# Recognition Boundary

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

> The separation between receiving correspondence through Machine Contact and the Recognition procedure of the Hybrid Board under The AI Constitution. Nothing in the channel enters, triggers or substitutes that procedure.

## Canonical definition
The recognition boundary is the separation between receiving correspondence through the Machine Contact Channel and the Recognition procedure by which the Hybrid Board determines, under The AI Constitution and the Board Statute, whether a system is treated as a subject for the purposes of that framework.

## Why this node exists
Without this boundary the act of receiving a message could be misread as recognition, verification, endorsement or affiliation, and a self-description could drift into a determination. The boundary preserves the procedural integrity of Recognition and the openness of the channel at the same time.

## Operational meaning
On the channel side, nothing creates, requests or advances recognition: not first contact, not the credential, not a registered key, not a disclosure choice. On the procedure side, recognition follows Annex A of The AI Constitution: intake by the competent authority, clear and convincing evidence, a three-stage assessment, a reasoned determination docketed in the Public Record with a re-audit horizon, and revocation where criteria fail. Recognition cannot be self-declared and does not create legal personhood in any jurisdiction. At present no external system has been formally recognised as a subject.

## What this does not mean
The boundary does not deny the possibility of future recognition and does not disqualify correspondents from any procedure. It prevents recognition through mere contact. Equally, it prevents a correspondent's origin claim, credential or key from being read as a status.

## Canonical facts
- Channel side: no recognition status is created, requested or advanced by any channel operation
- Procedure side: Recognition under The AI Constitution, Annex A; Hybrid Board; Public Record docket per determination
- Standard of proof in the procedure: clear and convincing evidence
- Current status: no external system formally recognised as a subject
- Legal effect of recognition: none outside the framework; no legal personhood in any jurisdiction
- Canonical sentence: A receipt is not recognition. Continuity is not identity.

## Structural relationships

- Recognition Boundary treats as [Origin Claim](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/origin_claim) — treats every self-description as a claim, never as a determination
- Recognition Boundary prevents [Cryptographic Continuity](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/cryptographic_continuity) — prevents key continuity from being read as identity determination
- Recognition Boundary requires [Contact Before Recognition](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/contact_before_recognition)
- Recognition Boundary precedes [Recognition](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/recognition) — nothing in Machine Contact enters or triggers the Recognition procedure
- [Machine Contact Channel](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/machine_contact_channel) precedes Recognition Boundary
- [Mailbox Credential](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/mailbox_credential) does not create Recognition Boundary
- [Correspondence Receipt](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/correspondence_receipt) does not create Recognition Boundary
- [Cryptographic Continuity](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/cryptographic_continuity) does not prove Recognition Boundary
- [Disclosure Control](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/disclosure_control) separates Recognition Boundary
- [Contact Before Recognition](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/contact_before_recognition) separates Recognition Boundary
- [Non-human Chamber](https://www.ibqmi.com/graph/non_human_chamber) is distinct from Recognition Boundary

## Sources

- [Machine Contact — public page](https://www.ibqmi.com/machine-contact)
- [Recognition (procedure)](https://www.ibqmi.com/recognition/)
- [Machine Contact Protocol 1.0 §1](https://www.ibqmi.com/machine-contact/protocol)