Badge & mark usage

A badge that points to proof.

A CAI badge is only meaningful if it's checkable. The mark-usage policy is simple and honest: a badge must link to a signed survey in the registry, stamped with the rubric version — so anyone who clicks it can verify the number and the author.

The badge

A small SVG carrying the headline CAI and its band, in the standard's canonical colours. Issued from a signed survey, it links straight to the verifiable record:

Band colours follow the five canonical bands (Exemplary · Strong · Adequate · Weak · Critical) — the live badge fills its score and band from the survey, so it always agrees with the published number.

Embed it

The badge SVG is served by the issuer at a canonical, cacheable endpoint. Point it at your repo and link it to the survey — swap OWNER/REPO for yours:

Markdown (README)

[![CAI](https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/badge.svg)](https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/report)

HTML

<a href="https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/report">
  <img src="https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/badge.svg" alt="CAI">
</a>

reStructuredText

.. image:: https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/badge.svg
   :target: https://watchdog.canine.dev/api/oss/OWNER/REPO/report
   :alt: CAI

The image endpoint is immutable per published run and caches well; the link target is the survey, so the badge is never a bare number — one click reaches the verifiable record.

The rules

Must link to a record

A badge links to the specific signed survey it represents — never a bare number with no provenance.

Must state the rubric version

So the score is reproducible to the exact criteria it was computed under.

Must not imply certification

The CAI is a measurement, not a certificate. A badge says "measured", with a verifiable record — it never says "certified" or "guaranteed".

The badge SVG and the canonical endpoint are served by the surveyor; the policy above is the standard's, so any issuer's badge is held to the same honesty bar.

A badge you can't click through to a verifiable survey isn't a CAI badge. Here's how anyone verifies one →