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The dated plan
Seven steps, from the inventory to the post-publication re-test. The dates run from 21 October 2026 and end at the outer planning date of 16 February 2027, which is 118 days away. Each step names the clauses it closes and the artefact that proves it.
Seven steps | 118 days to the outer date | 99 evidence artefacts in the register
| When | What | Clauses | Artefact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now to 4 November 2026 | Inventory the mechanism set List every signature mechanism you sign or verify with, the arithmetic setting, the parameter set and the hash. Name an owner per row. | 6.1, 6.3.2, 6.5.2, 6.6.1 | A mechanism inventory with four columns and an owner per row. |
| Two weeks to 18 November 2026 | Decide EdDSA Decide whether EdDSA enters the approved list for a named use, goes to a pilot with an exit date, or is excluded with a reason. Record the decision and the owner. | 6.13.1, 6.13.2 | A decision record naming the use, the parameter set and the owner. |
| Four weeks to 2 December 2026 | Test the verifier rejection path Add the four negative cases: a point not on the curve, a non canonical encoding, a value at the order and a value above it. Record the result per mechanism. | 6.13.5.2, 6.13.5.5 | A test log with four named cases per verifier. |
| Six weeks to 16 December 2026 | Close the hash and identifier work Show the hash strength against each parameter pair, and inventory every object identifier you emit or parse, including the two new curves. | 6.3.2, 6.5.2, 6.6.1, Annex A | A parameter and hash table, and an identifier inventory. |
| Eight weeks to 30 December 2026 | Run the worked examples Run the Ed25519 and Ed448 examples in continuous integration and keep the output with the release record. | Annex F, Annex B | A dated test run for both parameter sets. |
| Before the outer date to 16 February 2027 | Publication check Re-read the published amendment against this record and the register. Update the rows whose wording changed and re-issue the plan. | The whole record | A dated reconciliation note and an updated register. |
| After publication to 18 March 2027 | Re-test and re-brief Re-run the verifier tests and the examples against the published text, and brief the risk committee on what moved. | 6.13, Annexes | A test run, a committee note and a closed action list. |
Put the decision on the roadmap as a quarter
The EdDSA decision is small enough to take in one meeting and large enough to need a quarter against it if the answer is yes. Record the target quarter in the roadmap, next to the identity and access work, so that a later reader can see when the choice was made and what it displaced.
Why the first step is the inventory
Every other step depends on it. A decision on EdDSA needs to know which systems would use it. A verifier test needs the verifiers. A hash check needs the mechanisms and their parameter pairs. An identifier inventory needs the places that emit or parse an algorithm identifier. An estate that starts with EdDSA and works backwards spends the first month on a pilot that cannot be scoped.
What the plan does not promise
It does not promise that the published text will match the draft word for word. It does not promise a certification, because there is none for this standard. And it does not promise that a date is a legal deadline, because the amendment binds nobody unless something points at it.