UP-028 · Agency · WITNESSED CHECKABLE RUNNABLE EXECUTED STAGED

Evidence Before Claim

A proposition is admitted only with a named witness that exists.

Standing

WITNESSED CHECKABLE RUNNABLE EXECUTED STAGED PUBLISHED REPRODUCED

Last checked

2026-09-11 15:26:22 UTC

Source

scripts/check-claim-ledger.mjs @ 92d99bf0f69f · bytes 33e6af41713b45be…

Limit

The mechanism exists (DOCTRINE.md rule 4 and the ledger) and the phrase does not. This page establishes that this build refuses an unwarranted claim in its own registry — not that the tree's other surfaces do.

Next rung

live_local — the prose gate run from the page over text a reader types, rather than at build time over text we wrote. That the gate refuses our own registry is evidence about us, not about the rule.

Intent

Every public claim in this stack is a record in a ledger with a statement, a status from a fixed vocabulary, an evidence kind, and the witnesses that back it. A gate refuses a claim whose witness file is missing, whose conditional has no antecedent, or whose cell binding contradicts the invariants table. The gate's exit code is the verdict, and no report overrides it.

Problem

Status reports say done. Percentages stand in for evidence. A number typed beside a claim is quoted three times before anyone asks where it came from — this tree has paid that price with law counts, migration counts and a '64 of 116'. An invented number is worse than a missing one because it stops the question being asked.

Solution

Keep one ledger of claims. Fix the status vocabulary and forbid every other word. Require a witness path per claim and a gate that opens it. Derive every count on every page from the ledger; never type one.

Real-world analogy

A courtroom exhibit list. A witness who is named but never appears does not testify, however good the story.

Structure — on the surface

An illustration on a compute surface: loci above, carriers below. Press Play or Step; the takeaways collect as you go. Nothing here is evidence — the witness section is.

The chapter in WRL — and the chain so far

Chapter 28 of 32 — the fragment _patterns/wrl/chain/evidence-before-claim.wrl, sealed alone by wrl.js

; EVIDENCE BEFORE CLAIM — a claim at epoch 2 becomes a receipt with an outcome, in the Film, before anything
; downstream may cite it. ec_in is the entry and a router (chapter 29 draws from it); ec_ledger is a Door
; with an open port the chain feeds from the root clock.
[relay:ec_in]{sig_in, sig_out}
[spinner:ec_subject](w=16, n=8, rotor=quarter_turn_z, configurable){sig_in, socket}
[orb:ec_witness]{pose}
[door:ec_ledger]{sig_in}

[ec_in] --sig--> [ec_subject]
[ec_subject] --socket--> [ec_witness]

Its test bench _patterns/wrl/chain/evidence-before-claim.bench.wrl — drives the entry for this chapter's own film; never part of the chain

; TEST BENCH — drives this chapter's entry alone; the chain replaces it with a wire from an earlier chapter
[pulser:ec_bench](every 1){sig_out}
[ec_bench] --sig--> [ec_in]

module + bench seal to → sem-b1b88c7dbc3335cde087329fe36756733499f64164c1c3aef8c0d477a2406a7d

Run inputs — a ScenarioV1, the forge's own document, bound to this world's id and never part of it (D3) · ScenarioDigest scen-500446149b48e3d84f1… (the run inputs' own identity, computed by the forge)

Idle by design in this world alone: ec_ledger — an open port alone: in the chain it is fed by chapter 1's world clock (see links).

Reduced by the native reducer (ic32); the reference reducer reproduces every epoch's film hash (35.16s).

Receipts in the last epoch's Film

receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied

FILM v0.7
t=1
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=00b5,0000,0000,00b5,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=0100,0000,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=0,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=0,nxt=0
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0

FILM v0.7
t=2
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=0000,00ff,0000,0000,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=0100,0000,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=1,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=0,nxt=1
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0
claim:w=1,s=1,digest=bc,pkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,payload=SetRotor:ec_subject:0.255.0.0
receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied
recognition:w=1,s=1,state=unambiguous

FILM v0.7
t=3
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=0000,00ff,0000,0000,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=0000,00ff,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=1,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=1,nxt=1
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0
claim:w=1,s=1,digest=bc,pkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,payload=SetRotor:ec_subject:0.255.0.0
receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied
recognition:w=1,s=1,state=unambiguous

FILM v0.7
t=4
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=0000,00ff,0000,0000,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=ff02,0000,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=1,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=1,nxt=1
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0
claim:w=1,s=1,digest=bc,pkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,payload=SetRotor:ec_subject:0.255.0.0
receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied
recognition:w=1,s=1,state=unambiguous

FILM v0.7
t=5
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=0000,00ff,0000,0000,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=0000,ff03,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=1,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=1,nxt=1
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0
claim:w=1,s=1,digest=bc,pkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,payload=SetRotor:ec_subject:0.255.0.0
receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied
recognition:w=1,s=1,state=unambiguous

FILM v0.7
t=6
spinner:ec_subject:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,rotor=0000,00ff,0000,0000,socket=ec_witness,config=configurable
orb:ec_witness:policy=forge_motor_widemac_tz_sat_v1,quat4,w=16,n=8,pose=00fc,0000,0000,0000,controller=ec_subject,fault=0
pulser:ec_bench:mode=periodic,p=1,phase=0,armed=0,done=0,nf=1
door:ec_ledger:open=0,next_open=0
relay:ec_in:cur_out=1,next_out=1
wire:w__ec_bench__ec_in:cur=1,nxt=1
wire:w__ec_in__ec_subject:cur=1,nxt=1
admit:policy=admit_candidate_min_firstreceipt_v1,fact_capacity_fault=0,receipt_capacity_fault=0,capacity_fault=0
claim:w=1,s=1,digest=bc,pkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,payload=SetRotor:ec_subject:0.255.0.0
receipt:w=1,s=1,accepted=bc,apkey=0.0.0.255.0.0,epoch=2,outcome=Applied
recognition:w=1,s=1,state=unambiguous

Composes with the 27 chapters before it

The chain through this chapter — every earlier fragment, this one, and the links — seals to sem-93035fc9c81c15f33dc6f1a063d945bdf14033418983eb2f59c5403456460a33: 97 objects, 87 edges (was 93 / 83; every earlier object and edge is still present — checked, or the build refuses).

Links only the chain carries

[en_established] --sig--> [ec_in]
; the ledger is fed by chapter 1's root clock: the same transition relation, one wire, one port
[al_world] --sig--> [ec_ledger]

The board so far: one band per Part, signal flowing left to right; relays that fan out are routers, doors are switches, pulsers are clock domains. Hover an object — or click the board and walk it with the arrow keys — for its role, its Part and what it is wired to. This board is the chain’s sealed shape; no Film drives it, so it has no state to report, and the whole board in the conclusion is where every object’s state is read epoch by epoch. Wheel zooms · drag pans · double-click fits.

Syntax — quoted from the tree at build time

Rule 4, verbatim (DOCTRINE.md) DOCTRINE.md:70

4. **Measure before you claim, and say how you measured.** A speedup without a
   method is a rumour. State the baseline, the number of runs, and what you
   excluded. If the measurement ordering could have selected the result, say so.

The refusal, in the gate this page ran scripts/check-claim-ledger.mjs:186

    if (!existsSync(`${ROOT}/${path}`)) { bad(id, `witness file does not exist: ${path}`); continue; }

Forces

Writing a witness is slower than writing a sentence, and a gate that refuses your own claim is unpleasant on the day. The pressure to soften the vocabulary — a checkmark, a 'mostly' — is constant. The rule holds by making the exit code the answer and by making '?' an acceptable one.

Applicability

Any document that makes status claims: roadmaps, READMEs, marketing pages, this catalog.

Transformations

A refusing transformation is not one that is discouraged: it is one that, applied, makes the invariant above false. The word is the tree's, and it is the same word the join uses.

Consequences

Claims become things a reader can check rather than believe. The book you are reading is built this way: its labels are derived, its counts are joined, and its own first draft was caught by the same discipline with 32 labels over 30 rows.

Failure mode it answers

Agent Omniscience — Letting an agent's claims exceed its evidence boundary. Paid for at: AGENCY.md §6 (what is established vs a reading)

Witness

Source identity: scripts/check-claim-ledger.mjs · shape side-effect · evidence kind constructive_witness · rung in_tree (runs over CLAIM_LEDGER.json (190 claims) and refuses; exit code is the verdict)

Execution identity: 2026-09-11T15:26:22.369Z on PX13 · bytes 33e6af41713b45be… · repo HEAD 92d99bf0f69f

Not staged on this site: the page cannot run this witness. It runs from the command line: node scripts/check-claim-ledger.mjs in ..

Counterexample

scripts/check-claim-ledger.mjs — marker witness file does not exist, expected REFUSED.

A marker, not a resolved law. The build checked that this string is present in the file. A string being present proves the file mentions it, not that the file refuses anything — this record cites no law id that could be resolved against a suite index. It is the weaker of the two forms this catalog uses.

What to take away

1. from the animationThe claim was refused without its witness and admitted with one, at the status the evidence earned.
2. from the syntaxThe gate's exit code is the verdict; a report cannot override it.
3. from the literatureToulmin's warrant and backing; assurance cases; Pollock's defeaters — the ledger has a defeater field of its own.
4. from the witnesscheck-claim-ledger.mjs ran today over 190 claims, exit 0, with a receipt on this page.

Prior art — and what is not claimed

Novelty not claimed. The phrase is absent from the tree; the mechanism (DOCTRINE.md rule 4 plus the ledger) is not. Argumentation theory is the prior art and it is older than the stack.

Realizations in the tree

• DOCTRINE.md rule 4
• CLAIM_LEDGER.json

Relations with other patterns

Descent Is Not Dependence WITNESSED · Refusal Gate STATED