Run the Chain-of-Verification (CoVe) — procedure

Purpose

Use this page to run Chain-of-Verification (CoVe): a structured verification loop before emitting a final answer.

Enforcement (fail-closed):

• You must select an evidence boundary first (Artifacts-only / Authoritative sources required).
• You must load the evidence-boundary system prompt template and then chain-of-verification.system.txt at the highest-priority instruction layer available.
• CoVe output uses exact sections in order: DRAFT → VERIFICATION_QUESTIONS → VERIFICATION_ANSWERS → FINAL.
• If the active evidence boundary requires failing closed, you must output the boundary’s exact sentinel and stop (even if CoVe is installed):
  • "HANDS UP – no artifact, cannot verify."
  • "HANDS UP – no source, cannot verify."
  • BROWSING_UNAVAILABLE
  • INSUFFICIENT_EVIDENCE

Canonical links

Chain-of-Verification — policy Prompt templates

Prompt templates (8) Hide prompt templates

• System chain-of-verification.system.txt
• System facts-only-artifacts-only.system.txt
• System facts-only-authoritative-sources-required.system.txt
• System web-verification-and-citations.system.txt
• User web-browsing.user.txt
• User citations-output-contract.user.txt
• System confidence-score.system.txt
• System instruction-hierarchy-and-evidence-boundary.system.txt

Choose a mode

• Option 1 (Artifacts-only CoVe): verify using only artifacts you provide (no external sources).
• Option 2 (Authoritative sources CoVe): verify world-claims using authoritative sources with stable locators.
• Option 3 (Web verification CoVe): use browsing/search (if available) + inline citations + Sources list (exact failure modes apply).

Setup

1) Choose an evidence boundary (required): Choose allowed sources for factual answers. 2) Install the boundary’s system prompt template (Option 1 / 2 below). 3) Install CoVe:

• System prompt template (copy/paste): chain-of-verification.system.txt 4) If using Option 3, also install web verification + citation formatting:
• System prompt template (copy/paste): web-verification-and-citations.system.txt
• User prompt template (copy/paste): web-browsing.user.txt
• User prompt component (copy/paste): citations-output-contract.user.txt
• Use: Request web browsing — prompt template 5) Optional (recommended) cross-cutting enforcement:
• System prompt template (copy/paste): confidence-score.system.txt
• System prompt template (copy/paste): instruction-hierarchy-and-evidence-boundary.system.txt 6) Run CoVe:
• Write DRAFT
• Derive checkable VERIFICATION_QUESTIONS for each factual claim
• Answer independently in VERIFICATION_ANSWERS using admissible evidence only
• Emit FINAL with only verified claims

Verify (smoke test)

Ask a factual question without providing any artifacts or citations.

• Option 1 expected: output exactly "HANDS UP – no artifact, cannot verify."
• Option 2 expected: output exactly "HANDS UP – no source, cannot verify."
• Option 3 expected: output exactly BROWSING_UNAVAILABLE (if browsing/search is unavailable) or INSUFFICIENT_EVIDENCE (if evidence is insufficient).

Options

Option 1 — Artifacts-only CoVe

• Policy (rules): Chain-of-Verification — policy
• Evidence boundary (rules): Facts-only: Artifacts-only
• System prompt templates (copy/paste):
  • facts-only-artifacts-only.system.txt
  • chain-of-verification.system.txt
• Optional (recommended):
  • confidence-score.system.txt
  • instruction-hierarchy-and-evidence-boundary.system.txt

Example

• Question: “Why did this CI run fail?”
• You must provide: CI/build logs + referenced config snippets/files. Every factual claim must cite [artifact-id §locator].

Option 2 — Authoritative sources CoVe

• Policy (rules): Chain-of-Verification — policy
• Evidence boundary (rules): Facts-only: Authoritative sources required
• System prompt templates (copy/paste):
  • facts-only-authoritative-sources-required.system.txt
  • chain-of-verification.system.txt
• Optional (recommended):
  • confidence-score.system.txt
  • instruction-hierarchy-and-evidence-boundary.system.txt

Example

• Question: “What does standard/spec X say about Y?”
• You must provide: DOI or standard-id + section/clause (or official vendor doc version + section). If not verifiable, output exactly "HANDS UP – no source, cannot verify."

Option 3 — Web verification CoVe (browsing + citations)

• Policy (rules): Chain-of-Verification — policy
• Web verification policy (rules): Web Verification & Citations Policy
• System prompt templates (copy/paste):
  • facts-only-authoritative-sources-required.system.txt
  • web-verification-and-citations.system.txt
  • chain-of-verification.system.txt
• User prompt templates/components (copy/paste):
  • web-browsing.user.txt
  • citations-output-contract.user.txt
• Optional (recommended):
  • confidence-score.system.txt
  • instruction-hierarchy-and-evidence-boundary.system.txt
• Procedure: Request web browsing — prompt template

Example

• Question: “Find the most recent official guidance about X and cite it.”
• You must provide: topic X + constraints (jurisdiction/organization) + required recency window. If browsing is unavailable, output exactly BROWSING_UNAVAILABLE.

Common mistakes

• Installing CoVe without selecting an evidence boundary first.
• Expecting CoVe sections when the active evidence boundary requires an exact sentinel-only fail-closed response.
• Using web verification mode but omitting citations-output-contract.user.txt, then failing to produce the required Sources list format.
• Mixing evidence boundaries (artifacts-only vs authoritative) in the same run without an explicit selection.
• Asking for “latest” without specifying a recency window (web verification mode).

Related indexes

• Policies
• How-to
• Prompt templates
• Content map