The 2026-07-29 upstream sweep found drift on two records on this page that need a human decision before the page is stamped or rewritten. Both verification blocks are left byte-identical to base on the sweep branch.
Records
docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:10 — ant-client, 81848a09..6f0c9572docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:17 — ant-node, c3ffe5a7..f4c8cd56
Verification blocks (unchanged on the sweep branch)
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verified_date: 2026-07-28
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source_repo: ant-node
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Upstream change
ant-client (ant-core/src/data/client/merkle.rs, file.rs, error.rs) and ant-node (src/payment/verifier.rs, src/replication/config.rs) implement a coordinated merkle-batch-payment change:
- Merkle batches now settle at the same 3x median multiplier the single-node path already applies. Previously a chunk stored in a merkle batch earned one-third of what the single-node path pays for the identical chunk.
- Cost estimation now bills the padded (power-of-two) leaf count that the payment path actually pays: for example a 65-chunk merkle batch pays for 128 leaves.
- ant-node gains enforcement of the 3x parity from a fixed instant (
MERKLE_PARITY_ENFORCED_FROM_UNIX = 1785855600, 2026-08-04 15:00 UTC). The rollout is client-first: released clients pay 3x immediately, nodes begin requiring it at that instant.
Why this is ambiguous rather than a straightforward prose update
This is a live, mid-rollout pricing change, not a settled surface. The decision is recorded in ant-node docs/adr/ADR-0008-storage-economics-and-payment-protocol.md at Status: Proposed, which states it "still needs the economic owner's sign-off before the client is published," and the node-side enforcement is future-dated. The page today makes no claim about merkle cost granularity or the merkle settlement multiplier, so no existing sentence is wrong. Whether to document a 3x merkle cost as current behavior, and how to frame the pending node enforcement, is a human call: writing it now risks documenting pricing that could change before release.
A reviewer should decide whether to add a merkle-cost note to the "Cost estimation" / "Payment modes" sections now (current-merged-truth) or wait for the client release and economic sign-off. The two records overlap on the same merkle-payment claim, so they are tracked together.
Fingerprint: docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:10|ant-client|81848a0900fa9972e9af2d323bf3b49bf8d382aa..6f0c957289371cc0b0e766f2c580adc8ecb69074
Fingerprint: docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:17|ant-node|c3ffe5a7592bf3d5fa2fdfb2f87d9ddc7ecaaecf..f4c8cd56a85790031666254c333aa053fe56e6cd
The 2026-07-29 upstream sweep found drift on two records on this page that need a human decision before the page is stamped or rewritten. Both verification blocks are left byte-identical to base on the sweep branch.
Records
docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:10—ant-client,81848a09..6f0c9572docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:17—ant-node,c3ffe5a7..f4c8cd56Verification blocks (unchanged on the sweep branch)
Upstream change
ant-client (
ant-core/src/data/client/merkle.rs,file.rs,error.rs) and ant-node (src/payment/verifier.rs,src/replication/config.rs) implement a coordinated merkle-batch-payment change:MERKLE_PARITY_ENFORCED_FROM_UNIX= 1785855600, 2026-08-04 15:00 UTC). The rollout is client-first: released clients pay 3x immediately, nodes begin requiring it at that instant.Why this is ambiguous rather than a straightforward prose update
This is a live, mid-rollout pricing change, not a settled surface. The decision is recorded in ant-node
docs/adr/ADR-0008-storage-economics-and-payment-protocol.mdat Status: Proposed, which states it "still needs the economic owner's sign-off before the client is published," and the node-side enforcement is future-dated. The page today makes no claim about merkle cost granularity or the merkle settlement multiplier, so no existing sentence is wrong. Whether to document a 3x merkle cost as current behavior, and how to frame the pending node enforcement, is a human call: writing it now risks documenting pricing that could change before release.A reviewer should decide whether to add a merkle-cost note to the "Cost estimation" / "Payment modes" sections now (current-merged-truth) or wait for the client release and economic sign-off. The two records overlap on the same merkle-payment claim, so they are tracked together.
Fingerprint: docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:10|ant-client|81848a0900fa9972e9af2d323bf3b49bf8d382aa..6f0c957289371cc0b0e766f2c580adc8ecb69074
Fingerprint: docs/core-concepts/payment-model.md:17|ant-node|c3ffe5a7592bf3d5fa2fdfb2f87d9ddc7ecaaecf..f4c8cd56a85790031666254c333aa053fe56e6cd