principles · 03

An unverified number gets a label, not a guess

If a figure isn't in the config, it ships marked [VERIFY]. A plausible number is worse than a missing one, because nobody checks it.

[DRAFT]The rule is settled. This wording has not had a voice pass.

Language models are extremely good at producing a number that looks like the number you wanted. That is the whole problem.

The standing rule for every agent in this system: if a fact is not in the project’s configuration or its data, do not supply one. Mark it [VERIFY] and move on. A gap that is labelled gets closed. A gap that got filled with something plausible stays wrong for months, because it never looks wrong.

This rule is not decorative here. The site you are reading has live examples:

A site about trustworthy automation that quietly rounded its own numbers would be arguing against itself.