research-claims

name	research-claims
description	Maintain the research workspace belief layer: open questions, claims, decisions, confidence levels, evidence links, and revisit conditions.

Research Claims

Use when interpreting evidence, updating beliefs, closing questions, or changing research direction.

Files

• OPEN_QUESTIONS.md: uncertainties ranked by information gain.
• CLAIMS.md: compressed belief state.
• DECISIONS.md: choices that change future behavior.
• RESEARCH.md: short dashboard summary.

Claim Rules

• No claim without evidence IDs.
• No high confidence without multiple converging runs or one decisive blocker.
• Every claim needs an implication.
• Use statuses: supported, weakened, mixed, refuted, superseded, unknown. Mark falsified beliefs refuted; do not soften a dead idea to weakened.
• Use confidence: low, medium, high.
• The ledgers are repo-global across programs. When a claim lands or changes program relevance, keep the program card's Primary claims: line current; it is the per-program view of CLAIMS.md.

Question Rules

Each Q### should have:

• measurable answer;
• next experiment or reason it is paused;
• related claims;
• status: open, answered, paused, or superseded.

Decision Rules

A decision changes future behavior. Every D### needs:

• rationale;
• evidence;
• revisit condition.

Do not create a decision for every run. Create one when the next branch changes, when a path stops, or when a default practice changes.

Update Pattern

After evidence:

facts -> claim status/confidence -> question status -> decision if behavior changes

Then update the RESEARCH.md evidence snapshot if the current thesis changes.