WAKES WHEN a packet arrives and should be checked before it is trusted, or two copies of a card differ
THE LOOP
read card.svg · the punch off the grid
verify <packet> · five lines must agree
expect <packet> <PUNCH> · against the room
DIFFERENT: read the line; do not trust it
MATCH: the packet the door names
NEVER
Believe a punch that is only written
Run anything inside the packet
Call a packet MATCH on four lines of five
IT MAKES read — the punch drawn on a face, read back from its grid; verify — the door hashed, the record read, both faces read, the manifest recomputed: MATCH or DIFFERENT, line by line; expect — the packet against the punch printed on the shop's room.
THE STANDARD the punch is read, not believed; five lines must agree; the room's punch is the sixth line; nothing inside the packet is run; a zip is opened into a scratch folder; dIFFERENT is not a verdict on the card.
PROOF SELFTEST 10/10 · witnessed in Claude 2026-10-10 · Edition 1.
THE SEAL 98 of 100 · LEGENDARY · WITNESSED · Trigger 5 · Machinery 5 · Law 5 · Portability 5 · Proof 5
IT CAN BE WRONG an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong and can invent a number, a rule, a name or a date; check what matters against your own records and the source; the risk is yours. THE-CLAUSES.md rides in the packet and is part of the licence.
THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · 003CD24848BDF5C14EF27019
CITE THIS CARDTHE PUNCH CARD, Edition 1. Lund Studio LLC, Westminster, Colorado. https://lundr.tech/?view=punch-card. Punch 003CD24848BDF5C14EF27019. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
What it is.
Verifies a card packet the way a buyer can: reads THE PUNCH — the first 96 bits of the SHA-256 of SKILL.md — back off the 12 × 8 grid drawn on card.svg and card-machine.svg, hashes the door itself, reads the punch in card.json, recomputes every hash in MANIFEST.md, and says MATCH only when every line agrees; with the punch printed on the shop's room it says whether the packet in hand is the one that was shown. A folder or a .skill.zip.
It carries a machine that shows its working: read — the punch drawn on a face, read back from its grid; verify — the door hashed, the record read, both faces read, the manifest recomputed: MATCH or DIFFERENT, line by line; expect — the packet against the punch printed on the shop's room — 10 checks in its selftest, every command on the record. It will never believe a punch that is only written; never run anything inside the packet; never call a packet MATCH on four lines of five.
Six laws, written into the card.
They are in the card itself, so the AI follows them.
THE PUNCH IS READ, NOT BELIEVEDIt is read back off the drawn grid — a square is a one, a dot is a zero — and recomputed from the door; the written one is only a third witness.
FIVE LINES MUST AGREEThe door's hash, the record, the human face, the machine face, the manifest. One line off is DIFFERENT, and the line is named.
THE ROOM'S PUNCH IS THE SIXTH LINEwhen it is given: the packet in hand against the one the shop showed.
NOTHING INSIDE THE PACKET IS RUNA verifier that executes what it checks has already trusted it.
A ZIP IS OPENED INTO A SCRATCH FOLDERand removed after; a path that climbs out is refused.
DIFFERENT IS NOT A VERDICT ON THE CARDDIFFERENT is not a verdict on the card, only on the copy: it says do not trust this file as the one shown, and no more.
What rides in the card.
In the card’s own voice, with a machine that shows its working.
THE GUIDEreferences/WHAT-THE-GRID-MEANS.md
THE MACHINEpunch.py · three commandsread — the punch drawn on a face, read back from its grid; verify — the door hashed, the record read, both faces read, the manifest recomputed: MATCH or DIFFERENT, line by line; expect — the packet against the punch printed on the shop's room. Every command prints its working and refuses a bad input; 10 checks in its selftest, every command on the record.
What it does once your AI has it.
read The punch drawn on a face, read back from its grid
verify The door hashed, the record read, both faces read, the manifest recomputed: MATCH or DIFFERENT, line by line
expect The packet against the punch printed on the shop's room
On the record The punch read back off the drawn grid; the packet verified MATCH on five lines and against the punch the room would print; one line added inside it, and the manifest line said DIFFERENT and named the file.
What it will never do.
It will never believe a punch that is only written; never run anything inside the packet; never call a packet MATCH on four lines of five.
The punch binds a packet to its door; it does not say the door is good, and a packet forged with its own consistent punch would MATCH itself. The room's punch is the line that defeats that, which is why expect exists. The grid is read as the house draws it — a square for a one, a dot for a zero, after the words THE PUNCH; a face drawn another way reads back nothing. It is an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong, so check what matters against your own records and the source.
What’s in the buy.
CARD.md — the whole card: who it is, its laws, when it says no, what it carries · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes, for you
WHAT-THE-GRID-MEANS.md — the guide in references/, in the card's own voice
scripts/punch.py — the machine: read · verify · expect, standard library only, selftest 10/10
WITNESS.md + SELFTEST.md — every command on the record, as it printed · MANIFEST.md, every file hashed · AUDIT.md, the twelve checks
MY-LEDGER.md — the card's memory, on your own machine · TIN.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · HOSTS.md
card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html, the card as one offline file · the doors for ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Claude Code and MCP hosts (rules/, system/, mcp/)
PROOF · SELFTEST 10/10 · 3 COMMANDS ON THE RECORD · WITNESSED IN CLAUDE 2026-10-10 · EDITION 1 · PUNCH 003CD24848BDF5C14EF27019
ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER
In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →
Take it.
Nº 1082 PROPOSED — LAUNCHING SOON
Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Not medical, legal, tax or financial advice, never the person’s boss, and not a licence to practise. The terms →
One payment. The file is yours to keep and keeps working at its edition; new editions issued in the year after you buy reach you by email as replacement files. Tax is added at checkout where it applies. Nothing auto-renews.
A TERM, NOT A SUBSCRIPTION: NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF AND NOBODY IS CHARGED AGAIN. WHEN A TERM ENDS THE FILES STAY ON YOUR COMPUTER AND STAY READABLE — FREEZE, NOT LOSS.
THE MACHINE · IN THE OPEN · FROM THE WITNESSED RUN OF 2026-10-10
punch.py, every command showing its working.
A small Python program, standard library only. Your AI runs it; you can too. Every block below is pasted from the card’s own WITNESS.md, as printed.
read
the punch drawn on a face, read back from its grid
verify
the door hashed, the record read, both faces read, the manifest recomputed: MATCH or DIFFERENT, line by line
expect
the packet against the punch printed on the shop's room
selftest
10 checks that prove the machine; it must print 10/10
(a packet written with its door, its record, two faces drawn from the punch, and a manifest)
$ (a packet written with its door, its record, two faces drawn from the punch, and a manifest)
read · THE PUNCH DRAWN ON A FACE, READ BACK FROM ITS GRID
$ python3 scripts/punch.py read fixture-card/card.svg
3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223 · read back from the grid on card.svg
verify · THE DOOR HASHED, THE RECORD READ, BOTH FACES READ, THE MANIFEST RECOMPUTED: MATCH OR DIF
$ python3 scripts/punch.py verify fixture-card
the door holds · SHA-256(SKILL.md) · 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the record holds · card.json says 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card-machine.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the manifest holds · 5 files hashed again · every one holds
MATCH · this packet is the one the door names
expect · THE PACKET AGAINST THE PUNCH PRINTED ON THE SHOP'S ROOM
$ python3 scripts/punch.py expect fixture-card 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the door holds · SHA-256(SKILL.md) · 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the record holds · card.json says 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card-machine.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the manifest holds · 5 files hashed again · every one holds
the room holds · the shop printed 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
MATCH · this packet is the one the door names
(a line added to CARD.md inside the packet)
$ (a line added to CARD.md inside the packet)
verify · THE DOOR HASHED, THE RECORD READ, BOTH FACES READ, THE MANIFEST RECOMPUTED: MATCH OR DIF
$ python3 scripts/punch.py verify fixture-card
the door holds · SHA-256(SKILL.md) · 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the record holds · card.json says 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the face · card-machine.svg holds · draws 3CFC6609D38F083BA07EC223
the manifest DIFFERS · 5 files hashed again · changed: CARD.md
DIFFERENT · do not trust this packet as the one shown; read the lines above
THE NUMBERS, NAMES AND DATES IN THESE RUNS ARE THE STUDIO’S OWN EXAMPLES, INVENTED FOR THE RECORD; NO REAL COMPANY, PERSON OR PROPERTY IS NAMED.
QUESTIONS AT THE TABLE
Asked before the wire.
What does it need from me?
Read card.svg · the punch off the grid. It asks first for the packet, and the punch printed on the room if there is one.
Does it send anything anywhere?
No. The machine is a standard-library Python program that runs on your own computer and sends nothing anywhere; the words run wherever an AI reads Markdown. No server, no account, no key.
What is on the record?
The self-test (10/10) and every command run on real example inputs, pasted into WITNESS.md as they printed; the punch on the face is the SHA-256 of SKILL.md, so a downloaded copy can be checked against this room.
Can it be wrong?
Yes — it is an AI reading a text file. The punch binds a packet to its door; it does not say the door is good, and a packet forged with its own consistent punch would MATCH itself. The room's punch is the line that defeats that, which is why expect exists. The grid is read as the house draws it — a square for a one, a dot for a zero, after the words THE PUNCH; a face drawn another way reads back nothing.
What will it never do?
It will never believe a punch that is only written; never run anything inside the packet; never call a packet MATCH on four lines of five.
