# Verification Statuses & Errors

URL: https://docs.nexart.io/docs/verification-statuses-and-errors

Every verification outcome and node error, what most likely caused it, and what to do next.

##### Read this with Verification Semantics

This page is the operational counterpart to Verification Semantics. Semantics defines what results mean. This page maps them to causes and fixes.

## Success

Artifact integrity is confirmed. No action required.

| Outcome | Meaning | Likely cause | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VERIFIED | All applicable checks passed. Artifact integrity is confirmed. | Normal success path. | Treat the artifact as verified. |

## Valid but informational

Core integrity passes. Additional context is reported but does not invalidate verification.

| Outcome | Meaning | Likely cause | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VERIFIED (supplemental) | Core integrity passed. Supplemental context (e.g. signals outside hash scope) is present. | context.signals were transported alongside the bundle but are not bound by the certificateHash. | Safe to treat as verified. If you require signals to be hash-bound, re-issue with signals inside the canonical bundle. |
| CONTEXT_NOT_PROTECTED | Context signals were submitted but are not covered by the certificateHash. | Signals were transported as supplemental metadata, outside the canonical bundle. | Treat as supplemental. Not a failure of core integrity. See Context Signals. |

## Failures

Do not treat the artifact as verified. Investigate before trusting.

| Code | Meaning | Likely cause | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FAILED | One or more checks failed. Do NOT treat as verified. | Bundle was modified, signature is invalid, or recomputed hash does not match. | Re-fetch the original artifact. If the failure persists, the artifact has been tampered with or was never valid. |
| CERTIFICATE_HASH_MISMATCH | Recomputed certificateHash does not match the value in the bundle. | Non-canonical JSON: undefined values, key reordering, extra whitespace, or wrong serializer. | Re-serialize using the SDK's canonical encoder. Do not hand-build bundle JSON. |
| HASH_MISMATCH | Same as above but for projectHash on Project Bundle registration. | Steps were modified after the bundle was sealed, or non-canonical JSON. | Rebuild the bundle from the original step CERs and re-register. |
| PERSISTENCE_FAILED | Node accepted the request but could not persist it. | Transient backend issue. | Retry with backoff. Registration is idempotent on projectHash / certificateHash. |
| AUTH_INVALID | API key missing, malformed, or rejected. | Wrong key, wrong environment, or revoked key. | Confirm NEXART_API_KEY is set and matches the App in the dashboard. |

## Lookup issues

The artifact cannot be found at the address used. Usually a registration or identity problem.

| Outcome | Meaning | Likely cause | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NOT_FOUND | No record of this certificateHash or projectHash on the node. | Artifact was never registered, or you are looking it up by the wrong identifier. | Confirm you are using certificateHash (not executionId). For Project Bundles, register via /v1/project-bundle/register. |
| LOCAL_OK_PUBLIC_NOT_FOUND | verifyCer / verifyProjectBundle passes locally but verify.nexart.io returns NOT_FOUND. | The artifact was never registered on the node. | For single CER: call /api/attest. For Project Bundle: call /v1/project-bundle/register. |

## Decision shortcut

- Local verify passes, public verify says NOT_FOUND: you skipped the registration step. See Project Bundle Registration.
- Recomputed hash differs from bundled hash: you are building JSON outside the SDK. Re-serialize with the canonical encoder.
- Result is VERIFIED (supplemental): this is success. Signals are recorded but not hash-bound. See Context Signals.
- Public hash differs from the hash you originally produced: you are looking at a redacted reseal. See Public Reseals & Redacted Verification.

## Related

- Verification Semantics
- End-to-End Verification Flow
- Project Bundle Registration
- Public Reseals & Redacted Verification