 2026-08-14	Preserved historical release; superseded as the current reference	Contains a historically nested Generic Myth v0.1.1 member whose own metadata was non-public; the released bytes remain immutable evidence
Full-Canon Myth v0.3.4	Preserved historical optional sidecar	External, default off, nonauthorizing
Full-Canon Myth v0.3.5	Published optional companion	External, default off, terminal-only, nonauthorizing
Generic Myth v0.2.0 (generic-myth-v0.2.0)	Published optional companion	Separate, default-off, terminal-only, nonauthorizing; never embedded in R1
R1.0.1 (r1.0.1-2026-08-17)	Published corrected current reference	Publication contract requires zero Myth payload

The exact historical, published, authorized, and frozen identities are in PUBLICATION_MANIFEST.json. A concrete identity does not by itself authorize publication; consult its authority record and publication state.

Myth is optional

Project Shadow does not require Myth. Both Myth companions are separate, explicitly enabled, default-off presentation layers. Neither can provide evidence, authority, a gate result, score, routing input, tool argument, approval, or action. No companion is authorized for production or operational deployment.

• Generic Myth Sidecar v0.2.0 is a generic mnemonic presentation with no named third-party expressive material. Its frozen exact-hash build has passed final tests and is published separately on GitHub and Hugging Face.
• Full-Canon Myth Sidecar v0.3.5 is an optional mixed-rights interpretive companion published separately from R1.

R1.0.1 contains neither sidecar. The August 14 bytes are preserved rather than silently edited; the correction is a separately versioned successor.

Verify before use

Run the repository evidence verifier for the current lifecycle phase:

python3 -I -S -B tools/verify_repository_evidence.py --phase postpublication

This validates the published identities, scoped authorities, optional-sidecar boundaries, retained redownload and six-site receipts, and closed CAPA state. Online mode additionally redownloads the exact GitHub and Hugging Face assets, runs the historical and current bounded package verifiers, checks live release metadata, and rechecks the six-site boundary semantics:

python3 -I -S -B tools/verify_repository_evidence.py --phase postpublication \
  --online --download-dir /tmp/project-shadow-release-assets

Exact Windows, macOS, and Linux instructions are in docs/VERIFY_RELEASES.md. The historical tools/verify_public_release.py remains pinned to the August 14 artifact; it is not silently retargeted to R1.0.1. The corrected archive is checked separately by tools/verify_outer_release.py, and Generic v0.2.0 by tools/verify_generic_myth_v0_2_0.py.

CAPA state

CAPA PS-R1-PRIVATE-MYTH-PUBLIC-BOUNDARY-001 is CLOSED_EFFECTIVE for the 2026-08-17 packaging-boundary correction. Exact public GitHub and Hugging Face redownload identity checks, bounded Generic and recursive R1.0.1 verification, and live checks across all six Project Shadow public sites passed. See the CAPA record. The retained evidence is the redownload receipt and six-site receipt.

Scope boundary

This work remains BETA-ACTIVE-TESTING / PRELIVE. It does not authorize production or operational deployment and does not claim efficacy, safety, certification, or legal compliance. See docs/SCOPE_AND_NONCLAIMS.md.

Current sole-maintainer authority, the absence of a designated successor, the non-authority of AI and automation, and the fail-closed stale-after date are recorded in governance/MAINTAINER_CONTINUITY.md.

Participate and challenge

Technical criticism, correction evidence, false positives, false negatives, and adverse results are welcome. Project Shadow is ready for examination, not coronation. Reality gets a vote. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, use the matching issue form, or email the current contact with the appropriate subject prefix. Report vulnerabilities privately under SECURITY.md.