nodecode-epistemic

Epistemic Harness: a case that records what the agent predicted before a check, then what the check showed. A Nodecode rewrite of quangphucqp/epistemic-harness by quangphucqp.

An agent investigating a failure can build an explanation around whatever it finds. This cell gives the observation something to disagree with: before a selected check, the model writes down what it expects and what would change its belief; after the call, it records what came back, whether that matched, and whether the belief moved.

A case is one bounded inquiry: a decision, the one unknown most likely to change it, and a stopping condition. A check is committed against the case — the tool it will call, the arguments, the predicted outcomes, and the observation that would count against it. Committing runs nothing: the ordinary tool call is made separately, and its own result is kept, so the comparison is against what really came back.

The model calls	For
`epistemic_case` `open`	the decision, the unknown, the stopping condition, the claims, the plan
`epistemic_probe` `commit`	the prediction, before the check runs; one pending check per case
`epistemic_probe` `compare`	what the check showed: `match`, `mismatch` or `unresolved`, and whether the belief changed
`epistemic_case` `revise`	the claim a mismatch contradicted, with the reason
`epistemic_case` `close`	the outcome and a summary, refused while a check is pending
`epistemic_case` `show` / `list`	the receipt, or every case

While a case is running, its decision, its stopping condition and its pending prediction ride each model request as one short reminder, so the agent does not have to remember what it said it expected. /case shows the same thing to the operator, /case list every case, /case ID one of them.

A mismatch marks the claim stale until a revision addresses it — a justified downgrade (grounded to hypothesis, or to unresolved) repairs it, and a no-op rewrite does not. A close is refused while a check is pending, and the outcome cannot claim more than the checks showed.

Everything is local: one cases.sexp under the Nodecode home, no key, no network, no telemetry.

Get it

Tell the agent "add the epistemic cell", or run nodecode add nc://epistemic.

Set it up

Nothing needs setting. The section in ~/.nodecode/config.jsonc (or /settings) moves the store or quiets the reminder:

{
  "epistemic": {
    "dir": "epistemic",     // where cases.sexp lives, under the home
    "remind": true,          // the running case in front of the model at each request
    "remind_chars": 900,     // how much of it one request carries
    "capture": true,         // keep the committed check's own tool result
    "observe_chars": 600,    // how much of that result is kept
    "case_chars": 1200,      // the longest single piece of case text
    "keep": 50               // closed cases kept; an active one always stays
  }
}

Use it

Ask for a case when a question could change after a check — a failing service, a disputed cause, which of two explanations to test next:

Open a case on whether the config reload caused the failure, try one check, and close it with whatever the log supports.

The model opens the case, commits the prediction, makes the read, compares, revises if the log says otherwise, and closes. epistemic_case list returns every case it ever opened, with the outcome each one reached.