Initial commit: Speckl project scaffold

- MIT license
- README with project overview, Dark Provenance intro, and structure
- Empty directories: speckdl/, reference-agent/, examples/
- Placeholder whitepaper with Dark Provenance outline

Parent: Greybeard Holdings, LLC
Status: Early / Pre-Alpha

LICENSE

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+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Greybeard Holdings, LLC
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

README.md

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+# Speckl
+
+**Spec-first. Everything else follows.**
+
+Speckl is an open standard and development system for **spec-first multi-agent development** — define what your software should do in a formal, machine-readable spec, then let AI agents generate, verify, and maintain the implementation.
+
+## What Makes Speckl Different
+
+Most dev tools start with code. Speckl starts with the **spec** — a formal, versioned, verifiable contract that lives alongside your code. This contract is the single source of truth. Everything else (tests, docs, implementations, verifications) is derived, checked, and regenerated from it.
+
+## Dark Provenance
+
+Speckl is built on **Dark Provenance** — a methodology for tracking the intent, decisions, and constraints behind every line of generated code. Dark Provenance makes AI-generated software auditable, explainable, and trustworthy by preserving the reasoning chain from spec to implementation.
+
+> *"If you can't trace why every line exists, you don't own your code."*
+
+See the [Dark Provenance Whitepaper](docs/whitepaper.md) for the full methodology.
+
+## Strategy
+
+For the full strategic context and roadmap, read the [Speckl Strategy v2](https://os.scoble.me/forgejo/sscoble/speckl/raw/branch/main/speckl-strategy-v2.md) (or see `speckl-strategy-v2.md` in the workspace).
+
+## Repository Structure
+
+```
+speckl/
+├── speckdl/           # Speckl Definition Language — the formal spec language
+├── reference-agent/   # Reference implementation of a Speckl-compliant agent
+├── docs/              # Documentation and whitepapers
+├── examples/          # Example specs and generated outputs
+└── LICENSE            # MIT License
+```
+
+## Status
+
+**Early / Pre-Alpha** — The spec language is being drafted. Nothing is stable. Contributions and feedback are welcome.
+
+## Parent
+
+**Greybeard Holdings, LLC** — bootstrapped, independent, Scott Scoble, CEO.
+
+## License
+
+MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).

docs/whitepaper.md

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+# Dark Provenance: The Missing Layer for Trustworthy AI-Generated Software
+
+> *A whitepaper on making AI-generated code verifiable, auditable, and explainable through provenance tracking of intent, constraints, and decisions.*
+
+## Abstract
+
+The accelerating adoption of AI code generation presents a fundamental trust problem: how do you verify that AI-generated code is correct, complete, and free of unintended behaviors when the reasoning that produced it is opaque? Existing approaches — tests, linters, formal verification — operate on the output but not the decision chain that produced it.
+
+Dark Provenance proposes a new layer: a structured, machine-readable record of every intent, constraint, and design decision that led to the generated code. This provenance chain makes AI outputs auditable in the same way that build artifacts are reproducible from source.
+
+## Outline
+
+1. **The Trust Problem**
+   - The asymmetry of generation vs. verification
+   - Why tests alone aren't enough
+   - The opacity of current AI code generation
+
+2. **What Is Dark Provenance?**
+   - Definition and core concept
+   - Provenance as a first-class artifact
+   - From spec → decisions → code: the complete trace
+
+3. **Provenance Chain Specification**
+   - Nodes: intents, constraints, decisions, derivations
+   - Edges: dependency and justification links
+   - Immutable append-only provenance graph
+
+4. **Verification Through Provenance**
+   - Checking that generated code satisfies stated intents
+   - Detecting hallucinated or unwarranted assumptions
+   - Ensuring no orphan code (code without provenance)
+
+5. **Integration with Speckl**
+   - Speckl specs as the root provenance node
+   - Automatic provenance capture during agent generation
+   - Verification at commit, PR, and release gates
+
+6. **Case Studies**
+   - Formal spec → verified implementation trace
+   - Refactoring with full provenance preservation
+   - Audit trail for regulated environments
+
+7. **Challenges and Open Questions**
+   - Storage and query efficiency for large provenance graphs
+   - Balancing detail with human readability
+   - Interoperability across different agent systems
+
+8. **Roadmap**
+   - Near-term: Provenance format spec and reference agent
+   - Medium-term: Verified generation pipelines
+   - Long-term: Ecosystem of provenance-aware tools
+
+---
+
+*This whitepaper is a placeholder. Full draft in progress.*