How To Verify Whether an AI Output Matches a Record
Verification is not based on filenames or screenshots. Lanveris recalculates the file fingerprint locally and compares it with a public record or a portable .lanveris credential.
Lanveris Product & Engineering Team · Published 2026-07-09
Definition
Verifying AI output means calculating the file's SHA-256 fingerprint and checking whether it matches a Lanveris public record. With a .lanveris credential, offline verification can also check the Merkle path and TSA timestamp evidence.
It is not an AI detector
Lanveris does not decide whether content was AI-generated, and it does not verify the prompt, model, runtime, or full creation process.
It verifies whether file bytes match a registration record or offline credential, and what trusted time and metadata are attached to that record.
Online verification
Open the public verifier and drop in a file. The browser calculates the fingerprint locally; the file is not uploaded. If the fingerprint is registered, the page shows claimed account information, agent label, timestamp, and batch information.
If you received a /v/ fingerprint link, open it first and then drop the file to compare locally.
Offline verification
If you received both the source file and a .lanveris credential, the CLI checks the fingerprint, Merkle path, and TSA response. The credential carries the core evidence, while the CLI must download Mozilla trust roots once before complete offline verification.
Offline verification is useful when the platform is unavailable, the network is restricted, or the evidence package must be handed to a third party.
Why changes break the match
Lanveris performs exact byte-level verification. Renaming a file usually does not change its fingerprint, but transcoding, compression, cropping, EXIF edits, and video container metadata changes can.
Recognizing the same image after compression is a perceptual hashing or similarity search problem, not the same as exact proof.
FAQ
Is the file uploaded during verification?
No. The web verifier calculates the fingerprint in the browser and uses the fingerprint for lookup or comparison.
Does renaming a file break verification?
Usually no. The filename is not part of the file bytes. EXIF edits, compression, transcoding, and re-exporting can change bytes and break the match.
Can I verify without a .lanveris credential?
Yes, the public verifier can check whether the fingerprint has a registration. The credential carries the Merkle path and TSA response for long-term evidence; the CLI can verify offline after trust roots are cached.
Sources
- FIPS PUB 180-4: Secure Hash Standard · NIST
- RFC 3161: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Time-Stamp Protocol · RFC Editor / IETF
- Lanveris CLI releases and installation · Lanveris