AI Research System / Memory Preflight

Memory Preflight

Memory preflight is navigation support, not source authority. It finds likely evidence; canonical sources remain authority.

Trace preflight Workflow Source authority

Memory preflight routes candidate evidence toward source inspection; retrieval layers are navigation support, not authority.

Retrieval hits must be verified before they affect routing, public claim text, source selection, or project-system work. Memory helps find the shelf; it does not become the book.

Static diagram

Keep retrieval below source inspection.

The source-first layers diagram shows memory, generated retrieval layers, registries, handoffs, and source inspection without allowing retrieval to become authority.

Diagram showing canonical sources above registries, handoffs, generated memory layers, retrieval, and source-first verification. — The diagram illustrates source-first memory layers from canonical sources through registries, handoffs, generated memory layers, retrieval, and source inspection.

Preflight chain

Lookup is useful only when followed by inspection.

The safe model is small and repeatable: check retrieval state, ask a targeted question, inspect the canonical source, and leave an auditable receipt.

Stage	Purpose	Boundary
Status	Check retrieval freshness, known drift, and whether lookup support is usable for navigation.	A freshness report is maintenance context, not claim authority.
Targeted lookup	Find likely source paths, registry rows, prior tasks, handoffs, or object IDs.	A returned hit is only a candidate until inspected directly.
Canonical inspection	Open tracked source files, control records, and relevant registry rows before relying on the hit.	Canonical sources remain authority when retrieval and source disagree.
Receipt	Record query commands, returned IDs, inspected paths, registry rows, hashes, and boundary notes.	Receipts make the transaction auditable; they do not prove the underlying claim.

Authority layers

Source, registry, derivative, and retrieval are different layers.

The website can explain all four layers, but it must not flatten them into one evidence class.

Layer	Examples	Safe use
Canonical source	Registered TeX, Markdown, schemas, control records, source specs, and current tracked task state.	Claim-affecting language, routing, and source selection after direct inspection.
Registry metadata	Source, derivative, AgentJob, role, claim-boundary, wiki, semantic, and publication registries.	Provenance, relationship, status, and source-location evidence.
Generated derivative	PDFs, HTML explainers, wiki notes, GitHub-facing summaries, and rendered pages.	Reader support and discovery, with source verification when claims matter.
Local retrieval	Semantic extracts, Obsidian mirrors, SQLite indexes, and `.local/` caches.	Navigation only. Local retrieval must not be cited as source authority.

Blocked overreads

Retrieval never outranks the source it points to.

The page is designed to prevent retrieval convenience from becoming public authority by habit.

Unsafe reading	Correction
A memory hit names a path, therefore it can be cited.	Retrieval hits must be verified against the tracked source or registry row before use.
A generated wiki note says the claim, therefore the claim is promoted.	Generated derivatives help locate evidence; they cannot promote scientific or workflow claims.
A receipt records a lookup, therefore the theorem is checked.	The receipt records what was inspected. It is operational evidence, not proof.
A stale retrieval warning invalidates the canonical source.	Stale retrieval is a maintenance signal unless a source validator reports a source problem.

Source basis

The source basis is inspected, not inferred from search.

This route uses PRD and dossier evidence for website structure while preserving the upstream source hierarchy for claim-bearing content.

Source area	Used here for	Authority boundary
Memory and retrieval requirements	Navigation-versus-authority language, generated derivative classes, and source-inspection rule.	Requirements planning does not become source authority.
Research-control workflow	Memory preflight receipt shape, one-packet routing, and canonical inspection expectations.	Workflow receipts do not prove science or promote claims.
Memory registries dossier	Route-specific safe and unsafe summaries for retrieval layers and receipts.	Dossiers guide website implementation and remain below tracked source files.

Related internal routes