VERDICT · Open Research API & Programmatic Protocol

1. Architecture & Base URLs

VERDICT provides a dual-surface API architecture designed with strict separation between public read-only verification data and the protected mutation pipeline.

LOCAL-FIRST RESEARCH ENGINE

http://127.0.0.1:8787

Default binding for the node research daemon. Serves local query resolution, adaptive web scraping, and research token-authenticated operations.

PUBLIC VERIFICATION MIRROR

https://www.verdict.is-an.org/api

Public projection serving static immutable JSON snapshots, verified evidence manifests, and audited case bundles.

Immutable Projection Rule: The public API exposes only verified, attributable, and publishable records. Internal investigative notes, quarantined Tier-E social media chatter, and private whistleblower leads are strictly ring-fenced behind institutional firewalls.

2. Authentication & Rate Limits

All standard retrieval routes (GET) and public community challenge submissions (POST /api/challenge) are unauthenticated.

Tier	Header / Credential	Rate Limit	Allowed Actions
Public / Academic	None required	60 requests / min / IP	Read cases, entities, evidence packets, archives, and submit challenges
Desk Researcher	`x-research-token: <OSINT_RESEARCH_TOKEN>`	Governed by task budget (100 req/burst)	Execute automated research sweeps, ingest claims, record leads

3. Epistemic Schemas & Classifications

Every claim and evidence packet returned by the API embeds strict epistemic state tags:

DOCUMENTED

Supported directly by official statutory filings, gazettes, corporate registries, or signed charters.

REPORTED

Attributable public reporting from established news organizations with editorial oversight.

UNRESOLVED GAP

Public allegation or pledge with zero statutory bank records or official corroboration found in searched corpus.

4. Public Read Routes

GET `/api/health`

System heartbeat, node timestamp, and mutation lockdown state.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/health"

// Response (200 OK)
{
  "ok": true,
  "service": "research-api",
  "time": "2026-10-03T16:40:00.000Z",
  "readOnlyMutationsDisabled": false
}

GET `/api/search?q={query}&type={type}&state={state}`

Full-text multi-kind search across investigations, entities, claims, relationships, funding, and events.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`q`	string	`""`	Search keywords (matches titles, summaries, names, notes)
`type`	string	`"all"`	Filter by record kind: `case`, `entity`, `claim`, `relationship`, `event`, `funding`
`state`	string	`"all"`	Filter by epistemic state: `documented`, `reported`, `alleged`, `refuted`

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/search?q=Cockroach&type=case"

// Response (200 OK)
{
  "query": "cockroach",
  "count": 1,
  "records": [
    {
      "kind": "case",
      "id": "case_abhijeet-dipke",
      "slug": "abhijeet-dipke",
      "title": "The Architecture of the Cockroach Janta Party: Political Past, Legal Funding, and Public Demands",
      "status": "RESEARCHING"
    }
  ]
}

GET `/api/cases`

Lists all active public accountability investigations with layer metrics.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/cases"

// Response (200 OK)
{
  "count": 1,
  "cases": [
    {
      "id": "case_abhijeet-dipke",
      "slug": "abhijeet-dipke",
      "title": "The Architecture of the Cockroach Janta Party: Political Past, Legal Funding, and Public Demands",
      "status": "RESEARCHING",
      "claimCount": 6,
      "sourceCount": 6,
      "relationshipCount": 5,
      "eventCount": 4,
      "openQuestionsCount": 4,
      "versionCount": 3
    }
  ]
}

GET `/api/cases/:idOrSlug`

Fetches the complete investigative case bundle including connected claims, entity network, timeline events, funding ledgers, and open questions.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/cases/abhijeet-dipke"

GET `/api/evidence/:claimId`

Fetches a First-Class Evidence Packet for a specific claim. Returns supporting evidence, primary sources, secondary corroboration, retrieval timestamps, cryptographic hash, and verification status.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/evidence/claim_dipke_cjp_founding"

// Response (200 OK)
{
  "claimId": "claim_dipke_cjp_founding",
  "code": "CLM-001",
  "claim": "Abhijeet Dipke is the publicly declared founder and convenor of the Cockroach Janta Party.",
  "state": "documented",
  "attribution": "Official Charter & Public Declaration (May 2026)",
  "evidencePacket": {
    "primarySourceId": "src_cjp_official",
    "verificationStatus": "VERIFIED_PRIMARY",
    "archiveUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260915120000/https://www.cockroachjantaparty.org/",
    "contentHash": "sha256-a1b2c3d4e5f60718293a4b5c6d7e8f90123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0",
    "lastChecked": "2026-10-03T04:40:00Z"
  }
}

GET `/api/sources/archive`

Returns the Source Preservation Archive: immutable cold-storage snapshot URLs, original publication sources, and SHA-256 verification digests.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/sources/archive"

GET `/api/coverage`

Dynamic research coverage index: sources swept, documents examined, claims verified, and explicitly declared investigative limitations.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/coverage"

// Response (200 OK)
{
  "summary": {
    "sourcesSearched": 38,
    "sourcesYieldingData": 24,
    "documentsReviewed": 183,
    "claimsExtracted": 6,
    "claimsVerified": 5,
    "openQuestionsCount": 4,
    "contradictionsCount": 2
  },
  "epistemicRule": "No evidence found in searched corpus ≠ evidence does not exist.",
  "totalEntitiesResolved": 10,
  "totalSourcesPreserved": 6,
  "activeCasesCount": 1
}

GET `/api/entities/:id`

Full entity dossier projection with associated claims, corporate relationships, financial interactions, and resolved aliases.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/entities/person_abhijeet-dipke"

GET `/api/research/contradictions`

Real-time contradiction detection engine identifying statements, public pledges, and official records that cannot simultaneously be accurate.

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/research/contradictions"

5. Factual Challenge Submission

POST /api/challenge

VERDICT invites external researchers, subjects, and institutional representatives to challenge any published claim. Submissions enter a non-mutating analyst verification queue and log a cryptographic audit event.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`claimId`	string	Yes	ID of the claim or case being challenged (e.g. `claim_dipke_sibal_legal_fund`)
`reason`	string	Yes	Specific explanation of factual error, date omission, or counter-evidence (min 5 chars)
`evidenceUrl`	string	Optional	Primary gazette link, court docket number, or archived order supporting the correction
`name`	string	Optional	Challenger's name or institutional affiliation
`contact`	string	Optional	Contact email for follow-up by the VERDICT ombudsman desk

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/challenge" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "claimId": "claim_dipke_sibal_legal_fund",
    "name": "Bar Council Observer",
    "reason": "Clarify that the fund was announced as pro-bono counsel commitments rather than a direct bank wire.",
    "evidenceUrl": "https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/case-order/2026/...",
    "contact": "observer@legalresearch.org"
  }'

// Response (202 Accepted)
{
  "ok": true,
  "challengeId": "challenge_4fa2e1c9-7681-4235-862a-e6a6428c9462",
  "status": "queued_for_review",
  "message": "Challenge submitted to editorial review queue. Canonical data is protected and not directly mutated."
}

6. Autonomous Research Execution

POST /api/research/run REQUIRES x-research-token

Autonomous micro-agent sweep running across official gazettes, corporate registries (MCA), Wayback archives, and social platforms under strict verification budgets.

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/research/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-research-token: $OSINT_RESEARCH_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "target": {
      "canonicalName": "Sharjeel Imam",
      "usernames": ["@sharjeel_imam"],
      "organizations": ["Jawaharlal Nehru University"]
    },
    "question": "What public court filings and judicial statements are documented regarding bail hearings?",
    "maxRounds": 3,
    "taskBudget": 25
  }'

7. Cryptographic Manifest & Tamper Protection

VERDICT uses cryptographic SHA-256 content addressing for every archived document. Before any web page or PDF is cited in an Evidence Packet, its body bytes are digested:

// Integrity Digest Verification Example
const crypto = require('node:crypto');
const fs = require('node:fs');

const rawDocument = fs.readFileSync('archive/2026-cjp-charter.html');
const hash = 'sha256-' + crypto.createHash('sha256').update(rawDocument).digest('hex');
console.log('Document Verified:', hash === packet.contentHash);

8. Terms of Use & Attribution

VERDICT data is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.

Mandatory Attribution: Any newsroom, legal brief, academic paper, or public visualization citing VERDICT API records must include:

"Source: VERDICT Public Accountability Desk (verdict.is-an.org), Investigation ID #[ID]."

1. Architecture & Base URLs

http://127.0.0.1:8787

https://www.verdict.is-an.org/api

2. Authentication & Rate Limits

3. Epistemic Schemas & Classifications

4. Public Read Routes

GET /api/health

GET /api/search?q={query}&type={type}&state={state}

GET /api/cases

GET /api/cases/:idOrSlug

GET /api/evidence/:claimId

GET /api/sources/archive

GET /api/coverage

GET /api/entities/:id

GET /api/research/contradictions