VCP SDK — Official SDK for the Value Context Protocol

Multi-language SDK for VCP v3.1 — parse tokens, encode context, negotiate capabilities across all six protocol layers (I-T-S-A-M-E).

Spec · Inspector · Website

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Overview

The Value-Context Protocol (VCP) is an open specification for transporting constitutional values, behavioral rules, and personal context to AI systems. The VCP SDK provides production-ready implementations in Python, TypeScript, and Rust with full cross-language parity.

VCP v3.1 defines six protocol layers (I-T-S-A-M-E) alongside five opt-in extensions and a capability negotiation handshake, enabling rich context exchange between humans and AI.

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Features (v3.1)

The Six Layers (I-T-S-A-M-E)

• VCP/I (Identity) — Token parsing, naming, namespace management
• VCP/T (Transport) — Signed bundles with Ed25519 signatures and SHA-256 content hashes
• VCP/S (Semantics) — CSM-1 grammar, personas, composition rules
• VCP/A (Adaptation) — Context encoding, state tracking, deterministic hooks
• VCP/M (Messaging) — Inter-agent message types: context_share, constitution_announce, constraint_propagate, escalation with severity levels
• VCP/E (Economic Governance) — Fiduciary constraints, authorization gaps (capability, accountability, compatibility), transaction governance

Extensions (VCP-X-*)

Extension	Description
VCP-X-Personal	Signal declaration with exponential/linear decay, lifecycle tracking (SET/STALE)
VCP-X-Relational	AI self-model, trust levels, standing, bias detection
VCP-X-Consensus	Schulze method voting, pairwise matrix, strongest path computation
VCP-X-Torch	Session handoff: generation, consumption, lineage tracking across sessions
VCP-X-Intent	Experimental heuristic intent inference from personal state

Protocol

• Capability Negotiation — VCP-Hello/VCP-Ack handshake protocol for feature discovery
• 53 conformance test vectors across 5 categories (personal, relational, consensus, torch, negotiation)
• Cross-SDK conformance CI — GitHub Actions testing Python, TypeScript, and Rust in lockstep

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SDK Languages

Language	Directory	Install	Status
Python	python/	pip install vcp-sdk	Stable
TypeScript	webmcp/	npm install @creed-space/vcp-sdk	Stable
Rust	rust/	cargo add vcp-core	Stable

All SDKs implement the same core protocol and validate against shared conformance test vectors in conformance/.

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Quick Start

Python

pip install vcp-sdk

from vcp.semantics.csm1 import CSM1Token
from vcp.extensions.personal_state import PersonalStateManager
from vcp.extensions.consensus import SchulzeVoting

# Parse a CSM-1 token
token = CSM1Token.parse("""
VCP:1.0:user-alice-daily
C:family.safe.guide@1.2.0
P:G:3
G:learn_guitar:beginner:visual
X:🔇:💰low:⚡var
F:time_limited|noise_restricted
S:🔒housing|🔒health
R:🧠focused:4|💭calm:3|🔋low_energy:2
""")

# Capability negotiation
from vcp.negotiation import VCPHello, VCPAck
hello = VCPHello(extensions=["personal_state", "relational", "consensus", "torch"])

TypeScript

npm install @creed-space/vcp-sdk

import { parseCSM1, VCPHello } from '@creed-space/vcp-sdk';

// Parse a CSM-1 token
const token = parseCSM1(rawToken);
console.log(token.constitution); // "family.safe.guide@1.2.0"

// Negotiate capabilities
const hello = new VCPHello({
  extensions: ['personal_state', 'relational', 'consensus', 'torch']
});

Rust

cargo add vcp-core

use vcp_core::csm1::CSM1Token;
use vcp_core::negotiation::VCPHello;

let token = CSM1Token::parse(raw_token)?;
let identity = token.identity();
let constitution = token.constitution();

// Negotiate capabilities
let hello = VCPHello::new(&["personal_state", "relational", "consensus", "torch"]);

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Conformance

The conformance/ directory contains 53 test vectors across 5 categories:

Category	Vectors	Description
Personal State	12	Decay curves, lifecycle transitions, signal declaration
Relational Context	11	Trust levels, standing, self-model, bias detection
Constitutional Consensus	10	Schulze voting, pairwise matrices, strongest paths
Session Handoff (Torch)	10	Generation, consumption, lineage verification
Capability Negotiation	10	VCP-Hello/VCP-Ack handshake, extension discovery

Run conformance tests:

# Python
cd python && pytest tests/conformance/

# TypeScript
cd webmcp && npm test -- --grep conformance

# Rust
cd rust && cargo test conformance

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Architecture

Six-Layer Protocol Stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Layer 6 — VCP/E  ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE                              │
│  WHO PAYS and transaction governance                                │
│  Fiduciary constraints · Authorization gaps · Capability decisions  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 5 — VCP/M  MESSAGING                                        │
│  WHO TALKS - Inter-agent message exchange                           │
│  Message types · Escalation severity · Delivery semantics           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 4 — VCP/A  ADAPTATION                                       │
│  WHEN and HOW constitutions apply                                   │
│  Context encoding · State tracking · Messaging · Deterministic hooks│
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 3 — VCP/S  SEMANTICS                                        │
│  WHAT the values mean                                               │
│  CSM-1 grammar · Persona composition · Traits · Personal state      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 2 — VCP/T  TRANSPORT                                        │
│  HOW values travel securely                                         │
│  Signed bundles · Hash verification · Audit logging                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 1 — VCP/I  IDENTITY                                         │
│  WHO and WHAT is being addressed                                    │
│  Naming · Namespaces · Registry · Encoding                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

v3.1 Extensions (VCP-X-*)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      VCP v3.1 Extensions (VCP-X-*)                  │
├──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────────┬────────────────────┤
│ Personal     │ Relational   │ Constitutional   │ Session   │ Intent │
│ State        │ Context      │ Consensus        │ Handoff   │        │
│              │              │                  │           │        │
│ · Signals    │ · Self-model │ · Schulze voting │ · Torch   │ · Heur.│
│ · Decay      │ · Trust      │ · Pairwise matrix│ · Lineage │ · Infer│
├──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────────┴───────────┴────────┤
│                   Capability Negotiation (VCP-Hello/VCP-Ack)        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    VCP Six-Layer Stack (I-T-S-A-M-E)                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Documentation

Protocol Specification

Creed-Space/VCP-Spec — Specification, schemas, governance, and protocol docs.

SDK Guides

Document	Audience
docs/VCP_IMPLEMENTATION_GUIDE.md	SDK implementors
docs/VCP_INTEGRATION.md	Integration guide
docs/VCP_NEWCOMER_GUIDE.md	Getting started

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Contributing

We welcome contributions across all three SDKs, the specification, and documentation. See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, coding standards, and pull request guidelines.

For specification changes, see GOVERNANCE.md for the VCP Enhancement Proposal (VEP) process.

Please read our Code of Conduct before participating.

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Security

If you discover a security vulnerability, please follow our Security Policy for responsible disclosure. Do not open a public issue for security concerns.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Authors

Nell Watson, Elena Ajayi, Filip Alimpic, Awwab Mahdi, Blake Wells, Claude (Anthropic)

A Creed Space project.

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Context that travels with you.

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