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docs: Record not signing zones as a non-goal - #126

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docs: Record not signing zones as a non-goal#126
ecv wants to merge 1 commit into
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docs/dnssec-non-goal

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@ecv ecv commented Aug 31, 2026

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Summary

Datum does not sign the zones it serves authoritatively, and nobody wrote that down, so reviewers kept reopening it as a roadmap question and a customer delegated an already-signed domain and took it dark for every validating resolver.

This records the decision where the service's design lives, with the reasoning, what delegating a signed domain requires, and the one condition that would justify changing course.

Nothing in the service changes, because signing was never implemented; the point is to say so on purpose rather than by omission.

Note

Stacked on #119, which is the base branch and owns the overview page this adds a section to, so merge that one first and this retargets on its own.

Test plan

  • The rationale is accurate: an unsigned zone is what the service actually serves, and no API field turns signing on
  • A reader arriving at the architecture overview meets the non-goal without going looking for it
  • The delegation ordering is correct and would have prevented the outage that prompted this
  • Links resolve and nothing here contradicts the existing documents

Related to datum-cloud/enhancements#850

@ecv
ecv force-pushed the docs/dnssec-non-goal branch from 4704844 to fa0d187 Compare August 31, 2026 20:49
@ecv
ecv requested a review from scotwells September 1, 2026 15:50
@ecv
ecv marked this pull request as ready for review September 1, 2026 15:51
@ecv
ecv force-pushed the docs/dnssec-non-goal branch from fa0d187 to 09e253f Compare September 2, 2026 17:49
Base automatically changed from docs/model-gaps to main September 3, 2026 15:17
The service does not sign the zones it is authoritative for, and that was
written down nowhere. Anyone reading the architecture found silence where a
decision should be, so it kept coming back as an open roadmap question, and a
customer delegating a signed domain had no warning that they were about to
break it.

State the decision where the service's design lives, with the reasoning behind
it and the conditions that would justify changing it.

Key changes:
- Add an architecture document covering why zones are unsigned: a signed zone
  fails closed and whole, key management and DS coordination sit with a
  registrar the service does not control, validation failures are invisible on
  the query path, and multi-provider serving stops being straightforward
- Record what delegating an already-signed domain requires, and the ordering
  that avoids taking the domain dark
- Name the condition that would reopen the decision, a customer or compliance
  requirement, which is a product question rather than an operational one
- Surface the non-goal from the architecture overview so a reader meets it
  without going looking
@ecv
ecv force-pushed the docs/dnssec-non-goal branch from 09e253f to 10ae903 Compare September 3, 2026 15:17
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