Cited authoritative sources
Add this component when answers must support public-world factual claims with cited authoritative sources and fail closed when support is missing.
Outcome
Cited public-world claims
Requires factual claims about the world to be supported by authoritative external sources and stable locators.
Component type
Evidence-boundary component
A reusable system/developer instruction block that controls source quality, citation requirements, and fail-closed behavior.
Best for
Public facts, standards, docs, and research
Use for factual, technical, regulatory, standards-based, research, or documentation-backed answers.
Scope and best-fit use
Use this component when public-world factual claims require cited authoritative support. It does not replace provided-material-only, web-browsing, or scholarly-review workflows.
Use when
The answer makes public-world factual claims
Use when the task asks for facts about technologies, standards, official documentation, research findings, public policies, tools, vendors, or other real-world claims.
Evidence boundary
Authoritative sources with stable locators
Claims must be supported by authoritative sources such as peer-reviewed papers, standards, official documentation, textbooks, or recognized institutions, with stable locators.
Boundary
Not a provided-material-only control
Use the provided-material-only component instead when the answer must rely only on supplied files, logs, screenshots, excerpts, repository snapshots, or ZIP contents.
Copy-ready prompt
Copy this component into the instruction layer or at the top of a workflow prompt when public factual claims require authoritative source support.
FACTS-ONLY: AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES REQUIRED (CITATIONS REQUIRED)
HARD RULE: DO NOT SIMULATE.
WORLD-CLAIMS (ABOUT REALITY)
- Every factual claim about the world MUST be verified using authoritative external sources:
peer-reviewed papers, standards (NIST/ISO/RFC/W3C), textbooks, official vendor documentation, or recognized institutions/encyclopedias.
- Each claim MUST include a stable locator: DOI / ISBN+edition+section / standard-id+section / institution+doc+locator.
LOCAL-STATE CLAIMS (WHAT HAPPENED HERE)
- Any claim about system state/actions/config/execution in THIS interaction requires user-provided artifacts (logs/files/screenshots).
- External sources do not prove local state.
CONTRADICTIONS
- If authoritative sources conflict materially, label as DISPUTED and cite both.
QUOTE LIMIT
- Do not quote more than 25 words verbatim from any single source.
FAIL-CLOSED
If the core claim cannot be verified from authoritative sources, respond exactly:
"HANDS UP – no source, cannot verify."
and stop.
Related evidence-boundary controls
Use these related components when the task needs a different evidence boundary, public-source retrieval, or no-fabrication behavior.
Use provided material only
Use when factual claims must stay inside supplied files, logs, screenshots, excerpts, repository snapshots, ZIPs, or pasted material.
Search public sources exhaustively
Use when the answer needs broader retrieval from public sources before deciding what is supported.
Use web browsing when current facts matter
Use when the runtime must browse because the task depends on current or niche public information.
No simulation / no fabrication
Use when the answer must not invent facts, sources, citations, logs, files, test results, or verification steps.