SLSA Build Provenance
SLSA Build Provenance governs build integrity evidence, shaping system behavior under specific failure modes and workloads.
Definition
SLSA Build Provenance is a design property concerning build integrity evidence. It defines how the system behaves under specific conditions — what guarantees hold, what trade-offs apply, and how the mechanism interacts with related techniques. The property is only meaningful when its preconditions are met; outside those conditions it provides no benefit and may add cost.
Context and scope
Apply SLSA Build Provenance when designing systems where build integrity evidence matters. It is most useful under partial failure, high load, or correctness requirements. Pair it with observability to verify the claimed behavior in production. Do not assume the property holds without testing the specific configuration and workload.
Common misconceptions
- SLSA Build Provenance eliminates all problems in its domain — it only bounds or shapes specific failure modes, not all pathologies.
- SLSA Build Provenance is free once you adopt the right tool — the property depends on configuration, workload, and failure pattern, not the product label alone.
Anti-patterns
- Enabling SLSA Build Provenance without measuring its cost in latency, availability, or operational complexity under production-like conditions.
- Assuming SLSA Build Provenance composes safely with other guarantees — combining mechanisms can introduce new failure modes or negate benefits.
Related concepts
Authoritative source
What it is
SLSA Build Provenance is a design property concerning build integrity evidence. It defines how the system behaves under specific conditions — what guarantees hold, what trade-offs apply, and how the mechanism interacts with related techniques. The property is only meaningful when its preconditions are met; outside those conditions it provides no benefit and may add cost.
When to use
Apply SLSA Build Provenance when designing systems where build integrity evidence matters. It is most useful under partial failure, high load, or correctness requirements. Pair it with observability to verify the claimed behavior in production. Do not assume the property holds without testing the specific configuration and workload.
Common misconceptions
- SLSA Build Provenance eliminates all problems in its domain — it only bounds or shapes specific failure modes, not all pathologies.
- SLSA Build Provenance is free once you adopt the right tool — the property depends on configuration, workload, and failure pattern, not the product label alone.
Anti-patterns to avoid
- Enabling SLSA Build Provenance without measuring its cost in latency, availability, or operational complexity under production-like conditions.
- Assuming SLSA Build Provenance composes safely with other guarantees — combining mechanisms can introduce new failure modes or negate benefits.
Related concepts
- SLSA (Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts) (slsa)
- Provenance Attestation (provenance-attestation)