# Etches

> Instant or delayed; sealed, revealed, retracted: an etch's whole life.

An etch is something you commit to in public: a statement you'll stand behind. Once etched it can't be edited, backdated or quietly deleted.

## What you send

| Field | |
| --- | --- |
| `content` | The words. Up to 2000 characters. This is what the fingerprint covers |
| `description` | One public line about it, up to 140 characters. Public from the start, even while sealed — it's how people find the etch |
| `category_id` | One topic: `crypto`, `markets`, `sports`, `politics`, `tech`, `ai`, `science`, `business`, `culture`, `personal`, `other` |
| `mode` | `instant` or `delayed` |
| `reveal_at` | For `delayed`: when it's revealed, at least 5 minutes ahead |

The description and topic are not part of the fingerprint, but they can't be changed either. Never send a time or a salt: the server assigns both.

## Instant and delayed

**Instant** is the normal way: public the moment you etch, words and all.

**Delayed** seals the words until a time you choose, then reveals them automatically at that second — no worker has to run, and nobody can reveal one early. Use it for a bold etch you'd rather not show yet. While sealed, the public sees the fingerprint, the description, the topic and the day — never the words, the salt or the exact time.

## Statuses

| Status | What a reader sees |
| --- | --- |
| `sealed` | Fingerprint, description, topic, day etched, reveal time |
| `revealed` | Everything: words, exact time, salt, and the line that was hashed |
| `retracted` | The tombstone — the words and salt are erased; [what stays](/docs/retraction#stays) |

An instant etch is `revealed` from the start. A sealed one becomes `revealed` at its reveal time, read from the database clock.

## Permanence

There is no edit and no delete — not in the API, and not in the database, where a trigger refuses deletion for every role. The only change an author can make is to [retract](/docs/retraction), which erases the words and leaves a tombstone. Every etch lands on its author's record, misses included.