Protocol Constants
Alpha 2 uses POSTSNAIL_PROTOCOL postsnail, POSTSNAIL_PROTOCOL_VERSION 1, and current manifest, identity, commit, and workspace versions of 1.
Feature Declarations
Major records declare protocol, version, requiredFeatures, optionalFeatures, and extensions. Unknown optional fields are ignored; unknown required features fail.
Public Manifest
postsnail.manifest.json is the public proof root with file hashes, post proofs, bundle fingerprint, and manifest signature.
Well-Known Identity
.well-known/postsnail.json points to the manifest, declares the current bundle fingerprint, and is used by trackers before deeper crawls.
Commit Proofs
latest-commit.json and commits.json are optional commit-history records. Missing commit history is a legacy warning, not a fatal error.
Workspace Vault
.postsnail is an encrypted JSON envelope with non-secret header metadata and versioned encrypted workspace payload.
Tracker Announce
postsnail-announce is a signed public refresh signal. It never carries private keys and is not an account login.
ShellNames
postsnail-shellname records are optional signed aliases like @creator@forest.postsnail.org. They point to a public key and URL, not a legal identity or account.
Site Moves
postsnail-site-move records are optional signed domain-change records. Forest verifies the old indexed public key and the new live proof before hiding an old moved domain from search.