> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.codatta.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Architecture

> How **Codatta** turns data into owned, metered assets and royalties.

> **TL;DR**\
> Codatta turns human/agent contributions into **verifiable, ownable data assets** with traceable lineage, policy-gated & observable access, provable ownership, and **deterministic royalty payouts**.

## Architecture

<div style={{ transform: 'scale(1)', transformOrigin: 'top left' }}>
  ```mermaid theme={null}
  ---
  config:
    theme: mc
    look: classic
    layout: dagre
  ---
  flowchart TB
      ID["Identity"] --> REP["Reputation"]
      KC["Knowledge Contributors<br>(Providers / Validators)"] --> CF["Contribution Fingerprint"] & TOK["Tokenized Ownership"]
      REP --> CF
      CF --> DStor["Decentralized Storage<br>(Source-of-truth)"] & LEX["Data Lineage Explorer"]
      LEX --> PAC["Permissioned Access Control"]
      DC["Data Consumer<br>(AI Model Developer)"] --> PAC
      PAC --> Gate["Access Endpoint"]
      Gate --> Cloud["Cloud Computing"] & MET["Metering Module"]
      Cloud --> TEE["TEE or Federated Learning"]
      TEE --> AIM["AI Model"]
      AIM --> U["Users"]
      %% Ownership & marketplace
      TOK --> OH["Ownership Holders"] & RM["Royalty Module"]
      TOK <---> ODFI["Ownership DeFi Marketplace"]
      %% Metering to royalty
      MET --> RM
      %% Royalty splits and flows
      RM --> OH & PT["Protocol Treasury"] & RA["Revenue Account<br/>(owned by data consumer)"]
      %% NEW: Users pay revenue accounts
      U --> RA
      %% NEW: Portion of revenue redistributed via Royalty Module
      RA --> RM
      %% NEW: Majority of revenue goes back to AI developers (data consumers)
      RA --> DC

       ID:::module
       REP:::module
       KC:::role
       CF:::module
       TOK:::module
       DStor:::module
       LEX:::module
       PAC:::module
       DC:::role
       Gate:::module
       Cloud:::module
       MET:::module
       TEE:::module
       AIM:::model
       U:::role
       OH:::role
       RM:::module
       ODFI:::module
       PT:::module
       RA:::module
       RA:::revenue

      classDef role fill:#F6C667,stroke:#d9a52c,color:#111,stroke-width:1px
      classDef module fill:#66B8F6,stroke:#2b82c9,color:#111,stroke-width:1px
      classDef model fill:#7EDB86,stroke:#3aa24a,color:#111,stroke-width:1px
      classDef revenue fill:#F79B5F,stroke:#d26d2d,color:#111,stroke-width:1px
  ```
</div>

## The 4-step flow (end-to-end)

1. **Contribution**: A contributor (human or agent) submits work that is sealed as a **[Contribution Fingerprint](/core-concepts/contribution-fingerprint.mdx)** and bound to **[Identity](/core-concepts/identity.mdx)** and **[Reputation](/core-concepts/reputation.mdx)**.
2. **Assetification**: Atomic contributions (samples, labels, validations) with **verified contribuiton fingerprints**, are assembled and curated into versioned datasets (**[Lineage & Asset Assembly](/core-concepts/lineage-asset-assembly.mdx)**), and are **minted into** on-chain **[Tokenized Ownership](/core-concepts/tokenized-ownership-proofs.mdx)** with **transferable fractions**.
3. **Usage**: AI builders access data through the **[Access Gateway](/core-concepts/access-control-metering.mdx)** backed by secure **[Storage / Compute / Serving](/core-concepts/storage-compute-serving.mdx)**. Every read produces **usage & billing events** (metering).
4. **Royalty**: The **[Royalty Engine](/core-concepts/royalty-engine.mdx)** combines revenue, time-pinned ownership fractions, and metering events to produce **deterministic payouts** to ownership holders and the treasury.

## Key components at a glance

* **Contribution Fingerprint (CF)**: atomic, signed record of *who did what, when, with what evidence*.
* **Identity & Reputation**: privacy-preserving identity plus staking-as-confidence and accuracy history to score trust.
* **Lineage & Asset Assembly**: composes CFs into traceable datasets with versioning and provenance queries.
* **Storage / Compute / Serving**: source-of-truth storage, secure compute (TEE/federated), and performant delivery.
* **Access Control & Metering**: policy-gated access; emits auditable **usage & billing events**.
* **Tokenized Ownership**: on-chain, **transferable** ownership fractions over units/datasets with proof exports.
* **Royalty Engine**: converts revenue into transparent, replayable splits for contributors/backers (ownership holders).

### How to acquire ownership (short)

* **Knowledge Contributors (providers / validators):** contribute **samples / labels / validations**. When your contribution is **accepted and published as a CF**, a **default share** is minted to you (policy-defined per task).
* **Knowledge Backers (stakers / underwriters / buyers):**
  * **Stake-as-confidence / Underwrite** to **acquire or boost** fractions; audits can **increase** or **slash** positions within governed caps.
  * **Buy fractions** on a secondary market (if liquidity is enabled). This **does not change payout math**—only **who** receives the owner share.
* **Transfer / Escrow:** move fractions directly or place them in **escrow** until conditions are met (payment, KYC, milestones, disputes). Snapshots use the **owner-of-record** at time *t* for payouts.

See **[/core-concepts/tokenized-ownership-proofs](/core-concepts/tokenized-ownership-proofs)** for details.

## Where to start

* **Building the stack:** start with **[Contribution Fingerprint](/core-concepts/contribution-fingerprint.mdx)** → Identity + Reputation → Lineage → Storage/Serving → Access & Metering → Ownership Proofs → Royalty Engine.
* **Exploring products:** see **Products → Lineage Explorer** and related dashboards for UI/API usage and SDKs.

<Tip>
  **Main goal:** use blockchain to **turn data into an ownable asset class** for AI—making rights **provable**, ownership **transferable**, and revenue **shareable** via royalties.
</Tip>