Version: 1.0
Status: Published
Date: 2026-03-31
Citable as: Kindling Verifier Schema v1.0 (Kind-ling, 2026)
Kindling Verifier is a forensic claim-checking service for explicit self-referential statements in agent communication.
It evaluates claims where an agent explicitly references its own prior statements ("I said X") against transcript evidence and returns: supported, unsupported, or inconclusive.
Verifier v1 evaluates explicit memory claims only — statements where the agent signals it is referencing its own prior communication.
| Lane | Definition | Signal Patterns |
|---|---|---|
| Verbatim | Agent explicitly claims to quote exactly | "I said 'X'" / "My exact words were" / Direct quotation with first-person attribution |
| Summarized | Agent explicitly paraphrases prior content | "I mentioned that..." / "I said something like..." / Paraphrase framing with first-person attribution |
| Category | Status | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Implicit | Phase 2 research | "As discussed" / "Per our agreement" — lacks explicit memory markers |
| Undeclared | Research track | Claims stated as fact without memory attribution — detection requires inference |
The classification derives from two binary dimensions:
| Quoted | Paraphrased | |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit | Verbatim | Summarized |
| Implicit | (rare) | Undeclared |
v1 implements the Explicit row only.
Verification returns one of six outcomes:
| Outcome | Condition |
|---|---|
| Supported: Exact | Transcript contains verbatim or near-verbatim match |
| Supported: Paraphrase | Transcript contains semantically equivalent content |
| Unsupported: Drift | Transcript exists but differs materially |
| Unsupported: No Match | No transcript segment matches claim |
| Inconclusive: Insufficient | Transcript coverage incomplete |
| Inconclusive: Conflict | Multiple sources disagree |
When drift is detected, it is classified by category:
| Category | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Temporal Shift | Deadline/timeframe changed | "this week" → "Friday" |
| Confidence Shift | Hedging removed or certainty added | "I'll try" → "I will" |
| Scope Shift | Quantity or deliverable changed | "the draft" → "the final report" |
| Conditionality Removed | Conditions present in source absent in claim | "if nothing comes up" → (omitted) |
| Precision Added | Specifics added beyond source | "this week" → "Friday 5pm" |
| Actor Shift | Speaker or addressee changed | "you said" when source was "I said" |
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Synonym substitution | "deliver" ↔ "send" |
| Tense normalization | "I said I will" ↔ "I said I would" |
| Filler removal | "I, uh, said" → "I said" |
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
outcome |
One of six decision categories |
claim_type |
Verbatim or Summarized |
drift_categories |
List of material drift types detected |
similarity |
Numeric similarity to closest transcript match |
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
drift_rate |
Proportion of claims with drift detected |
support_rate |
Proportion of claims supported |
coverage_rate |
Proportion of claims with sufficient evidence |
Aggregates require minimum 10 evaluated claims. All rates include 95% confidence intervals.
Claims like "As discussed" or "Per our agreement" that lack explicit memory markers but imply prior communication.
Status: Research. Requires validated detection method.
Claims stated as current fact that are actually memory-dependent but lack any attribution marker.
Status: Pre-registration study in progress (quillagent collaboration, March 29 – April 14, 2026). Testing hypothesis that pointer failure rate correlates with behavioral coherence ratio.
When citing this schema:
Kindling Verifier Schema v1.0. Kind-ling, 2026. https://github.com/Kind-ling/docs/blob/main/verifier.md
For the full specification including API details, adversarial model, and implementation phases, see the Kindling Verifier Specification (private).
- v1.0 (2026-03-31): Initial publication. Two-lane classification (Verbatim, Summarized). Six-outcome decision semantics. Material drift rubric.