Use cases
Digital Action Receipts are most valuable when a system later needs neutral, durable proof that a digital action occurred — without relying on screenshots, privileged system access, or post-hoc reconstruction.
High-signal adoption starts
These are the “first yes” categories: the need is obvious, integration can be lightweight, and receipts become useful immediately as references in tickets, audits, and disputes.
Role changes, admin actions, access grants/removals, break-glass events.
- Receipt identifiers become durable references for reviews and investigations.
- Reduces “who approved what?” ambiguity across teams and vendors.
Production pushes, config toggles, feature gates, automation changes.
- Receipts link changes to later incident timelines without becoming monitoring.
- Supports “what changed?” questions without reconstructing narratives.
Exceptions, overrides, releases, approvals that matter later.
- Receipt IDs can be embedded in work items, cases, and approval artifacts.
- Separates proof-of-occurrence from policy rationale or decision logic.
Payment authorizations, limit changes, holds/releases, settlement-relevant actions.
- Useful for dispute resolution and internal investigations.
- Receipts complement existing operational records without replacing them.
AI agents and automation
As agents act on behalf of organizations, the “what happened?” question becomes harder. Receipts provide a neutral reference without pulling agent reasoning into the evidence layer.
Tickets created, approvals requested/granted, settings changed, workflows advanced.
- Receipts capture occurrence at the moment of action.
- Does not imply endorsement of the agent’s rationale or correctness.
Signals/state observed over time → trigger moment identified → trigger signal invokes receipt generation via a receipt service.
- Separates event triggering from receipt generation responsibilities.
- Helps formalize “receipt-worthy event” boundaries without becoming monitoring.
Access to physical systems (via digital control)
Where digital systems grant access to physical resources, disputes are common. Receipts provide a neutral handle for later review.
Badge access approvals/denials, temporary access grants, elevated access periods.
Unlock events, remote start/stop, mode changes, fleet policy exceptions.
Command sent, command accepted, state changed, control transferred.
Task start/stop, safety mode changes, handoffs, remote interventions.
Healthcare and consent-sensitive actions
In consent and access-sensitive environments, the question is often “did this occur?” rather than “was the outcome correct?”
Patient consent captured, updated, revoked, or re-scoped.
Access granted/denied, emergency access, time-boxed access windows.
Competitions, outcomes, and proof-of-completion
Where outcomes are disputed (especially at scale), a receipt can serve as a neutral reference that a particular digital action occurred at a specific moment.
A system records that a participant completed an action or met a condition at a moment in time.
Receipt IDs provide a stable pointer when reconciling disagreements across parties or platforms.
What these use cases share
Logs, screenshots, and narratives diverge; evidence needs a neutral anchor.
Teams, vendors, and external stakeholders need referenceable artifacts.
Evidence is most reliable when generated at the moment of action.
Receipts should not become monitoring, enforcement, or explanation layers.