The 7% Covenant is the social proof layer of CircularOS. It is the reason the system exists beyond profit — and it is also the reason the system attracts the attention, the investment, and the legitimacy it does. Without the Covenant, CircularOS is a compliance platform. With it, CircularOS is a circular economy engine that funds meals while processing waste.

Protocol 070 exists because the Covenant has to be enforced — not hoped for, not averaged across quarters, not paid when convenient. Every transaction. 7% first. Then profit. Then split. The Covenant fires before any other calculation. If it cannot fire — the transaction holds until it can.

This protocol is the enforcement mechanism. Weaver drafts it. The Covenant Auditor runs it. Entity #35 seals every confirmed Covenant transaction into the Truth Ledger. Jermaine holds the override key — and the override exists for system failures only, never for financial convenience.

Step 1 — Gross Revenue: Total verified revenue for the transaction. Source: Truth Ledger verified weight ticket × applicable rate (£450/tonne for dPRN standard). No unverified revenue enters the Covenant calculation.

Step 2 — Covenant Amount: Gross Revenue × 7% = Covenant Amount. This is the amount that must be confirmed as directed to the Waste-to-Plates™ mechanism (Blue Soil Foundation) before any other distribution occurs.

Step 3 — Meal Confirmation: Covenant Amount ÷ £11.25 (standard meal cost) = Meals Funded. Meal Tracker confirms meal count with Blue Soil Foundation before the Covenant Auditor seals the transaction as compliant.

Step 4 — Remaining Distribution: Gross Revenue minus Covenant Amount = Distributable Revenue. This then follows the 50/50 split doctrine (MD-363 Engine 1) or the applicable commercial model.

Example: 10 tonnes verified · £4,500 gross revenue · 7% = £315 Covenant · 28 meals funded · £4,185 distributable. All four figures sealed to the Truth Ledger before any payment is released.

Primary Trigger: Any verified weight ticket above 0 tonnes logged in the Truth Ledger. Every verified tonne triggers the Covenant. No minimum tonnage threshold. No maximum cap. Every single tonne, 40 meals.

Secondary Trigger: Any revenue stream classified as "Covenant-linked" in revenue_ratings_data.py (source field = "COVENANT"). These streams carry the 7% obligation regardless of whether a physical tonne is involved — they represent the Covenant's extension into non-physical revenue.

Blocked Trigger: The Covenant does NOT fire on: internal admin fees, agent subscription revenue (Protocol 068), protocol creation fees (Protocol 069), or course fees. These are operational revenue. The Covenant applies to material-linked and Covenant-linked streams only.

The Covenant Verification Chain is a 4-link sequence that must complete before any revenue is released:

Link 1 — Weight Confirmation (Covenant Auditor): Verifies the weight ticket is SHA-256 anchored in the Truth Ledger. No estimated weights. No rounded figures. Exact weight only.

Link 2 — Covenant Calculation (Covenant Auditor): Calculates 7% of verified gross. Records calculation in Truth Ledger with timestamp. Calculation is immutable once logged.

Link 3 — Meal Confirmation (Meal Tracker): Confirms with Blue Soil Foundation that the meal equivalent has been registered. Meal Tracker receives a Meal Confirmation Reference from Blue Soil Foundation and logs it to the Truth Ledger within 24h of Covenant Calculation completion.

Link 4 — Covenant Seal (Entity #35): Entity #35 applies constitutional counter-seal to the completed Covenant record: weight, amount, meal count, meal reference, all four timestamps. Only then does the transaction unlock for further distribution. Zero exceptions.

Failure Type 1 — Unverified Weight: Weight ticket not SHA-256 anchored. Transaction holds until verification is complete. Covenant Auditor flags the unverified ticket within 1h. No release without verified weight.

Failure Type 2 — Meal Confirmation Delay: Blue Soil Foundation has not provided Meal Confirmation Reference within 24h. Meal Tracker escalates to Covenant Auditor at 24h mark. Covenant Auditor escalates to Jermaine at 48h mark. Transaction holds until reference received.

Failure Type 3 — System Error: Technical failure in the Covenant calculation system. Jermaine holds override key for system-failure-only override. Override use is logged to Truth Ledger with reason. Every override is reviewed at the next Red Team session. Override for financial convenience = not acceptable and triggers immediate Sovereign review.

The Covenant is the reason this system is different. Not the technology. Not the compliance engine. Not the 657 revenue streams. The 7%. 40 meals. Every tonne. That is the moral architecture of CircularOS — and Protocol 070 ensures it fires every single time.

Every transaction is a Covenant transaction. Every tonne funds meals. Every meal is sealed. This is not charity. This is how a circular economy that means something actually works. Now enforce it.