diff --git a/.github/pull_request_bodies/caif-ifc-index-authority.md b/.github/pull_request_bodies/caif-ifc-index-authority.md
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+## Summary
+
+Adds an optional CAIF-style Index Authority Receipt for ordvec benchmark evidence.
+
+The goal is to make ordvec's index-first retrieval evidence machine-readable: quality delta, bytes/vector, latency regime, benchmark scope, limitations, fallback conditions, and a deterministic receipt hash.
+
+## Why
+
+ordvec already has a strong index-first compute story: compressed ordinal/sign retrieval can preserve retrieval quality under stated benchmark scopes while reducing storage and latency.
+
+This PR adds a small evidence packet and verifier so downstream systems can answer:
+
+> Is this compressed/index-first retrieval path evidence-supported before dense compute for this stated workload scope?
+
+## What this includes
+
+- `docs/INDEX_AUTHORITY_RECEIPTS.md`
+- `examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json`
+- `tools/verify_index_authority.py`
+
+## What this does not do
+
+- Does not change Rust code
+- Does not change `Cargo.toml`
+- Does not add runtime dependencies
+- Does not add CI requirements
+- Does not claim new benchmark results
+- Does not add signing, key management, or deployment trust policy
+
+## Verification
+
+    python3 tools/verify_index_authority.py examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json
+
+Expected output includes:
+
+    decision: ALLOW_INDEX_FIRST
+    quality_within_bootstrap_noise: true
+    storage_reduction: 10.6667x
+    single_query_speedup: 105.6604x
+
+## Scope
+
+The example uses existing public README benchmark values and preserves the stated limitations around dataset, encoder, corpus size, batch/threading regime, HNSW comparison, and larger-corpus claims.
+
+## Framing
+
+Benchmarks should not only report performance.
+
+They should authorize compute paths within a defined evidence envelope.
diff --git a/docs/INDEX_AUTHORITY_RECEIPTS.md b/docs/INDEX_AUTHORITY_RECEIPTS.md
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+# Index Authority Receipts for ordvec
+
+Index Authority Receipts are CAIF-style evidence packets for ordvec benchmark results.
+
+They make index-first retrieval evidence machine-readable.
+
+Instead of only asking whether a retrieval mode is faster, a receipt asks whether the benchmark evidence supports using a compressed/index-first retrieval path within a stated workload scope.
+
+## IFC
+
+Index-First Compute means a cheaper index representation is evaluated before more expensive dense compute.
+
+For ordvec, IFC can include RankQuant compressed scan, Bitmap candidate generation, SignBitmap candidate generation, or SignBitmap to RankQuant rerank.
+
+## CAIF
+
+Compute Authority Index Format describes whether a compute path is justified under a stated evidence envelope.
+
+A receipt records baseline mode, candidate mode, quality delta, storage reduction, latency profile, scope, limitations, fallback conditions, and a deterministic receipt hash.
+
+## Verify
+
+Run:
+
+    python3 tools/verify_index_authority.py examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json
+
+Expected output:
+
+    decision: ALLOW_INDEX_FIRST
+    mode: sign_to_rq2
+    baseline: flat_exact
+    quality_within_bootstrap_noise: true
+    storage_reduction: 10.6667x
+    single_query_speedup: 105.6604x
+
+## Non-goals
+
+This does not change Rust code, Cargo.toml, CI, runtime behavior, signing, key management, or deployment trust policy.
+
+It does not create new benchmark claims.
+
+It preserves the stated benchmark scope and limitations.
+
+## Principle
+
+Benchmarks should not only report performance.
+
+They should authorize compute paths within a defined evidence envelope.
diff --git a/examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json b/examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json
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+++ b/examples/caif/trec-covid-sign-rq2.index-authority.json
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+{
+  "schema": "ordvec.index_authority.v0.1",
+  "subject": {
+    "project": "ordvec",
+    "mode": "sign_to_rq2",
+    "version": "0.5.0"
+  },
+  "baseline": {
+    "mode": "flat_exact",
+    "bytes_per_vector": 4096
+  },
+  "ifc": {
+    "enabled": true,
+    "compute_path": [
+      "sign_bitmap_candidate_generation",
+      "rankquant_b2_rerank"
+    ],
+    "training_required": false,
+    "fit_required": false,
+    "graph_required": false,
+    "float_corpus_required_for_reported_path": false
+  },
+  "evidence": {
+    "dataset": "trec-covid",
+    "dataset_family": "BEIR",
+    "encoder": "Harrier-Q8 1024-d",
+    "corpus_size": 171332,
+    "metric": "nDCG@10",
+    "baseline_score": 0.7574,
+    "candidate_score": 0.7638,
+    "delta_vs_baseline": 0.0064,
+    "within_bootstrap_noise": true,
+    "evidence_source": "repository README benchmark table"
+  },
+  "economics": {
+    "candidate_bytes_per_vector": 384,
+    "storage_reduction_x": 10.6667,
+    "single_query_latency_ms": {
+      "baseline": 56.0,
+      "candidate": 0.53
+    },
+    "single_query_speedup_x": 105.6604
+  },
+  "decision": {
+    "recommended": "ALLOW_INDEX_FIRST",
+    "policy": {
+      "min_storage_reduction_x": 8.0,
+      "min_single_query_speedup_x": 10.0,
+      "require_quality_within_bootstrap_noise": true,
+      "require_scope": true,
+      "require_limitations": true
+    },
+    "fallback": [
+      "Use dense flat or ANN comparison when dataset, encoder, scale, or serving regime falls outside the stated evidence scope.",
+      "Require HNSW comparison for highly parallel threaded serving claims.",
+      "Require checked-in artifacts before extending the claim to larger corpora or alternate encoders."
+    ]
+  },
+  "scope": {
+    "claim_status": "public_repository_evidence",
+    "applies_to": [
+      "BEIR trec-covid",
+      "Harrier-Q8 1024-d embeddings",
+      "171332 document public benchmark run",
+      "single-query latency comparison against exact flat"
+    ],
+    "does_not_claim": [
+      "million-scale HNSW crossover",
+      "GPU bandwidth claims",
+      "alternate-encoder generalization",
+      "all serving regimes",
+      "dominance over HNSW in highly parallel threaded throughput"
+    ]
+  },
+  "limitations": [
+    "The compressed scan remains O(n), with a lower constant than dense flat.",
+    "HNSW wins the committed highly parallel threaded view.",
+    "The claim is scoped to the stated dataset, encoder, corpus size, and benchmark artifact.",
+    "Larger-corpus and alternate-encoder claims require checked-in run artifacts.",
+    "This receipt does not sign artifacts or manage deployment trust policy."
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/tools/verify_index_authority.py b/tools/verify_index_authority.py
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+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import argparse
+import hashlib
+import json
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+def die(msg, code=2):
+    print("ERROR:", msg, file=sys.stderr)
+    raise SystemExit(code)
+
+def sha(obj):
+    b = json.dumps(obj, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":")).encode()
+    return "sha256:" + hashlib.sha256(b).hexdigest()
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    ap.add_argument("receipt", type=Path)
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+    try:
+        r = json.loads(args.receipt.read_text())
+    except Exception as e:
+        die(f"cannot read receipt: {e}")
+
+    for k in ["schema","subject","baseline","ifc","evidence","economics","decision","scope","limitations"]:
+        if k not in r:
+            die(f"missing field {k}")
+
+    if r["schema"] != "ordvec.index_authority.v0.1":
+        die("bad schema")
+
+    e = r["evidence"]
+    econ = r["economics"]
+    base = r["baseline"]
+    policy = r["decision"]["policy"]
+
+    expected_delta = e["candidate_score"] - e["baseline_score"]
+    if abs(e["delta_vs_baseline"] - expected_delta) > 0.0001:
+        die("delta_vs_baseline mismatch")
+
+    expected_storage = base["bytes_per_vector"] / econ["candidate_bytes_per_vector"]
+    if abs(econ["storage_reduction_x"] - expected_storage) > 0.02:
+        die("storage_reduction_x mismatch")
+
+    expected_speedup = econ["single_query_latency_ms"]["baseline"] / econ["single_query_latency_ms"]["candidate"]
+    if abs(econ["single_query_speedup_x"] - expected_speedup) > 0.02:
+        die("single_query_speedup_x mismatch")
+
+    decision = "ALLOW_INDEX_FIRST"
+    if policy["require_quality_within_bootstrap_noise"] and not e["within_bootstrap_noise"]:
+        decision = "REQUIRE_DENSE_FALLBACK"
+    if econ["storage_reduction_x"] < policy["min_storage_reduction_x"]:
+        decision = "REQUIRE_DENSE_FALLBACK"
+    if econ["single_query_speedup_x"] < policy["min_single_query_speedup_x"]:
+        decision = "REQUIRE_DENSE_FALLBACK"
+    if policy["require_scope"] and (not r["scope"]["applies_to"] or not r["scope"]["does_not_claim"]):
+        decision = "DENY_UNSCOPED_CLAIM"
+    if policy["require_limitations"] and not r["limitations"]:
+        decision = "DENY_UNSCOPED_CLAIM"
+
+    print(f"decision: {decision}")
+    print(f"mode: {r['subject']['mode']}")
+    print(f"baseline: {base['mode']}")
+    print(f"quality_within_bootstrap_noise: {str(e['within_bootstrap_noise']).lower()}")
+    print(f"storage_reduction: {econ['storage_reduction_x']}x")
+    print(f"single_query_speedup: {econ['single_query_speedup_x']}x")
+    print(f"receipt_hash: {sha(r)}")
+
+    if decision != r["decision"]["recommended"]:
+        die(f"declared decision {r['decision']['recommended']} does not match computed decision {decision}", 3)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()