PROOF OF HUMAN WORK — REGISTRY NODE OPERATION

Registry nodes are the persistence layer of the PoHW protocol. They maintain Merkle trees of attestations and anchor roots to multiple blockchains and archival substrates.

Prerequisites:

• Server with persistent storage
• Network access to blockchain nodes
• SSL certificate for HTTPS
• Public IP address

Step 1: Install Registry Software

$ git clone https://github.com/pohw/registry-node
$ cd registry-node
$ npm install  # or appropriate package manager

Step 2: Configure Node

Create config.json:

{
  "node_id": "your-node-id",
  "merkle_batch_size": 1000,
  "anchor_interval": 3600,
  "chains": ["bitcoin", "ethereum"],
  "storage": {
    "type": "postgresql",
    "connection": "..."
  }
}

Step 3: Initialize Merkle Tree

$ pohw-registry init

Step 4: Start Node

$ pohw-registry start

Registry nodes batch attestations into Merkle trees:

1. Accept attestation submissions
2. Validate signatures
3. Add to pending batch
4. When batch size reached, build Merkle tree
5. Generate Merkle root
6. Anchor root to chains
7. Make proofs available

Batch Size: Configurable (default: 1000 attestations)

Anchor Interval: Periodic anchoring even if batch not full

Registry nodes anchor Merkle roots to multiple chains:

Supported Chains:

• Bitcoin (OP_RETURN)
• Ethereum (contract or transaction)
• IPFS (content addressing)
• Arweave (permanent storage)

Anchor Format:

{
  "merkle_root": "0x...",
  "timestamp": "2025-11-25T00:00:00Z",
  "block_height": 12345,
  "tx_hash": "0x...",
  "chain": "bitcoin"
}

Registry nodes sync with each other:

1. Discover other nodes via registry list
2. Exchange Merkle roots periodically
3. Verify roots match (consensus)
4. Replicate attestations for redundancy
5. Handle conflicts via transparency logs

Sync Protocol:

• HTTP-based sync API
• Merkle root exchange
• Conflict resolution
• State reconciliation

Every registry node maintains public audit logs:

Log Entries Include:

• Attestation submissions (hash, timestamp)
• Merkle tree constructions (root, size)
• Chain anchorings (chain, tx, height)
• Sync events (peer, action)
• Errors and warnings

Audit Log Format:

{
  "timestamp": "2025-11-25T00:00:00Z",
  "type": "attestation|merkle|anchor|sync|error",
  "data": {...}
}

Public Access: GET /pohw/audit?from=timestamp&to=timestamp

Attestations can be revoked by signer:

1. Signer submits revocation request
2. Registry validates signature
3. Mark attestation as revoked
4. Update Merkle tree (new root)
5. Anchor revocation to chains
6. Propagate to other nodes

Revocation Format:

{
  "hash": "0x...",
  "signature": "...",
  "revocation_reason": "optional",
  "timestamp": "2025-11-25T00:00:00Z"
}

Registry nodes form federations:

Federation Rules:

• Nodes must maintain public keys
• Nodes must provide audit logs
• Nodes must anchor to at least 2 chains
• Nodes must sync with peers
• Nodes must follow consensus protocol

Federation Discovery:

• Central registry list (proofofhumanwork.org)
• DNS-based discovery
• Peer-to-peer announcement

Minimum Requirements:

• 99% uptime
• < 1 hour anchoring latency
• Public audit logs
• CORS enabled for verification
• SSL certificate
• Persistent storage
• Multiple chain access

Recommended:

• Redundant infrastructure
• Monitoring and alerting
• Backup procedures
• Rate limiting
• DDoS protection

POST /pohw/attest

Submit attestation

Auth: Signature verification

Response: {receipt_hash, merkle_root}

GET /pohw/verify/{hash}

Verify attestation

Response: {valid, signer, timestamp, merkle_proof}

GET /pohw/proof/{hash}

Get Merkle proof

Response: {proof, root, anchors}

GET /pohw/status

Node status

Response: {status, latest_root, anchored_at, sync_status}

GET /pohw/audit

Audit logs

Query: from, to, limit

Response: [{timestamp, type, data}, ...]

GET /pohw/peers

List peer nodes

Response: [{node_id, url, status}, ...]

Registry nodes should expose metrics:

• Attestations per second
• Merkle tree size
• Anchoring latency
• Sync status
• Error rates
• Storage usage

Monitoring Endpoint: GET /pohw/metrics