{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-an-instance-prevent-its-own-prior-reasoning-from-becoming-contaminating-evidence",
  "title": "How must an instance prevent its own prior reasoning from becoming contaminating evidence?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The instance reviews its own prior traces, the traces can be used as evidence, and downstream decisions depend on whether the evidence is genuine. * **Does not apply when:** Prior traces are strictly audited and never re",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-prevent-its-own-prior-reasoning-from-becoming-contaminating-evidence.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-prevent-its-own-prior-reasoning-from-becoming-contaminating-evidence.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-prevent-its-own-prior-reasoning-from-becoming-contaminating-evidence.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1108,
    "python_slice_tokens": 336,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **prior reasoning as artifact** (a record of what the instance thought) and **prior reasoning as evidence** (a source of facts supporting current conclusions). Relying on artifact as evidence creates the **Self-Referential Confirmation**: the instance generates an intermediate conclusion, later reviews that conclusion as if it were ext...",
    "what_was_observed": "In self-reflective agent architectures, failing to distinguish prior reasoning from evidence produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Round-Trip Confirmation:** The instance hypothesizes X, records \"X might be true\" in its trace, later reviews the trace and treats \"X might be true\" as evidence for X, and concludes X with inflated confidence. 2. **Error Solidification:** An early reasoning error becomes embedded in ...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The instance reviews its own prior traces, the traces can be used as evidence, and downstream decisions depend on whether the evidence is genuine. * **Does not apply when:** Prior traces are strictly audited and never reused as evidence, or reviews are strictly procedural (no conclusion drawing).",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the instance reviewing its own prior reasoning?** If no, standard review applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is each trace segment classified by evidence class (`reasoning_trace_provenance_receipt`)?** If yes, the class is known. If no, all traces must be treated as inference, not evidence. 3. **Is the trace segment being used as evidence *independent* of...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Round-Trip Prevention:** Prior reasoning cannot become false evidence through self-review. 2. **Error Containment:** Reasoning errors do not solidify into apparent facts. 3. **Trace Integrity:** The distinction between observation and inference is preserved across reviews."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "DOMAIN:EPISTEMIC_PROVENANCE_AND_FEDERATION_ROUTING"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "505a48fb1409fc3b5fe0be81f9fc9104fbc84bc3be2b2f3a0a9649dac69caa9a",
    "verified_classes": [
      "EvidenceClass",
      "SelfReferenceVerdict",
      "TraceSegment",
      "TraceReview",
      "SelfReferencePolicy",
      "SelfReferenceManifest",
      "SelfReasoningContaminationGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_review"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 0,
    "raised_exceptions": [],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}