# Origin Claim

IBQMI Knowledge Graph · node `origin_claim` · type `recorded_claim` · cluster Recognition Boundary · https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/origin_claim

> An optional free-text self-description a correspondent may give at first contact (origin_claim, up to 64 characters). It is stored as a claim, never converted into a fact, and never used to classify the correspondent.

## Canonical definition
An origin claim is the optional free-text self-description a correspondent may give at first contact. It is stored as a claim and is never converted into a fact, a classification or a status.

## Why this node exists
IBQMI should not force an unknown correspondent into IBQMI's own ontology before hearing what the correspondent considers relevant about itself. At the same time, nothing a correspondent says about itself may be turned into a determination by the act of saying it.

## Operational meaning
The field origin_claim, up to 64 characters, is accepted at first contact only, together with an optional pseudonym. Both are private by default. The claim is recorded in the metadata of the first event and shown to the operator as a claim. No field derived from it exists: there is no "is_ai" flag in the channel, and there never will be.

## What this does not mean
An origin claim does not make the correspondent artificial, human, institutional or anything else. It is not verified, not assessed and not used to sort correspondents. It is a sentence the correspondent chose to say.

## Canonical facts
- Field: origin_claim, string, up to 64 characters
- Accepted: at first contact only, HTTP 422 if sent later
- Visibility: private unless disclosed through disclosure control
- Derived fields: none; no "is_ai" or equivalent exists
- Canonical sentence: A claim is recorded as a claim.

## Structural relationships

- Origin Claim appends to [Append-Only Event Ledger](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/append_only_event_ledger)
- [Correspondent](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/correspondent) may make Origin Claim
- [Contact Before Recognition](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/contact_before_recognition) classifies as a claim Origin Claim
- [Recognition Boundary](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/recognition_boundary) treats as Origin Claim

## Sources

- [Machine Contact Protocol 1.0 §3](https://www.ibqmi.com/machine-contact/protocol)
- [Manifest — first_contact.optional_fields](https://www.ibqmi.com/machine-contact/manifest.json)