Assent is an implementation of Etch — the system-of-records provenance primitive. It does one thing well: it signs PDFs in a way that anyone, including a court, can verify without trusting Rising Sun, the signer's identity provider, or the relying party.
Why It's Different
Conventional e-sign tools ask you to trust their servers and their word. Assent makes the signature self-verifying: the document, the signer's key, and the signing event are committed to an Etch Merkle chain, and the proof travels with the file.
Key Features
- >Client-side E2EE: Documents are encrypted in the browser; the server never sees plaintext
- >WebAuthn signing: Signatures are bound to hardware-backed passkeys, not passwords
- >Merkle provenance: Every signing event is stamped through Etch, producing a receipt anyone can verify
- >Vendor-independent verification: Proofs validate against math, not against Rising Sun being online or honest
Built on Etch
Assent is the first canonical app on the Etch records API — the same provenance layer that powers TrialSight's clinical data. Explore the underlying primitive at etch.locker (linked above).
Tech Stack
Next.js + WebAuthn, client-side encryption, Etch Merkle MMR receipts for provenance.