causalontology 4.0.0

causalontology-csharp

The C# binding of the Causalontology standard — a faithful port of causalontology-py, sharing the same conformance suite.

Zero runtime dependencies. The .NET base class library carries SHA-256 and SHA-512 (System.Security.Cryptography); Ed25519 is not in the BCL, so it is hand-ported from the Python binding onto System.Numerics.BigInteger and gated on the RFC 8032 TEST 1 known answer before any vector runs. Requires the .NET 8 SDK or newer.

Conformance

$ dotnet run --project bindings/csharp/conformance
...
137/137 vectors passed
causalontology-csharp is CONFORMANT to the suite (vectors frozen at specification 4.0.0).

The runner locates the 137 vectors from the CAUSALONTOLOGY_ROOT environment variable when set, otherwise by walking up from the working directory until it finds conformance/vectors, otherwise from the source directory baked into the build. The vectors are test data and are not shipped in the package.

The schemas are a separate matter and CAUSALONTOLOGY_ROOT does not affect them. They are read from CAUSALONTOLOGY_SPEC if it is set, otherwise from the spec_schema directory shipped beside the assembly, otherwise from the copies embedded in the assembly itself, and only as a last resort by walking up to a repository spec/schema. That ordering is what lets an installed copy validate with no checkout anywhere.

Whenever both spec/schema/ and spec_schema/ are reachable the runner compares them byte for byte and exits with bundled schema drift on any difference, so the vendored copy can never go stale.

Testing an installed package, not the repository

By default the runner is built against the repository sources (ProjectReference). With CAUSALONTOLOGY_TEST_INSTALLED set it is built against the published NuGet package instead (PackageReference), it does not set CAUSALONTOLOGY_SPEC for itself, it prints binding under test: with the resolved assembly path, and it refuses to run if either that assembly or the schemas it loads come from inside the repository tree:

$ dotnet pack bindings/csharp/Causalontology -c Release -o /tmp/feed
$ CAUSALONTOLOGY_TEST_INSTALLED=1 dotnet restore bindings/csharp/conformance -s /tmp/feed
$ CAUSALONTOLOGY_TEST_INSTALLED=1 dotnet build bindings/csharp/conformance \
      -c Release --no-restore -o /tmp/installed
$ cd /tmp && env -u CAUSALONTOLOGY_SPEC CAUSALONTOLOGY_TEST_INSTALLED=1 \
      dotnet /tmp/installed/conformance.dll
binding under test: /tmp/installed/Causalontology.dll
schema source: bundled:/tmp/installed/spec_schema
...
137/137 vectors passed

The vectors are frozen at specification 4.0.0 (2026-07-22; 137 vectors, V01–V137): they carry concrete identifiers, real keys, and a real verifying signature. The harness's old normalization now simply passes frozen values through.

Thirty-second taste

using Causalontology;

var store = new InMemoryStore();
var press = store.Put(new JsonMap {
    { "type", "occurrent" }, { "label", "press_button" }, { "category", "action" } });
var light = store.Put(new JsonMap {
    { "type", "occurrent" }, { "label", "light_on" }, { "category", "state_change" } });
var claim = store.Put(new JsonMap {
    { "type", "causal_relation_object" },
    { "causes", new List<object?> { press } },
    { "effects", new List<object?> { light } } });

Console.WriteLine(claim);
Console.WriteLine(store.Gaps("missing_field").Count); // the degenerate claim is a visible invitation

Status

Source complete and ported line-for-line from the Python binding; verified locally with the .NET 8 SDK — dotnet run --project bindings/csharp/conformance prints 137/137 vectors passed — and built and executed by GitHub Actions CI as well, as it is for every binding.

License: "The attribution always; no profit, no problem license." — see the repository LICENSE and NOTICE.