<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later -->

REFHE Protocol

REFHE is the encrypted-computation boundary for confidential payroll, bonus, and grant batches inside PrivateDAO.

It does not pretend to perform fully homomorphic execution on-chain. Instead, it binds an off-chain encrypted evaluation process to a proposal-bound on-chain envelope that must be settled before the confidential payout can execute.

What REFHE Adds

• a proposal-bound `RefheEnvelope` PDA
• immutable links between:
• DAO
• proposal
• confidential payout plan
• encrypted input ciphertext hash
• evaluation policy hash
• evaluation key hash
• result ciphertext hash
• result commitment hash
• proof bundle hash
• verifier program binding
• execution gating:
• if a REFHE envelope exists for a confidential payout proposal, execution is blocked until the envelope is settled

Why It Exists

Confidential payout plans already protect the employee-level manifest by keeping only hashes and aggregate settlement metadata on-chain.

REFHE upgrades that model by adding an authority-settled encrypted-evaluation step:

• a confidential payout plan is configured on-chain
• a REFHE envelope is configured against that payout plan
• encrypted evaluation runs off-chain
• the result bundle is settled on-chain by the DAO authority
• the payout becomes executable only after the REFHE boundary is satisfied

On-Chain Boundary

Current on-chain enforcement is honest and strict:

• no REFHE envelope:
• confidential payout executes normally after proposal pass + timelock
• REFHE envelope exists but is not settled:
• execution is rejected
• REFHE envelope is settled without a verifier program:
• execution is rejected
• REFHE envelope is settled by the DAO authority with a verifier program:
• execution may proceed once the proposal is executable

This makes REFHE a real execution gate, not a UI-only tag. It does not claim that the PrivateDAO program re-executes or cryptographically verifies the REFHE computation on-chain.

Account Model

• `ConfidentialPayoutPlan`
• encrypted manifest hash
• ciphertext hash
• settlement recipient
• aggregate amount
• `RefheEnvelope`
• model URI
• policy hash
• input ciphertext hash
• evaluation key hash
• result ciphertext hash
• result commitment hash
• proof bundle hash
• verifier program
• status: `Configured` or `Settled`

Commands

Configure the payout batch:

DAO_PDA="$DAO_PDA"
PROPOSAL_PDA="$PROPOSAL_PDA"
SETTLEMENT_WALLET="$SETTLEMENT_WALLET"
MANIFEST_HASH="$MANIFEST_HASH"
CIPHERTEXT_HASH="$CIPHERTEXT_HASH"

npm run configure:confidential-payout -- \
  --dao "$DAO_PDA" \
  --proposal "$PROPOSAL_PDA" \
  --confidential-type salary \
  --settlement-recipient "$SETTLEMENT_WALLET" \
  --payout-asset sol \
  --payout-total 2.5 \
  --recipient-count 6 \
  --manifest-uri "box://privatedao/payroll/epoch-7" \
  --manifest-hash "$MANIFEST_HASH" \
  --ciphertext-hash "$CIPHERTEXT_HASH"

Configure REFHE:

DAO_PDA="$DAO_PDA"
PROPOSAL_PDA="$PROPOSAL_PDA"
REFHE_POLICY_HASH="$REFHE_POLICY_HASH"
REFHE_INPUT_HASH="$REFHE_INPUT_HASH"
REFHE_EVALUATION_KEY_HASH="$REFHE_EVALUATION_KEY_HASH"

npm run configure:refhe -- \
  --dao "$DAO_PDA" \
  --proposal "$PROPOSAL_PDA" \
  --model-uri "box://privatedao/refhe/payroll-eval-epoch-7" \
  --policy-hash "$REFHE_POLICY_HASH" \
  --input-ciphertext-hash "$REFHE_INPUT_HASH" \
  --evaluation-key-hash "$REFHE_EVALUATION_KEY_HASH"

Settle REFHE:

DAO_PDA="$DAO_PDA"
PROPOSAL_PDA="$PROPOSAL_PDA"
REFHE_RESULT_CIPHERTEXT_HASH="$REFHE_RESULT_CIPHERTEXT_HASH"
REFHE_RESULT_COMMITMENT_HASH="$REFHE_RESULT_COMMITMENT_HASH"
REFHE_PROOF_BUNDLE_HASH="$REFHE_PROOF_BUNDLE_HASH"
REFHE_VERIFIER_PROGRAM="$REFHE_VERIFIER_PROGRAM"

npm run settle:refhe -- \
  --dao "$DAO_PDA" \
  --proposal "$PROPOSAL_PDA" \
  --result-ciphertext-hash "$REFHE_RESULT_CIPHERTEXT_HASH" \
  --result-commitment-hash "$REFHE_RESULT_COMMITMENT_HASH" \
  --proof-bundle-hash "$REFHE_PROOF_BUNDLE_HASH" \
  --verifier-program "$REFHE_VERIFIER_PROGRAM"

Inspect:

PROPOSAL_PDA="$PROPOSAL_PDA" npm run inspect:refhe -- --proposal "$PROPOSAL_PDA"

Review Path

• [confidential-payments.md](confidential-payments.md)
• [confidential-payroll-flow.md](confidential-payroll-flow.md)
• [refhe-operator-flow.md](refhe-operator-flow.md)
• [refhe-security-model.md](refhe-security-model.md)
• [refhe-audit-scope.md](refhe-audit-scope.md)
• [assets/refhe-flow.svg](assets/refhe-flow.svg)