---
id: "hardman-canonical-quoted-text-cqt"
type: "specification"
type_label: "Specifications and glossaries"
title: "Canonical Quoted Text (CQT)"
maintainer: "Daniel Hardman"
authors:
  - "Daniel Hardman"
date: "2026-08-24"
year: 2026
reading_level: "normative"
reading_level_label: "Normative"
reading_level_meaning: "the specifications and the documents they defer to"
evidence: "normative"
evidence_meaning: "a specification or a requirement in one"
status: "active"
status_meaning: "changed within the last six months, or a live service"
access: "public"
access_meaning: "anyone with the link"
topics:
  - "specifications"
  - "cryptography"
roles:
  - "developer"
  - "security-architect"
  - "standards-policy"
source_url: "https://dhh1128.github.io/canonical-quoted-text"
source_license: null
source_license_note: null
found_on: "hardman-papers"
kerisse_credit: false
abstract_license: "CC BY 4.0"
abstract_license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
abstract_attribution: "KSKB, the KERISuite Knowledge Base (https://kskb.dev/)"
last_checked: "2026-10-15"
kskb_url: "https://kskb.dev/cards/hardman-canonical-quoted-text-cqt/"
kskb_app_url: "https://kskb.dev/#item/hardman-canonical-quoted-text-cqt"
kskb_record_url: "https://kskb.dev/data/kskb/resources/hardman-canonical-quoted-text-cqt"
kskb_markdown_url: "https://kskb.dev/export/cards/hardman-canonical-quoted-text-cqt.md"
---

# Canonical Quoted Text (CQT)

A specification of an algorithm (cqt3.17) that puts text moving through chat, copy and paste, email and similar channels into a canonical form before hashing or signing, so that two copies can be judged the same if their outputs match byte for byte. It defines protected content (code, URIs) that passes through untouched, conformance vectors, and implementations in several languages. For developers who sign or verify quoted text.

Labels: reading level Normative; evidence normative (a specification or a requirement in one).
Source: https://dhh1128.github.io/canonical-quoted-text (license not recorded).
The abstract is KSKB's own text under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/; credit KSKB, the KERISuite Knowledge Base (https://kskb.dev/).