A change is a signed, encrypted envelope named by its hash that names the heads it was built on. Forks close when the next change names both tips; hash order makes every device read the same sequence.

This is the structure that lets devices merge histories without a server.

Every edit becomes a change. Picture a sealed envelope. Signed by whoever wrote it. Encrypted inside. It is named by its hash.

Each envelope names the envelopes it was written after. That makes a chain. The first envelope is the root.

Two devices edit at once, offline. Each writes an envelope after the same one. The chain forks.

The next envelope names both tips. That merges the two histories. No server decides anything. Which value wins inside is a later rule.

The tips nothing points at yet are called heads. One head means settled. Two heads means a fork is waiting.

To read the object, start at a head and follow the pointers back. Where two orders are possible, sort by hash. Every device gets the same order.

Check yourself. Two devices edit the same object offline. What closes the fork?