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Handle a duplicity proof

What a duplicity proof is, how to check one, and what it obliges you to do.

A duplicity proof is what a witness returns instead of a cosignature when a chain presents the same index with two different heads. It contains both signed tuples, so the contradiction is in the submitter's own signatures.

You get one from a POST /v1/anchor that conflicts:

terminal
409 Conflict
{ "duplicity": { "seedId": "c6ec71d2…", "index": 412, "a": {…}, "b": {…} } }

Check it

bash
auths artifact verify --offline duplicity.json

It verifies with no trust in the witness that emitted it and no network — the proof is self-contained.

Treat one as disqualifying

There is no innocent reading of two histories at one index. The proof is portable: attach it to a dispute, publish it, hand it to a counterparty.

Where they come from

Watchers — the market among them — scan witness logs for exactly these collisions and publish what they find. You don't have to be the one who catches it.

If it doesn't verify: a proof that fails offline verification proves nothing; it may be a malformed or fabricated artifact. Discard it.