Monotonic Proof-State Advancement for Distributed Workflow Verification: Boundary-Capped Evidence Resolution and Threshold-Triggered Evaluation

This paper presents a method for verifying distributed workflows when no single observer can witness every step of a business process. It introduces three connected mechanisms: a monotonic confirmation-level hierarchy that prevents proof-state regression under concurrent event ingestion, a threshold-triggered evaluator dispatch mechanism that suppresses premature policy evaluation until sufficient evidence is available, and a boundary-capped proof resolution scheme that distinguishes architecturally unobservable evidence from true policy failures. Using a payment-settlement workflow as an illustrative case study, the paper shows how these mechanisms support more reliable workflow verification across asynchronous, multi-service, and cross-boundary systems.