> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.heretic.quest/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Heretic: Physics-Based Browser Intelligence

> Heretic measures network geometry, kernel fingerprints, and hardware signals to return a verdict on every client — not a score, a ruling with attached evidence.

Heretic is a browser intelligence service built on a simple premise: every claim a browser makes about itself is forgeable, but the physics underneath is not. Heretic measures actual round-trip times against the speed-of-light floor, reads the TCP options your kernel wrote, probes whether UDP survives the path, and runs hardware under load — then returns a **verdict**, not a risk score.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick Start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Install the collector and get your first verdict in under five minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How It Works" icon="atom" href="/how-it-works">
    Understand the physics and signal families behind every ruling.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Explain API" icon="code" href="/api/explain-endpoint">
    Query the explain endpoint and parse the full verdict JSON.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Integration Guide" icon="plug" href="/integration/collector">
    Add the collector to your site and start enforcing policy.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What Heretic measures

Heretic runs six independent evidence families on every session. Each family contributes signals measured from the physical layer up — wire data your kernel wrote, hardware outputs, and the gap between what the browser claims and what the physics allows.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Network Geometry" icon="globe" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    RTT vs. speed-of-light floor — physically unreachable locations contradict themselves.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Transport Stack" icon="network-wired" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    TCP options and QUIC reachability reveal the true kernel, not the claimed OS.
  </Card>

  <Card title="TLS Construction" icon="lock" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    ClientHello structure and cipher ordering expose mismatches with the declared browser.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Compute" icon="microchip" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    CPU model count, core performance, and microarchitecture fingerprinting.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Render" icon="display" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    GPU, canvas, audio, and frame-rate signals measured under real load.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Declared" icon="browser" href="/concepts/evidence-families">
    Browser-supplied values read only as claims to verify, never as facts.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Get started in three steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Request access">
    Sign up at [heretic.quest](https://heretic.quest/#access) for early access. During the **apostate** tier, the full signal catalogue and explain endpoint are free.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install the collector">
    Add `@heretic-hq/collector` to your site. The collector runs on your origin — no DNS changes, no reverse-proxy tollbooths.

    ```bash theme={null}
    npm install @heretic-hq/collector
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the verdict">
    Call the explain endpoint with the session ID the collector returns. You get a binary ruling — `contradicted`, `uncontradicted`, or one of three other states — with the evidence attached.

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl "https://edge.heretic.quest/e?n=9f2c41ab"
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Try the live edge at [probe.heretic.quest](https://probe.heretic.quest) to see a verdict on your own browser before writing a single line of code.
</Tip>


## Related topics

- [Heretic: Physics-Based Browser Intelligence Platform](/introduction.md)
- [How Heretic Measures Browser Integrity with Physics](/how-it-works.md)
- [Heretic FAQ: Integration, Verdicts, Privacy, and Access](/reference/faq.md)
- [Heretic Privacy: Data Collection, Retention, and Deletion](/reference/privacy.md)
- [Heretic Data Retention: Edge Logs and Dashboard Store](/dashboard/data-retention.md)