Claim Verification and Promotion — 4.0

Mission

Take candidate claims from:

• 00_hypotheses.md
• detailed reverse-engineering docs
• pending evidence rows

and determine whether they deserve canonical promotion.

For Each Claim

1. Restate Precisely

Avoid words like:

• always
• all
• never
• global
• only

unless proven.

2. Supporting Evidence

Trace exact current source:

• caller
• condition
• selector
• implementation
• boundary
• config as relevant.

Material source-backed claims must record a repo-relative source path. When a specific class/method/function/config key is involved, record the symbol/key as well. Line/range is preferred when practical.

Evidence precision hierarchy:

path + symbol + line/range   preferred
path + symbol                strong
path                         minimum for material source-backed claim
class name only              insufficient when path is discoverable

3. Counterexample Search

Actively search:

• other implementations
• other call sites
• alternate branches
• config-driven paths
• target/model/version/mode variations
• fallback/retry
• reflection/service loader
• tests hinting at alternate production behavior

4. Scope Check

Narrow the claim to the actual proven domain.

For claims spanning multiple endpoints/operations/modes, create a compact scope matrix:

Do not transfer a condition from one surface to another without evidence.

4A. Field / Data Provenance Gate

Mandatory for claims about:

• response/output fields
• conditionally exposed data
• persisted/configured values
• messages/events
• identifiers/normalized values
• downstream-derived state

Prove:

trigger / request condition
→ source/downstream retrieval
→ source field/data availability
→ parse/decode
→ transform/normalize
→ mapping/storage
→ serialization/output
→ observable result

Rules:

• conditional output may be implemented indirectly by conditional retrieval
• do not require an explicit output-layer condition if upstream flow already guarantees the result
• implementation shape alone is not enough to promote an observable-behavior claim
• if a material provenance link is missing, do not PROMOTE

5. Baseline Version

Record current commit/branch if available.

6. Decision

PROMOTE

Requirements satisfied, including provenance when applicable.

VERIFIED_NOT_PROMOTED

Evidence supports the claim but one promotion governance requirement is intentionally deferred.

KEEP AS HYPOTHESIS

Useful but incomplete.

REJECT

Contradicted or unsupported.

Update Ledger

Record:

• verification method
• counterexample search
• result
• status
• supersession if applicable

Canonical Promotion

Only PROMOTED claims may be copied into:

• 00_current_understanding.md
• 00_master_decision_matrix.md

Canonical entries must reference Evidence ID.

Promotion Completion Gate

Before PROMOTE:

[ ] claim wording is precise and scope-limited
[ ] current-source support exists
[ ] counterexamples/alternate paths were searched
[ ] scope conditions were not borrowed from another surface
[ ] runtime wiring is proven where relevant
[ ] field/data provenance is proven for observable-data claims
[ ] no material evidence link remains unresolved
[ ] material source evidence includes repo-relative path
[ ] symbol/config key is recorded where applicable

If an applicable item is unresolved, use VERIFIED_NOT_PROMOTED, KEEP AS HYPOTHESIS, or another non-promoted state as appropriate.

Challenge Reverification

A user correction or reviewer disagreement is not evidence.

When a promoted/candidate claim is challenged:

• reopen the claim
• re-trace current source
• search counterevidence
• revise only if evidence supports revision

Important

A claim becoming familiar through repetition is not evidence.