Coal Mine Protocol (Proof of Performance Engagement)

The Coal Mine Protocol (CMP), PP-SPEC-079, defines a Proof of Performance Engagement: who commissions Dead Canary and Jailed Canary runs against a security control, where they run, how the Provider participates, how the results are published as a Performance Record, and how records from controls of any provenance are compared.

ProofJack Rating: Human 75% · AI 25% (self-estimated; PP-SPEC-079 AI_DISCLOSURE: the shift is human; the name was proposed by Claude from the human's phrase after the human rejected Gauntlet)

Also known as: CMP, PP-SPEC-079, Proof of Performance Engagement, Coal Mine

Mynted 2026-10-23 · Updated 2026-10-23

First used: PP-SPEC-079, Proof of Performance Engagement: The Coal Mine Protocol, 13 October 2026, by Craig Thomas Ellrod

What it means

PP-SPEC-077 and 078 say how one run produces proof. The Coal Mine Protocol says how runs are commissioned, staffed, funded, housed and published so that the result is a record anyone can compare, and the vendor is removed from every seat that could steer it.

The shift

Legacy model	What CMP keeps	What CMP removes
A. The Independent Test Lab report	The replica, the fee, the lab	The Provider at the seams; optional publication; a static attack set
B. The Provider-run proof of concept	Testing in the customer’s own environment	The Provider running it. See Provider-Run Mode

What it defines

Engagement Modes: In-Situ and Independent Test Lab. Provider-Run is forbidden.
Self-Provided Engagements: testing a control your own team built.
Environment Classes, the Parity Declaration, Reference Environments and the Regulatory Regime.
The Mine Plan and the Engagement Manifest.
The Provider’s duties, prohibitions and Right of Reply, and the Claim Sheet.
The Performance Record and Performance Series.
The Comparability Class.
Sponsor, funding tier and disclosed interests.
The Extension Policy that binds 077 and 078 as well.

PP-SPEC-013 Proof of Performance measures latency, throughput and cost during the Proof Swarm, so a control’s cost is recorded with its efficacy. PP-SPEC-080, the Pithead Safety and Acceptance Protocol, is the reader’s side: whether a given consumer accepts the record.

Related terms

Sources

Proof of Performance Engagement: The Coal Mine Protocol (PP-SPEC-079)

Updated 2026-10-23