{
  "type": "failure-mode",
  "name": "Citing a ceremony without naming the branch and index",
  "slug": "citing-a-ceremony-without-naming-the-branch-and-index",
  "section": {
    "id": "ceremony",
    "number": "04",
    "title": "Running or reusing a trusted setup",
    "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/"
  },
  "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/citing-a-ceremony-without-naming-the-branch-and-index/",
  "markdown": "https://zkpick.com/md/ceremony/failure-modes/citing-a-ceremony-without-naming-the-branch-and-index.md",
  "detail": "Long-running ceremonies can fork: a contribution chain splits and only one branch is continued, so \"we used the public powers of tau\" does not identify which parameters were adopted. Artefacts derived from a discontinued branch may not be compatible with those from the live one, and the claim cannot be independently checked.",
  "mitigation": "Record the exact ceremony, branch, contribution index, file and hash you adopted, publish them, and verify that specific chain yourself rather than relying on the ceremony's overall reputation.",
  "relatedOptions": [],
  "updated": "2026-09-12",
  "version": "1.3",
  "canonical": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/citing-a-ceremony-without-naming-the-branch-and-index/",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "authors": [
    "MarketComp"
  ]
}