> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://canary-1.gitbook.io/canary/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://canary-1.gitbook.io/canary/trust-and-transparency/refusal-transparency.md).

# Refusal transparency

Why Canary's refusals are recorded and visible.

A verification layer that refuses is only credible if its refusals are auditable. When Canary declines to sign, that fact and its reason are logged rather than buried. The aim is a record that counterparties, integrators and listing venues can check for themselves rather than ask for.

This is the quiet discipline behind the loud claim. Anyone can say they would have refused. Canary records where it did.

## What is recorded

For every refusal, Canary records which check failed and why, such as sources that could not be reconciled, a quorum that was not reached, a reserve threshold breached, a limit exceeded, or a protocol hook that did not return a proven yes. Canary Cosigner records every co-signature, hold and refusal with its reason in the same way.

## Who it serves

* **Protocols and issuers** see exactly what was stopped and why, which is the evidence they need to calibrate thresholds and to answer their own users.
* **Auditors and counterparties** can confirm that controls ran before value moved, not only that nothing went wrong.
* **The wider ecosystem** can see that refusal is a working mechanism rather than a promise.