Provara 60-Second Quickstart

Goal: From zero to verified vault in under 60 seconds.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+
• pip install provara-protocol

The Fast Path

# 1. Install (10 seconds)
pip install provara-protocol

# 2. Create vault (5 seconds)
provara init my_vault --actor "alice"

# 3. Append first event (10 seconds)
provara append my_vault \
  --type OBSERVATION \
  --data '{"subject": "hello", "predicate": "world", "value": "first event"}' \
  --keyfile my_vault/identity/private_keys.json

# 4. Verify (5 seconds)
provara verify my_vault

# 5. See state (5 seconds)
provara replay my_vault

Done. You now have a tamper-evident vault with:

• Ed25519-signed events
• SHA-256 hash chain
• RFC 8785 canonical JSON
• Verifiable integrity

Expected Output

Step 2: Init

Initializing Provara Vault at: /path/to/my_vault
[bootstrap] Generating Ed25519 root keypair...
[bootstrap] Creating directory structure...
[bootstrap] Writing genesis.json...
[bootstrap] Writing keys.json...
[bootstrap] Bootstrap complete. UID=<unique_id>
[bootstrap] Root key: bp1_abc123...

SUCCESS: Vault created and verified.

Step 3: Append

[append] Event appended successfully
[append] Event ID: evt_abc123...
[append] Actor: alice
[append] Type: OBSERVATION

Step 4: Verify

[verify] Checking causal chains...
[verify] Checking signatures...
[verify] Checking Merkle root...
[verify] Vault integrity: VALID
[verify] Events verified: 2

Step 5: Replay

{
  "canonical": {},
  "local": {
    "hello:world": {
      "value": "first event",
      "confidence": 1.0,
      "actor": "alice"
    }
  },
  "contested": {},
  "archived": {},
  "metadata": {
    "state_hash": "abc123...",
    "event_count": 2
  }
}

What You Built

my_vault/
├── identity/
│   ├── keys.json          # Public key registry
│   ├── genesis.json       # Genesis event
│   └── private_keys.json  # Your private keys (guard this!)
├── events/
│   └── events.ndjson      # Append-only event log
├── state/
│   └── state.json         # Current derived state
└── manifest.json          # Merkle root + signatures

Next Steps

Add More Events

provara append my_vault \
  --type OBSERVATION \
  --data '{"subject": "temperature", "predicate": "reading", "value": 22.5}' \
  --keyfile my_vault/identity/private_keys.json

Create Checkpoint

provara checkpoint my_vault \
  --keyfile my_vault/identity/private_keys.json

Make Backup

provara backup my_vault --to ./backups

Anchor to Timestamp Authority

provara timestamp my_vault \
  --keyfile my_vault/identity/private_keys.json \
  --tsa https://freetsa.org/tsr

Troubleshooting

"Command not found: provara"

# Ensure pip installed to PATH
pip show provara-protocol

"Private keys file not found"

# Keys are saved in vault/identity/private_keys.json
# Use that path for --keyfile

"Invalid signature"

# Ensure you're using the correct keyfile
# Keys are actor-specific

Learn More

• Full Documentation: https://provara.dev/docs
• Cookbook: docs/cookbook/ — Real-world recipes
• Protocol Spec: PROTOCOL_PROFILE.txt — Cryptographic details
• GitHub: https://github.com/provara-protocol/provara

That's it. You've created your first tamper-evident vault. Everything you append is now cryptographically anchored and verifiable for the next 50 years.

"Truth is not merged. Evidence is merged. Truth is recomputed."