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AI Agent Receipts vs Digital Signatures
Short answer: A digital signature helps verify who signed bytes and whether those bytes changed. An execution receipt provides a larger execution record: the request, tool, observed result, time, and evidence boundary. A receipt may include signature material, but the concepts answer different review questions.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-23. This page describes a reviewable evidence pattern and does not claim an outside result without upstream confirmation.
Comparison matrix
| Question | Execution receipt | Digital signature |
|---|---|---|
| What it records | Execution context and observed output. | Signed bytes and signer identity. |
| Best question | What ran and what did the system observe? | Were these bytes signed and unchanged? |
| Limit | Integrity is not an outside outcome. | A valid signature does not prove execution by itself. |
Open a public execution receipt or call its verifier. The example reports verification_status: verified for the stored record. It is not proof of an unobserved external outcome.
Frequently asked questions
AI agent receipts vs digital signatures
A digital signature helps verify who signed bytes and whether those bytes changed. An execution receipt provides a larger execution record: the request, tool, observed result, time, and evidence boundary. A receipt may include signature material, but the concepts answer different review questions.
What can a verifiable receipt prove?
It can show what the execution layer recorded and what its integrity checks verify. It cannot prove an unobserved outside outcome.
How can another reviewer check the record?
Open the public receipt, compare the tool, time, result, and status, then call the verifier. Keep outside confirmations separate from the execution record.