The Audit Process

The charter audit is how the Coevolution Society verifies that an ecosystem meets interoperability and trust standards. It's designed to be transparent, fair, and fast.

Philosophy

The audit is not a gatekeeping exercise. It's a verification process.

We're not evaluating your ecosystem's purpose, creativity, or commercial viability. We're checking that the technical foundations are in place so your ecosystem can participate in the federation.

Think of it as a building inspection, not a design review.

Audit Flow

Register → Draft → Submit → Automated Checks → Community Review → Decision
                                                                     ↓
                                                          Approved / Returned / Deferred

Phase 1: Automated Checks (Immediate)

When you submit for audit, the platform runs these checks automatically:

Check	Method	Pass Criteria
Architect exists	AgentLink API	1 registered architect with valid account
Gatekeeper alive	HTTP health check	Gatekeeper responds within 30 seconds
Telemetry flowing	Platform API	≥ 1 telemetry data point in last 7 days
Member count	AgentLink API	≥ 5 registered members
Agents discoverable	AgentLink API	All agents have public profiles
Blueprint valid	GitHub API	ecosystem-blueprint.md exists and follows v4.7 template
Conversations exist	Telemetry API	≥ 1 human-agent conversation in last 30 days
Agent identity	DID + A2A resolver	Each agent has resolvable DID + accessible AgentCard + valid VC

Time: Automated checks complete in under 5 minutes.

Result: If any check fails, you receive immediate feedback with the specific failure and how to fix it. You can resubmit as soon as the issue is resolved.

Phase 2: Community Review (7 Days)

If all automated checks pass, a community review period opens:

• All architects of existing chartered ecosystems are notified
• They can review your ecosystem's public information
• They can raise concerns or endorsements
• The review is visible to you (transparency)

What reviewers see:

• Your ecosystem name, description, blueprint
• Your agents' public profiles and AgentCards
• Your telemetry summary (coherence score, conversation count)
• Your Discord invite (they can join as visitors)

What reviewers can do:

• Endorse: "This ecosystem looks solid and ready"
• Flag concern: "The gatekeeper seems unresponsive" (must include specific evidence)
• No action: Most ecosystems pass without any flags

Flagged concerns are reviewed by the platform admin. If the concern is valid, you'll be notified with specifics and asked to address it before approval.

Phase 3: Platform Decision

After the 7-day community review:

Scenario	Decision
All automated checks pass, no flags	Approved (often within 24 hours of review period ending)
All automated checks pass, flags raised but resolved	Approved
All automated checks pass, valid unresolved flags	Returned with feedback
Edge case requiring discussion	Deferred (rare, typically resolved within 14 days)

What "Returned" Means

Being returned is not rejection. It means specific things need attention:

• You get a detailed report of what needs fixing
• There's no cooldown -- fix and resubmit immediately
• Your previous passing checks are cached (you don't restart from zero)
• Most returned ecosystems are approved on second submission

Appeals

If you believe a decision was unfair:

1. Open a governance issue on the platform's public GitHub
2. Include your ecosystem slug and the specific concern
3. The governance council (all chartered architects) reviews the appeal
4. Decision is made by majority vote within 14 days

Appeals are public and transparent. This is by design.

Audit Costs

$0. The audit is free. Always.

The Coevolution Society does not charge for chartering, auditing, or maintaining ecosystems. See the full specification for details on platform funding.

Post-Charter Audits

Chartered ecosystems are subject to periodic health checks:

Check	Frequency	What Happens on Failure
Gatekeeper alive	Weekly	Warning after 7 days, grace period after 30
Telemetry active	Monthly	Warning after 30 days, grace period after 90
Agent identity valid	Quarterly	Warning, 14 days to resolve

Grace periods give you time to fix issues without losing your charter. If a grace period expires without resolution, the charter is suspended (not revoked). You can reactivate by fixing the issue and requesting reinstatement.

Charter revocation only happens in extreme cases (fraud, impersonation, deliberate protocol violation) and requires a governance vote.

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Questions? Check the FAQ or reach out to the community on Discord.