Cortex research subnet: Bounty and agentic Proof on Bittensor.
The Python implementation runs the gateway and both challenges on a master, verifies sealed rewards in independent validators, and isolates research work in Firecracker guests. Algorithm 2 assigns up to 30% of emission to Bounty and 70% to Proof; activating it requires a new owner-signed trust root. Proof uses Cortex's own recursive language-model engine with persistent memory, context compaction and bounded tool execution.
Cortex is experimental research software. Offline tests exercise submission, scoring, sealing and validator dispatch through fake external boundaries. A live model smoke is distinct from live KVM execution or confirmed on-chain payment.
The initial production mode enables Bounty against the configured
CortexLM/backend public feed and leaves Proof execution unwired. The signed
trust root still contains bounty = 2000 and proof = 8000: Proof emits
ChallengeInternal absences and its share burns to UID 0. Never renormalize
Bounty to 100%. Production pairing, report intake and adjudication stay in
CortexLM/backend; Cortex reads its immutable public scoring snapshots.
Algorithm 2 pays one point per valid report, proportionally across authors;
ten valid reports across expected participants unlock the full Bounty share.
The unsigned 30/70 template changes nothing
until the trust-root migration
is completed on the gateway and validators.
Linux, Python 3.12 or 3.13, uv, and libsodium 1.0.18 or newer are required.
The VM host additionally requires working /dev/kvm, Firecracker and jailer.
sudo apt-get install libsodium23
uv sync --locked --extra chain --group build
uv run cortex --helpuv run cortex master --help
uv run cortex validator --help
uv run cortex vm-host --help
uv run cortex miner --help
uv run cortex topic-create --helpConfigure the master using private credential files and signed trust roots. An operator gives Proof a research objective; its topic agent prepares an experiment, measures a baseline and proposes rules and miner documentation. A topic opens only after the control plane verifies the host's execution receipts and signs the resulting document. No research task catalog is built in.
- Operator configuration
- Architecture and trust boundaries
- Proof miner guide
- Bounty miner guide
- Validator guide
- Documentation index
uv run ruff format --check src tests scripts
uv run ruff check src tests scripts
uv run mypy
uv run pytest -m 'not live'
uv run python scripts/check_deploy.py --check-examples
uv build --no-build-isolationTests cover signatures and Rust wire vectors, replay protection, feed outages, artifact validation, topic setup, rejected submissions, VM lifecycle failures, RLM recursion/compaction, reward allocation and sealed-weight submission. CI runs offline and never rents a GPU or boots Firecracker.
Keep research content out of source control. Add tests for observable behavior at service boundaries, and update the matching miner documentation when an API changes. Follow the agent contract and the PR review requirements.