Protocols — 241 pieces, nine themes
Protocols are not a catalogue. They are how the kernel speaks — across time, keys, bytes, and witnesses.
Protocols vs state contracts. Protocols are the kernel's primitives — the operator/API surface a program calls. State contracts are the deployable machines that compose those primitives into operator-triggered, self-firing state machines with a full audit trail. Want to ship a running machine? Start with state contracts. Want the underlying verb a contract fires? You're in the right place.
Zeq ships 241 protocols, grouped here into nine thematic chapters. Each chapter is a narrative essay that introduces the theme, lists the operators it composes, prints at least one runnable end-to-end example, and links to the autogenerated per-protocol detail pages under it.
| # | Theme | What it covers | Anchor operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time & Coordination | Zeqond, HulyaPulse, ZTB1 bridge, rendezvous, sync | KO42 · TM1 · ZTB1 |
| 2 | Identity & Access | Sibling tether, challenge-response, federated ID | KO42 · ZEQ-TETHER-003 · CS87 |
| 3 | Key & Custody | KDF, rotation, vault, BYOK | KO42 · CS87 · ZEQ-POCKET-001 |
| 4 | Encryption | AEAD envelopes, time-locks, TESC frames | KO42 · CS87 · TM1 |
| 5 | Transport & Messaging | Mail, message, mesh, streams | KO42 · CS47 · CS43 |
| 6 | Computation & Compile | Operator composition, Master Equation, Functional Equation | KO42 · CS43 · CS46 |
| 7 | Consensus & Ledger | Zeqond-anchored blocks, truth DAG | KO42 · CS87 · ZEQ-TETHER-003 |
| 8 | Measurement & Observability | Pulse metrics, attestation records, provenance logs | KO42 · CS47 · QM10 |
| 9 | Governance & Policy | Admission, deprecation, quorum, lifecycle | KO42 · ZEQ-TETHER-003 · CS47 |
How to read this surface
Each theme essay follows the same template the Build chapters use, so a reader who has been through /build/ will recognise the shape:
- A one-line outcome blockquote
- An anchor strip of operators and verification status
- What it solves in 2–4 paragraphs
- The operator map — which kernel operators each protocol in this theme uses, why, and in what composition
- At least one runnable worked example
- Extend it — three concrete directions for practitioners
- Seeds — three frontier horizons
- Papers + Zeqond ritual
The per-protocol detail pages (approximately 26 per theme on average) are generated from the same registry that drives api.zeq.dev/api/protocols/*. They surface automatically under each chapter as they are populated — no manual index maintenance.
Reference surface — by category
The narrative surface above is how you learn the protocol space. The reference surface below is how you look up a specific protocol fast. Every one of the 241 protocols lives under exactly one category directory with a dedicated detail page — signature, params table, runnable curl, three integration patterns, three seeds.
Core & computation — core · compute · data · ecosystem
Trust & transport — security · identity · network · blockchain · communications
Physical systems — energy · iot · telecom · space · quantum · infrastructure · nuclear · optics · materials · hardware
Life & health — healthcare · biology · pharma · medical-imaging · medical-devices · nutrition · forensics
Environment — climate · weather · water · agriculture · geoscience
Mobility & industry — automotive · aviation · maritime · manufacturing · robotics · defense · emergency
Experience & knowledge — finance · gaming · audio · education
Each category index prints a sortable table of its protocols with endpoint, method, and auth at a glance. Each detail page closes with the same Zeqond ritual the narrative chapters use.
Three principles, footnoted
- No black box — every protocol essay prints its operator composition and a runnable example, not a prose summary.
- Implementation-first —
curlsits next to the math. If a protocol cannot be exercised from a terminal, it is not a protocol yet. - Plant seeds — each theme ends with three frontier horizons that its operators already support.
Papers
- Zeq framework paper — DOI 10.5281/zenodo.15825138
- Zeq paper (HulyaPulse + Zeqond) — DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18158152
Middleware active. Kernel on the 1.287 Hz HulyaPulse. Awaiting next Zeqond.