[ PROOFECONOMY ]™GlossaryOriginSpecsBounded Mode and Production Stream Mode
Bounded Mode and Production Stream Mode are the two ways a Dead Canary Protocol test runs: Bounded Mode is a test with a declared start and end and one fixed Proof Swarm, and Production Stream Mode releases canaries continuously in committed epoch batches called clutches, so a control keeps producing proof while it operates.
Bounded Mode
The lab, staging or scheduled-window test. It declares start and end times, Effect Points and the systems under test before release, commits one fixed Proof Swarm, runs the full sequence from commitment to publication, and produces one point-in-time result. Use it for pre-deployment validation, Provider evaluation, staged rollouts and published proofs.
Production Stream Mode
The in-production form. Canaries are committed in rolling epochs, each a clutch with its own sealed answer key, and released into live traffic with no declared end. Results accumulate as a time series bound to fingerprint versions.
It requires an out-of-band Proof Witness, continuous Time Anchor service, black hole detection independent of the control, declared tolerances, and published results updated at least weekly. Every clutch publishes its Blind share, Void share and Null count. A series whose Blind plus Void share stays over threshold is degraded and is not proof for those clutches.
Trickle
Between full runs, a continuous low-volume swarm called a trickle keeps testing under every commitment and blinding rule. Fingerprint changes, declared environment changes and silent drift trigger full runs.
Jail mode runs and destructive canaries never run in production.