Content provenance

Check the file against the exact bytes you recorded.

You have a file in an archive and a receipt from the day it was recorded, and you want to know whether the two still agree. The comparison is byte for byte and ignores metadata entirely — so keep the original, because a re-saved or re-compressed copy will not match, and that is the mechanism working rather than failing.

The bytes you compare against are in Base’s public transaction history, where we cannot change them. Keep the original file — a re-saved copy has different bytes and will not match, however carefully it was saved.

What happens if we shut down
Base
Current write chain
32 bytes
Raw digest bytes on chain per record
L2 receipt
Service completion boundary
Retain source
Required for later comparison

Use cases

Built for content provenance workflows.

Sp

Source-version checkpoint

Retain the exact source bytes and processing rule needed to reproduce the submitted digest.

Gb

Metadata-independent comparison

Use the digest as a separate comparison value when distribution platforms remove metadata but preserve the file bytes.

Sh

Provenance packet

Combine the checkpoint with separately validated credentials, identity, capture, and edit-history records when those conclusions matter.

FAQ

Common questions, answered plainly.

Will a copy downloaded from a platform still match?

Usually not. Platforms re-compress images and strip metadata, which changes the bytes and therefore the fingerprint. Compare the original you kept, not a copy that has been through someone else’s pipeline.

Can this tell me whether an image was AI generated?

No. That is a detection question, and a fingerprint says nothing about how the pixels were produced.

Does it add a watermark or a credential to my file?

No. Nothing is added to the file at all, which is why the file never has to leave your computer. The file you record is the file you keep, unchanged.

Do I need an account?

Not to check a file or use the one-file guest offer when it is available. The verify page is public — no sign-in, nothing to install — and the public notarize page can send one browser-computed digest to checkout without an account. An account opens the signed-in console once you have verified your email address.

Need a dated record of this file?

Keep the source data and receipt. A matching digest supports a limited comparison; it does not establish truth, identity, authorship, ownership, custody, or a legal outcome.

Record this file