Draft:CLU Latent

CLU Latent

CLU Latent, stylized as CLULatent, is an open-source media-evidence package format and software reference implementation developed by Jayden Kambule. It is designed to combine digital media with timestamped evidence records, file-integrity information, references, qualifications, and indexes inside a portable package that can be examined by both humans and software systems.[1]

The technology uses the .clulatent file extension. Packages may exist as editable directories or as deterministic ZIP-based containers. The first public version, CLU Latent 1.0.0, was released on July 30, 2026, under the BSD 3-Clause License.[2][3]

History

CLU Latent was developed to address the separation of media files from the information used to analyze, verify, or interpret them. Conventional media formats such as MP4 are primarily designed for playback, while additional information is often stored in separate databases, reports, transcripts, or sidecar files.

The project introduced a package structure in which source media can be stored alongside timestamped event tracks, hashes, processing receipts, references, indexes, validation results, and descriptions of missing or uncertain evidence.[1]

Version 1.0.0 introduced the first public clulatent.profile.v1 compatibility specification, an offline conformance suite, archive-verification tools, a command-line interface, a local evidence viewer, and structured retrieval functions intended for software agents.[3]

Design

CLU Latent is described by its developer as a local-first system. Its core reading, validation, inspection, and playback functions do not require a user account, cloud platform, analytics service, telemetry system, or external artificial-intelligence model.[1]

A CLU Latent package may contain:

• a package manifest;
• identifying information about the source media;
• cryptographic hashes;
• timestamped JSON Lines event tracks;
• references connecting related evidence;
• processing receipts;
• derived package indexes;
• validation and compatibility results;
• package-lock information;
• optional media, keyframes, audio events, speech events, and visual-change records.

The format is intended to retain the boundaries and uncertainty surrounding recorded evidence. Records may identify when an event occurred, where its supporting material is located, how it was generated, and what conclusions cannot be established from it.

Package format

CLU Latent supports two principal package forms. The editable form is a directory conventionally ending in .clulatent. The portable form is a deterministic ZIP container using the same extension.[1]

Portable packages are subject to bounded verification and extraction rules. These include checks intended to prevent path traversal, unexpected archive members, excessive resource consumption, and inconsistencies between the archive and its declared package structure.

The V1 compatibility profile defines the minimum structural requirements for a conforming package. Passing compatibility validation indicates that a package follows the format contract; it does not establish that every statement or interpretation contained inside the package is factually correct.[1]

Software implementation

The reference implementation is written in Python and is distributed as the clu-latent package. Version 1.0.0 supports Python 3.10 through Python 3.14 and is classified as operating-system independent.[2]

The software includes a command-line interface named clulatent. Its functions include creating packages from video, validating package structures, inspecting manifests and indexes, opening a package in a local viewer, creating portable archives, verifying archives, and extracting packaged evidence.

Media-building operations use FFmpeg and ffprobe as external system tools. Package reading, validation, archive inspection, and the included synthetic demonstration can operate without a network connection.[1]

Evidence viewer

The clulatent open command generates a self-contained local HTML viewer. Depending on the contents of the package, the viewer may present the original media, package identity, source information, event timelines, track filters, keyframes, references, validation status, and recorded limitations.[1]

The generated viewer does not require a content-delivery network, remote font, external JavaScript library, or analytics service. It is intended for local evidence review rather than cloud-based collaboration.

Agent-readable retrieval

CLU Latent includes bounded retrieval functions intended for software agents and automated tools. These functions allow a system to request a package summary or evidence from a limited time window rather than processing every file and event in the package.[1]

Its retrieval model includes:

1. a package-level summary;
2. a timestamp-centered evidence window;
3. a structured question handoff describing available and missing evidence; and
4. direct read-only access to package records.

The question-handoff function does not independently call a language model or answer the submitted question. Instead, it prepares an evidence map and instructions that can be passed to another system.

Optional media analysis

The core CLU Latent package does not require machine-learning software. Optional components can add voice-activity detection or speech-transcription candidates through separately installed dependencies.[2]

The software can also record non-semantic visual evidence, including keyframes, pixel-difference measurements between frames, and regions in which visual changes were detected. These features record structural changes but do not inherently perform object recognition, facial recognition, emotion detection, identity inference, or scene interpretation.[1]

Limitations

CLU Latent distinguishes structural compatibility from semantic accuracy. A package may be technically valid while containing incomplete, incorrect, uncertain, or machine-generated evidence.[1]

The format therefore treats validation as confirmation that a package follows its declared structure, rather than proof that the media depicts a particular event or that an automated interpretation is true.

External links

• Official CLU Latent source-code repository
• CLU Latent package documentation
• CLU Latent release archive

References

• “CLU Latent README.” CLU Latent project documentation, GitHub.
• “CLU Latent project metadata.” pyproject.toml, version 1.0.0.
• “CLU Latent changelog.” Version 1.0.0 release entry, July 30, 2026.