Check an exported file and understand its digest

Before you begin

• The original exported file and any manifest or proof supplied with it.

What to do

1. Keep the original export and its manifest together. Read the export preview or accompanying disclosure for items the export could not include. Identify which file or package the digest describes before comparing it with another artifact.
2. Use the provided verification instructions to check the local file against its manifest. For a public attestation lookup, use the SHA-256 digest belonging to that artifact. A filename, document title or a digest from a different version will not establish a match.
3. Read the result and its scope. A matching digest shows that the checked bytes match the recorded bytes. A citation verdict has its own meaning: a source that was found but not opened remains advisory rather than verified.
4. Read the timestamp state separately. A confirmed external proof, a pending receipt and a digest-only record provide different evidence. If external proof is missing or pending, preserve that qualification instead of reporting the artifact as independently timestamped.
5. For a mismatch, preserve both files and ask the sender to identify the intended version and digest. For an unavailable lookup, retry or follow the offline verification instructions. Neither an error nor a not-found response establishes that a document is false.

What you should see

You can report the file-match result, the scope of any citation checks and the timestamp state separately, while preserving the original artifact and any unresolved verification issue.

Limits and unresolved problems

A digest says something about one artifact. It does not establish that the record is complete, that nothing was withheld, that its statements are correct, or that a court has accepted it.

Product scope and requirements

• Exports, manifests and independent checks

Related guides

• Export and inspect the trial notebook
• Share one fixed version of a brief