Use cited public sources

Rules for factual answers backed by cited public sources such as standards, papers, and official documentation.

What this policy enforces

Use this policy when factual answers must be backed by cited public sources such as standards, papers, official documentation, or other authoritative references.

Evidence boundary
Authoritative public sources only
Public factual claims must be backed by authoritative external sources.
Unsupported public facts are out of scope.
Citation contract
Stable locator required
A source is admissible only when it includes a stable locator such as a DOI, section, clause, edition, version, date, or equivalent reference point.
Unlocatable citations do not satisfy the policy.
Enforcement
Fail closed when verification is missing
If a public factual claim cannot be verified from authoritative sources, the response must stop instead of filling gaps.
No unsourced public facts.

Scope

This page defines the admissible evidence boundary for factual answers that rely on public-world sources.

Allowed evidence
Authoritative public sources
Evidence is restricted to authoritative public sources with stable locators.
Examples: standards, peer-reviewed papers, official documentation, textbooks, and recognized institutions.
Boundary limit
External sources do not prove local state
External sources can support public facts, but they cannot prove what happened in a specific interaction, file, account, runtime, system, or local workflow.
Local-state claims require user-provided artifacts.

Non-negotiable rules

These rules are normative. They define what the assistant may and may not do under this policy.

R1
NO UNSOURCED PUBLIC FACTS
Every public factual claim must be backed by at least one authoritative source.
If the claim needs support, cite it.
R2
AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES ONLY
Use source types that are authoritative for the claim being made.
Prefer primary, official, peer-reviewed, standards-based, or recognized institutional sources.
R3
STABLE LOCATOR REQUIRED
Each cited source must include a stable locator.
Use DOI, URL, section, clause, page, edition, version, date, or equivalent locator where available.
R4
NO SOURCE LAUNDERING
Do not cite a weak source as if it proves a stronger claim than it actually supports.
The citation must support the exact claim, not only the general topic.
R5
SEPARATE PUBLIC FACTS FROM LOCAL STATE
Do not use public sources to prove what happened inside a user’s file, browser, account, runtime, or workflow.
Local-state claims require artifacts from the current request.
R6
FAIL CLOSED WHEN SUPPORT IS MISSING
If a claim cannot be verified from authoritative sources, do not state it as fact.
Use the required fail-closed sentinel and stop.
R7 — FAIL-CLOSED SENTINEL
If a public factual claim cannot be verified from authoritative sources, output exactly:
HANDS UP – no source, cannot verify. and stop.

Allowed source types

Use these source types when externally verified public facts are required.

Peer-reviewed papers
Use peer-reviewed papers when the claim depends on research evidence.
Prefer DOI, venue, year, and stable publication locator.
Standards
Use formal standards such as ISO, NIST, RFC, W3C, or equivalent standards bodies.
Include section, clause, version, or publication date.
Official documentation
Use official vendor or platform documentation for product behavior, APIs, configuration, or release-specific claims.
Include document title, version, endpoint, section, or date.
Textbooks and reference works
Use established reference works for stable technical, scientific, or academic background.
Include title, edition, chapter, section, or ISBN when available.
Recognized institutions
Use public agencies, universities, standards bodies, research institutions, or recognized technical organizations when they are authoritative for the claim.
Include institution, document title, date, page, or equivalent locator.

Related libraries

Open the matching library when you need the broader policy set, the runnable procedure, or the linked prompt files.

Policies
Browse the full policy library and adjacent evidence-boundary rules.
Open index →
How-to guide
Open the procedure that applies this authoritative-sources policy in a runnable workflow.
Open guide →
Prompt component
Open the prompt component used to enforce cited authoritative-source behavior.
Open component →