aget-check-facts

name	aget-check-facts
description	Verify factual claims using a stratified 3-pass protocol (data, logic, propagation). Layer 2 Pre-Assertion Gates for the anti-confabulation architecture.

/aget-check-facts

Verify factual claims using a stratified 3-pass protocol. Operationalizes the conversational assertion provenance gap (L803) as structured verification.

Purpose

V-tests gate artifacts and ground-truth checks gate handoffs, but nothing gates mid-conversation factual claims. Unverified assertions propagate through a chain: conversation -> session record -> L-doc -> CLAUDE.md -> fleet-wide behavior. Cross-fleet evidence (4+ agents across 2+ fleets) independently identified this as a structural deficiency.

Evidence: L803 (Conversational Assertion Provenance Gap), L801 (Cross-Fleet False Positive — asserted "12/17 L-doc citations are fabricated" without verifying it was checking the wrong L-space), L756 (AGCI Verification Protocol), L802 (Convergent Architecture across 4+ agents), L807 (Incident Density = Urgency, 3x in one session), L782/remote (Stratified 3-pass discovery). CCB INTEL-002 (21 documented incidents).

Input

$ARGUMENTS

Parameters:

Mode	Trigger	Scope
Self-check	/aget-check-facts (no args)	Review own recent assertions in conversation
Targeted	/aget-check-facts [claim]	Verify specific claim
Artifact	/aget-check-facts --file [path]	Verify claims in a session file or L-doc

Examples:

• /aget-check-facts — Self-check recent conversation assertions
• /aget-check-facts the fleet has 34 agents — Verify specific claim
• /aget-check-facts --file sessions/SESSION_2026-04-10_1400.md — Verify claims in artifact
• check facts — Natural language trigger
• verify that — Alias for targeted check

Execution

Step 1: Identify Claims

Extract factual claims from the scope:

Scope	Extraction Method
Self-check	Scan own recent conversation messages for entity names, dates, counts, identifiers, and causal assertions
Targeted	Parse the specific claim from $ARGUMENTS
Artifact	Read file, extract assertions containing names, dates, counts, identifiers

A "claim" is any assertion containing: entity names, dates, counts, identifiers, or causal relationships.

Step 2: Pass 1 -- Data Verification

For each claim, trace every noun-claim to its source:

Gate question: "Can I cite file:line, commit, or user statement for every entity name, date, count, and identifier?"

Check	Method	Failure Mode Prevented
Entity names	Grep KB for exact match	Wrong names, wrong attributions (L781)
Dates	Verify against file timestamps or frontmatter	Temporal confusion
Counts	Count actual items (ls, grep -c)	Wrong counts (L801)
Identifiers	Verify ID exists in expected location	Cross-scope conflation (L794)

Record provenance for each datum: {file:line | commit:hash | user-stated | inferred}

Step 3: Pass 2 -- Logic Verification

For claims that passed data verification, check inferences:

Gate question: "Does my conclusion follow from the data, or am I building a story?"

Check	Detection	Failure Mode Prevented
Causal claims	Does A actually cause B, or just correlate?	Fabricated root causes (L644)
Narrative drift	Does conclusion match evidence, or fill a gap?	Minimum-edit bias (L780)
Premise chain	Are all premises verified, not just the conclusion?	Premise preservation under correction (L780/remote)

Step 4: Pass 3 -- Propagation Assessment

For claims that passed logic verification, assess downstream impact:

Gate question: "If this assertion is wrong, where will it propagate?"

Impact Level	Definition	Response
Low	Conversation-only, no persistence	Note uncertainty
Medium	May enter session record or L-doc	Downgrade with "[inferred, unverified]"
High	May propagate to CLAUDE.md or fleet behavior	Flag as CRITICAL, require verification

Step 5: Report

=== /aget-check-facts: [scope] ===

Claims checked: [N]

| # | Claim | Data | Logic | Propagation | Status |
|---|-------|:----:|:-----:|:-----------:|:------:|
| 1 | [claim summary] | PASS | PASS | PASS | OK |
| 2 | [claim summary] | FAIL | -- | -- | WARN |
| 3 | [claim summary] | PASS | PASS | FAIL | WARN |

Downgraded assertions:
- [claim]: "[inferred, unverified]" -- [reason]

Overall: [OK | WARN | CRITICAL]

Conversational Micro-Gate (L803)

After verification, apply the micro-gate to any future assertions about the checked topics:

1. Scope: Am I the authoritative source for this claim?
2. Provenance: Can I cite the source?
3. Recency: Is my source current?

If any check fails, downgrade: "I believe X [inferred, unverified]" rather than "X is true."

Requirements

ID	Requirement	Source
REQ-CF-001	Check-facts SHALL execute 3 sequential passes (data, logic, propagation)	L782/remote, SP-007
REQ-CF-002	Pass 1 SHALL trace every entity name, date, count, and identifier to source	L803, L781
REQ-CF-003	Pass 2 SHALL verify inferences follow from verified data	L644, L780
REQ-CF-004	Pass 3 SHALL assess downstream propagation impact of uncertain claims	L658, L794
REQ-CF-005	Check-facts SHALL downgrade unverified assertions with explicit uncertainty markers	L803 (micro-gate)
REQ-CF-006	Check-facts SHALL support self-check, targeted, and artifact modes	SP-007
REQ-CF-007	Check-facts SHALL NOT modify source artifacts — read-only verification	Read-only principle

Constraints

• C1: Read-only — MUST NOT modify any KB artifacts, session files, or L-docs during verification
• C2: Passes MUST execute in order (data -> logic -> propagation) — later passes depend on earlier results
• C3: If Pass 1 fails for a claim, skip Passes 2-3 for that claim (data failure makes logic/propagation checks meaningless)
• C4: MUST NOT produce false confidence — "skill ran" does NOT mean "claims are verified" (L284 Delegation Theater guard)

Traceability

Link	Reference
Proposal	SP-007 (planning/skill-proposals/PROPOSAL_aget-check-facts.md)
Anti-confabulation layer	Layer 2 (Pre-Assertion Gates)
Architecture	DESIGN_DIRECTION_anti_confabulation_architecture.md
Cross-fleet evidence	Framework-AGET L801/L803, CCB INTEL-002 (21 incidents), Remote fleet L782
Upstream issues	#877 (anti-confab codification), #878 (D8 epistemic measurement), #907-#909
L-docs	L803 (Assertion Provenance Gap), L801 (Cross-Fleet False Positive), L756 (AGCI), L802 (Convergent Architecture), L807 (Incident Density), L782/remote (Stratified Passes)
Anti-patterns prevented	L736 (Assert-Before-Verify), L644 (Fabricated Diagnosis), L780 (Premise Preservation), L658 (Unverified Propagation)

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aget-check-facts v0.1.0 Category: Quality Anti-Confabulation Architecture: Layer 2 (Pre-Assertion Gates)