User Guide

1. Quick Start

1.1 Sign up

1. Open the homepage and click Sign Up (top right).
2. Enter your full name, email, and a password (minimum 8 characters).
3. Confirm your email if asked. You'll land on your Dashboard.

1.2 Sign in

• Email + password, or
• One of the SSO options if your firm has enabled them (Auth0, Okta, Enterprise SSO).

1.3 Your home base

After login you land on the Dashboard which contains:

• Top stats strip — Total Seals, Last 30 Days, Member Since
• Core Actions — Quick Seal, Request Notarization, Bulk Notarization
• AI Intelligence — generators, summarizers, doc-compare, remediation
• Security & Identity — Trust Hub, Asset Vault, Video Witness, Biometrics
• Network & Tools — Bookings, Find Notaries, Templates
• State Pickability Index — your live compliance readiness widget
• Document Expiry Tracker — heads-up on renewals
• My Notarization Requests — recent in-flight ceremonies
• Recent Document Seals — sealed Hedera ledger entries

2. Account & Roles

NotaryChain has three roles. Your role is set during signup or by an admin.

To become a notary: click Become a Notary on the Dashboard → submit your commission certificate, government ID, e-signature, and (optionally) background check + RON certificate. An admin will review.

3. For Clients — Getting a Document Notarized

3.1 Quick Seal (no notary, just blockchain timestamp)

Use this when you only need cryptographic proof a document existed at a moment in time — not a notarization.

1. Dashboard → Quick Seal.
2. Upload your PDF/image.
3. Click Seal Now. We compute a SHA-256, anchor it to Hedera mainnet, and you get a transaction ID + HashScan link.
4. Done in ~5 seconds.

3.2 Full Remote Online Notarization (RON)

Use this when you actually need a commissioned notary to witness signing.

1. Dashboard → Request Notarization.
2. Fill the request form:
   • Document name (e.g. Real Estate Purchase Agreement)
   • Document type (real_estate, affidavit, power_of_attorney, will, …)
   • State — important. Choose the state your ceremony is governed by (FL / TX / NY / CA / VA). Each state has different pre-seal gate requirements; see §5.
   • Upload your document.
3. Click Submit Request. The request enters the pending queue.
4. A commissioned notary in your state picks it up. You'll be notified.
5. When the notary starts the session, you'll receive a "Join Ceremony" notification.
6. Join the video session — you'll go through:
   • Identity proofing — KBA quiz + government ID capture
   • Audio/video recording — at least 30 seconds of clean signal
   • Document signing — e-signature on the doc
   • (CA only, real-property/POA): biometric thumbprint capture
   • (NY only): GPS location capture
7. The notary completes the ceremony. Behind the scenes the multi-state evaluator checks every required gate. If a gate fails, sealing is blocked and the ceremony returns to the queue with a clear reason.
8. On success, you see the sealed document + Hedera transaction ID in your Dashboard.

3.3 Tracking the status

My Notarization Requests on the Dashboard shows each request with a colored pill:

Click Audit on any in-flight request to see every event written to its Hedera HCS topic.

3.4 Bulk Notarization

Have a stack of documents to notarize together? Dashboard → Bulk Notarization lets you upload many files in one request that a notary handles as a single session.

4. For Notaries — Running a Ceremony

4.1 Get commissioned on the platform

1. Dashboard → Become a Notary → fill the application.
2. Upload your commission certificate, government ID, e-signature, background check (optional), RON certificate (required for online ceremonies).
3. Wait for admin approval. Once approved, your role flips to Notary and you'll see the notary action panel.

4.2 Pick up a request

1. Dashboard → Approvals (or the notary queue).
2. Review pending requests filtered by your commission state.
3. Click Accept to assign it to yourself. Status flips to assigned.

4.3 Run the session

1. Click Start to launch the video room. The principal joins from their side.
2. Follow the on-screen checklist (varies by state — see §5):
   • Verify ID via the AI document analyzer
   • Administer KBA quiz
   • Capture A/V quality report
   • (CA only) capture biometric thumbprint for real-property / POA
   • (NY only) capture GPS location
   • Record the signing
3. Add your journal entry (NotaryChain auto-creates a draft from the ceremony metadata; you confirm + edit).
4. Tag the retention period (pre-filled: 5 yr for TX/CA/VA, 10 yr for NY, 10 yr for FL).
5. Click Complete & Seal. The multi-state evaluator runs:
   • All gates pass → ceremony seals on Hedera, returns transaction ID
   • One or more gates fail → HTTP 412 with blocked_reasons; status flips to <state>_blocked. Fix what's missing and click Complete again.

4.4 Reading a blocked-ceremony response

If sealing was blocked, the audit panel shows something like:

TX preseal_gate_failed
- audio_video: av_not_reported_yet
- kba: no_passing_kba_in_last_hour
- journal: no_journal_entry

Each line tells you which gate failed and why. Once you remediate, Complete again.

5. Understanding Multi-State Compliance

NotaryChain's multistate_evaluator runs a pre-seal gate check for TX / NY / CA / VA before a ceremony can be sealed. FL has its own dedicated readiness route at /api/fl/ron/readiness/{id}.

5.1 Shared gate primitives

5.2 State-by-state quick reference

• Florida (FL) — dedicated FL pipeline (witness flow for online wills, 10 yr S3 Object Lock retention, FL Stat. 117.245 journal, RONSP filing lifecycle).
• Texas (TX) — A/V + KBA + ID + 5 yr retention + journal + tamper-evident.
• New York (NY) — A/V + multi-factor (KBA + ID) + 10 yr retention + journal + principal GPS. Wills/codicils/testamentary trusts/life-estate deeds are RON-prohibited.
• California (CA) — A/V + KBA + ID + 5 yr retention + journal. Biometric thumbprint required for deeds, real-property, POAs, mortgages, lien-releases.
• Virginia (VA) — A/V + KBA + ID + 5 yr retention + journal + tamper-evident.

6. The State Pickability Index

The State Pickability Index widget on your Dashboard turns abstract compliance data into actionable nudges.

6.1 What it shows

• Overall score (top-right) — % of your open ceremonies that are seal-ready right now.
• By Jurisdiction (left column) — colored bar per state with {ready}/{open}:
  • 🟢 80 %+ — green, healthy
  • 🟡 50–79 % — amber, attention
  • 🔴 < 50 % — coral, needs work
• Actionable Nudges (right column) — up to 8 distinct ceremonies, each with a one-click CTA to the ceremony page to fix the failing gate.

6.2 How nudges are prioritized

1. States with the most open ceremonies surface first (highest impact).
2. Inside the priority list, one nudge per ceremony before showing a second nudge for any ceremony (variety, not 6 nudges for the same doc).
3. Each nudge has a short title + 1-line description + a CTA label (Start KBA, Capture thumbprint, Set retention, etc.).

6.3 Acting on a nudge

Click any nudge row → you're deep-linked to /session/{ceremony_id}. The ceremony page shows exactly which gate is failing, with a button to fix it (start KBA quiz, capture thumbprint, write journal entry, etc.).

6.4 When the widget is empty

7. Sharing a Compliance Snapshot

A Compliance Snapshot is a public, read-only, scrubbed version of your State Pickability Index that you can send to counterparties — mortgage brokers, title agents, escrow counsel, your CFO — without giving them an account.

7.1 Generate the link

1. Dashboard → State Pickability Index widget → click Share snapshot (top-right of the widget).
2. A green banner appears with the full public URL.
3. The URL is auto-copied to your clipboard + you see a "Snapshot created" toast.

7.2 What's in the snapshot

• Hero score (e.g. "47% seal-ready · 28 of 60 active ceremonies pass their state-specific pre-seal gates")
• Per-jurisdiction cards with the same color-coding + sample ceremonies + missing-gate hints
• Top Blockers — the most pressing nudges, scrubbed of document names
• Optional note you supply when creating the snapshot
• Footer: Generated <timestamp> · expires in N days · X views

7.3 What's NOT in the snapshot

7.4 Lifespan

Snapshots default to 7 days TTL (configurable 1–30 days via API). After expiry, anyone who hits the URL sees a "Snapshot has expired" error.

7.5 Re-sharing

Each click of "Share snapshot" creates a new token — old links keep working until they expire. There's no way to "edit" a snapshot — generate a fresh one to share the latest state.

8. The Asset Vault (SALV)

The Smart Asset Life-cycle Vault is for documents you want to manage long-term — deeds, wills, IP licenses, beneficiary documents, etc.

8.1 Upload an asset

1. Dashboard → Asset Vault.
2. Click + New Asset → name it, choose a type (deed, will, IP, etc.), upload the file.
3. The file is AES-GCM-256 encrypted with a per-asset key (HKDF-SHA256 derived) before it lands in storage (S3 or local FS). Only the owner can decrypt.

8.2 Add a beneficiary

1. Open the asset → Beneficiaries tab → + Add.
2. Enter beneficiary email + share percentage.
3. They receive a magic-link invite. When they accept, you'll get a notification.

8.3 Partial release

Owners can release a percentage of an asset to a beneficiary without giving up full control:

1. Open the asset → click the Release slider next to a beneficiary.
2. Pick a percent (e.g. 50 %) → optional note → confirm.
3. The release is anchored to Hedera HCS with a receipt. The beneficiary can now decrypt.
4. Release history is immutable and auditable in the Beneficiaries tab.

8.4 Beneficiary viral loop

When a beneficiary accepts a handoff, they're prompted to sign up for their own NotaryChain account. The owner receives an in-app notification + email when this conversion happens. Acquisition source is tracked.

9. TrustLayer for Partners

TrustLayer is the federated trust graph that lets external firms (lenders, brokerages, escrow agents, government agencies) issue Ed25519-signed, Hedera-anchored attestations about a NotaryChain document.

9.1 Register as a partner

1. An admin creates your partner profile in /admin/trust-layer.
2. You receive a publishable key + your Ed25519 public key is published at /api/trustlayer/partners/{id}/public-key.
3. Your private key is stored in NotaryChain's vault (never exposed via any public route).

9.2 Issue an attestation

Use the v2 SDK (/sdk-v2.js) or POST to /api/trustlayer/attestations with:

• subject_id — the NotaryChain seal hash you're attesting about
• claim — short JSON of what you're asserting (e.g. {"lender_funded": true})
• partner_id

The platform signs the attestation with your Ed25519 keypair (canonical-JSON serialization), anchors the digest to Hedera HCS, and returns the verifiable receipt.

9.3 Embed the auto-verify badge

<script src="/api/trustlayer/badge-v2.js"></script>
<trust-badge attestation-id="ATT-12345"></trust-badge>

The badge verifies the Ed25519 signature in-browser using WebCrypto + pulls the Hedera Mirror Node payload, then emits a verified or failed CustomEvent. Verification is shadow-DOM isolated so it can't be tampered with by host-page CSS/JS.

10. Verifying a Sealed Document

Anyone — no account required — can verify a NotaryChain seal at /verify.

10.1 Three ways to verify

1. Upload the document — we hash it client-side and look up the hash in blockchain_seals.
2. Paste the SHA-256 hash — same flow.
3. Look up a certificate ID — for documents with a printable cover sheet.

10.2 What you see on a match

• ✅ VERIFIED badge
• Document name, hash, seal timestamp
• Notary profile (name, license, bond, SAN bond ID)
• Hedera transaction ID with HashScan link
• Ceremony details (state, document type)
• Notary stats (sealed count, fraud flags, KBA pass rate)

If revoked, you'll see a REVOKED badge with the reason.

11. For Developers — SDK

Embed NotaryChain ceremonies into your own app with the Embeddable Notarize SDK.

11.1 Get a publishable key

1. Login → Developers → SDK Keys (admin or Pro+ tier).
2. Click + New Key → name it + add your allowed_origins (e.g. https://yourapp.com).
3. Copy the publishable key (pk_live_…).

11.2 Load the SDK

<script src="/api/sdk/v1/notarychain.js"></script>
<script>
  NotaryChain.init({ publishable_key: 'pk_live_…' });

  const session = await NotaryChain.createSession({
    document_url: 'https://yourapp.com/files/doc.pdf',
    state_code: 'FL',
    document_type: 'real_estate',
  });
  NotaryChain.openCeremony(session.embed_url);
</script>

11.3 Listen for events

window.addEventListener('message', (ev) => {
  if (ev.origin !== 'https://your-notarychain-host') return;
  // Verify ev.data.event_secret against your server-side stored secret
  if (ev.data.type === 'ceremony.sealed') {
    console.log('Sealed!', ev.data.payload);
  }
});

11.4 Webhooks

Configure a webhook URL + HMAC secret in /developers/sdk. Every ceremony event POSTs a signed payload (HMAC-SHA256 in X-NotaryChain-Signature) with retry-with-backoff at 1 s, 2 s, 4 s.

11.5 Rate limits

• Demo keys: 10 requests / hour / IP (in-memory)
• Pro keys: subject to your subscription tier
• Each session token can only be used once per ceremony

12. For Admins

12.1 Admin Dashboard

/admin/dashboard — user CRUD, partner CRUD, system health, recent activity feed.

12.2 Ceremony Analytics (/admin/analytics)

• KPI strip — Ceremonies (all-time), Completion rate, Avg time-to-seal, Revenue (30d)
• 🚨 Evaluator-errors alert — coral banner above the KPIs if any ceremonies hit the fail-closed <state>_evaluator_error status in the last 24 h. Shows count + total since launch + action hint.
• Daily ceremonies area chart (created vs. sealed) with 7d / 30d / 90d / 180d window selector
• Funnel — Pending → Assigned → In session → Completed → Sealed → FL_blocked
• Top compliance-gate failures heatmap
• State breakdown table (per-jurisdiction totals + completion %)
• Top notaries leaderboard

12.3 FL Compliance (/admin/fl-compliance)

KPI grid, ceremony gate matrix, subpoena response workflow (intake → scope → CSV bundle → respond), RONSP filing lifecycle tracker.

12.4 Backfilling state_code

For ceremonies that pre-date the multi-state pipeline:

POST /api/admin/compliance/backfill-state-codes?default_state=FL&dry_run=true

Dry-run first to see how many ceremonies would be updated; the live run copies state_code from the notary's commission state first, then falls back to the default_state parameter.

12.5 Partner / TrustLayer admin

/admin/trust-layer — CRUD partners, view public Ed25519 keys, revoke attestations, browse the federated trust graph.

12.6 RBAC / SSO

/admin/rbac — role assignments. SSO via Auth0, Okta, or Enterprise SSO is configured in /admin/integrations.

13. Troubleshooting

14. Glossary