Hash any file, locally, right now.

Why content-addressing matters

A cryptographic hash is a fixed-length fingerprint derived from the entire contents of a file. Change a single byte and the hash changes completely. This property — collision resistance — is what lets Meridian treat hashes as immutable document identifiers. When a document enters the archive, its SHA-256 hash becomes its permanent address. No filename, no folder path, no metadata can drift — the hash anchors identity to content itself.

Content-addressing is the foundation of every custody chain, every attestation, and every citation in Meridian. When an answer cites a source, the citation includes the hash of the paragraph that was retrieved. A verifier can re-hash the source material and confirm, byte for byte, that the cited content has not been altered since ingest. This is the mechanism that makes Canon attestations falsifiable without the issuer's cooperation — and it starts with a hash.