Source authority
Authority belongs to the source competent for the claim in its current scope, not a fixed rank or the source with the nicest logo.
Live work
- User intent and project governance own requirements and boundaries.
- A working spec makes that intent verifiable.
- Current code, tests, schemas, and runtime output own present behavior.
- A task narrows but cannot override its spec.
- Worker summaries and reviews remain claims until checked.
External claims
Use the closest primary source competent for the exact claim: issuing authority, specification, source code, release notes, product documentation, original paper, or dataset. Label first-party vendor claims as vendor evidence.
Secondary synthesis may locate or summarize primary evidence. Marketing, reviews, anecdotes, and synthetic respondents do not become primary evidence through repetition.
When sources conflict, state the conflict and compare recency, population, method, and scope. Never average disagreement into certainty. Averaging cannot reconcile incompatible scopes. Route unresolved choices to their owner.
A citation supports only what it directly establishes. Preserve date, population, method, uncertainty, and limitations. Label guidance, projections, preprints, and inference.
Related: principles · research sources
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