Every circuit is classified by the trust level of its inputs. Use this to understand what each proof actually guarantees.

Trust Levels

Production

Proof inputs are self-contained cryptographic primitives. Safe for access decisions.

Self-Asserted

User supplies the private input. Math is valid, but the claim is only as trustworthy as the user's honesty.

Experimental

Demo fallback or simplified logic. Do not use for production access decisions.

Circuit Classification

Production

• Hash Preimage — User knows x such that hash(x) = y. Cryptographically sound.
• Signature Verification — User holds a valid EdDSA signature for a message.
• Patience Proof — User waited at least N seconds. Verifiable against block time.
• Private Voting — Vote is valid and nullifier prevents double-voting.
• Balance Proof — With wallet connected, balance is independently verified on-chain via Solana RPC. Attested by server. Self-asserted fallback without wallet.
• Membership Proof — Merkle tree inclusion via Poseidon (depth=16). Production-safe when the Merkle root is published by a trusted issuer. Use MembershipRegistry from the SDK.

Self-Asserted

• Age Verification — No external attestation. Equivalent to an "I am 18+" checkbox with cryptographic binding.
• Range Proof — Value is self-reported. Combine with attested data source.
• Credential Proof — Requires external issuer attestation for production trust.
• Anonymous Reputation — Requires on-chain or oracle-backed reputation feed.
• NFT Ownership — Combine with on-chain ownership check (Metaplex, etc.).
• Quadratic Voting — Combine with on-chain token balance for real governance.
• Token Swap — Combine with on-chain balance verification.
• Whale Holder — Balance is self-reported. Combine with on-chain lookup.

Guidelines for Integrators

1. Access gates: Use Production circuits, or Self-Asserted where the trust boundary is acceptable.
2. Compliance: Do not rely on Self-Asserted inputs without external attestation. The proof guarantees math, not truthfulness.
3. Prototyping: Experimental features are fine for demos. Do not use in production flows.
4. Disclose: When embedding zkRune, tell users what the proof proves and what it does not.

Upgrading Trust Level

Self-Asserted circuits can be upgraded to Production by:

• Balance Proof — upgraded to on-chain attested via Solana RPC when wallet is connected.
• Membership Proof — upgraded to Merkle tree verification (Poseidon, depth=16). Integrators build groups with MembershipRegistry from the SDK.
• Integrating an issuer/attestation layer (e.g. signed credential for Age Verification).

Further upgrades are planned for future releases. See the roadmap.