Quillby MapleSpike
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Citations

Responses may expose a Quill record-integrity hash and source-artifact evidence when captured. These are separate hashes with separate scopes; neither alone proves a record came from a particular source. Check the original publisher's terms before reuse.

Collect
Data is fetched from government and other public-sector sources through APIs, CKAN portals, RSS feeds, and XML dumps. Source coverage and terms vary.
Verify
Quill's record hash covers canonicalized record JSON. Captured source-artifact hashes cover the HTTP-client response body; the evidence block reports retrieval time and response metadata when available. A matching request URL is labeled as such but does not verify that the response produced the record.
Cite
API responses may include citation hashes and verification commands. These support integrity checks; check the source's terms before reusing its material.

Citation Hash Format

sha256:<64-hex-characters>
When supplied, a record-integrity citation uses SHA-256 with thesha256:. It covers Quill's canonical JSON representation of that record, not the original HTTP response bytes.

sha256:a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b

When a citation includes a source URL and content hash, you can compare a retrieved copy with that hash to check whether the hashed content matches. This does not establish source authenticity or reuse rights.

Verifying a Citation

Shell Verification
Some citation responses include averify_command field with a shell command to reproduce the record hash. This does not fetch or authenticate the upstream source artifact.
curl -s "https://api.maplespike.ca/v1/data/record/123" | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1
# Expected: a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b

Trust Scores

How Trust Is Measured
Where available, a trust score (0–100%) summarizes Quill's confidence signals for a record. It is not a legal or publisher verification.

90–100 % — Verified

Example quality-score category only; a hash match verifies record integrity, not source identity or reuse rights.

60–89 % — Sourced

Example category only; score signals are not an independent verification of publisher or source claims.

<60 % — Low Confidence

Example category only; consult the supplied evidence and original source directly.

The minimum trust threshold for API responses is 60 %. Records below this threshold are excluded from search results by default.

Citations

Committee Evidence
ourcommons.ca

House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Evidence, Meeting No. 42, 44th Parliament, 1st Session. March 15, 2026.

sha256:a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b

Lobbying Registry
lobbycanada.gc.ca

Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. Monthly Communication Report, Registrant #123456. February 2026.

sha256:b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c

Canada Gazette
gazette.gc.ca

Canada Gazette, Part I, Vol. 160, No. 12 — Proposed Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations. March 22, 2026.

sha256:c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c3d

Court Decision
canlii.org

Smith v. Canada (Attorney General), 2026 FC 456. Federal Court. March 10, 2026.

sha256:d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e

Source

API Explorer
Look up a citation by its SHA-256 hash using the API endpoint, when a hash is available.
GET /v1/citation/{sha256_hash}

Example response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "citation": {
      "source_name": "House of Commons",
      "source_url": "https://ourcommons.ca/...",
      "hash": "sha256:a1b2c3d4...",
      "license": "The publisher license was not declared in the metadata returned to Quill. Consult the publisher's terms.",
      "license_basis": "no-publisher-declaration",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-03-15T14:30:00Z"
    },
    "verify_command": "curl -s "..." | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1"
  }
}

Start building with verifiable data

Where available, SHA-256 citations help check data integrity. Check original publisher terms before reusing source material.

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