WFGY/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/Reasoning/anchoring-and-bridge-proofs.md

Anchoring and Bridge Proofs: Guardrails and Fix Pattern

Keep every claim tied to a stable source anchor. Move from anchor to conclusion through short cited bridges.
This page gives a minimal contract for anchors and bridges, fast diagnostics, and a repair plan using ΔS, λ_observe, and E_resonance.

---

Open these first

• Visual map and recovery
  → rag-architecture-and-recovery.md

• Traceability and payload schema
  → retrieval-traceability.md
  → data-contracts.md

• Ordering and meaning checks
  → rerankers.md
  → embedding-vs-semantic.md

• Reasoning stability and failure modes
  → logic-collapse.md
  → symbolic-collapse.md
  → proof-dead-ends.md
  → recursive-loop.md
  → entropy-overload.md

---

Symptoms

Symptom	What you see
Floating claim	Conclusion with no cited snippet or rule tag
Moving anchor	Different snippet supports the same step on rerun
Weak bridge	“Therefore” without an explicit transformation or rule
Anchor mismatch	Cited text does not actually state the needed premise
Overlong bridge	Multi paragraph hop where ΔS increases and λ flips
Reranker roulette	Same query but top k order shifts and the bridge rewrites

---

Why bridges fail

1. No anchor contract. Snippet fields are missing so anchors cannot be verified.
2. Bridge has no grammar. The step lacks a named rule or transformation.
3. Ranking instability. Retrieval order changes and the anchor drifts.
4. Similarity over meaning. Nearest neighbor looks close but does not entail the premise.
5. Symbol drift. Variables or units change between anchor and step.
6. Chain length. Long bridges hide unproven jumps and grow ΔS.

---

Acceptance targets

• ΔS(question, anchor) ≤ 0.45
• Coverage of target section ≥ 0.70
• λ remains convergent across three paraphrases and two seeds
• E_resonance flat across bridge joins
• Every step has a cited anchor and a named rule

---

Fix in 60 seconds

1. Lock the anchor
   Require snippet_id, section_id, source_url, offsets, tokens. Reject steps that cite free text without these fields.
   Spec
   → retrieval-traceability.md
   → data-contracts.md

2. Use BBCR for the hop
   BBCR adds a short bridge from anchor to subclaim with a named rule. If the bridge exceeds 3 sentences split into micro bridges.

3. Clamp variance with BBAM
   If λ flips on paraphrase freeze the symbol table and invariant set before rerun.
   See stability guide
   → logic-collapse.md

4. Stabilize ordering
   Add a reranker with deterministic tie break and fixed analyzer. If ΔS stays high suspect metric mismatch and rebuild.
   → rerankers.md
   → retrieval-playbook.md

---

Anchor contract

Every anchor must carry these fields.

{
  "snippet_id": "S12",
  "section_id": "CH2.3",
  "source_url": "https://example.org/paper.pdf",
  "offsets": {"start": 10234, "end": 10388},
  "tokens": 186,
  "ΔS_to_question": 0.37
}

Reject any step that cites plain text without snippet_id and section_id.

---

Bridge grammar

A bridge converts exactly one anchor into one subclaim through a named rule. Keep bridges short. Prefer two or three micro bridges instead of one long paragraph.

{
  "bridge_id": "B7",
  "from_snippet": "S12#CH2.3",
  "to_claim": "C7",
  "rule": "algebra | definition_unfold | monotonicity | modus_ponens | unit_conversion",
  "assumptions": ["A1", "A2"],
  "derivation": "From S12 and A1 by definition_unfold we get ...",
  "citations": ["S12#CH2.3", "S08#APP.A"],
  "ΔS_bridge": 0.31,
  "λ_state": "convergent"
}

If a rule is not named or citations are empty the step must fail fast.

---

Anchor selection checklist

• The anchor states the premise in near literal form not only a related idea.
• The anchor sits in the correct section and page range.
• ΔS(question, anchor) is below 0.45 given your embedding and store metric.
• For numeric claims the anchor carries units and context lines.
• For definitions the anchor includes the exact symbol and scope.

If any item fails switch to a better snippet or rebuild with the semantic chunking checklist. → chunking-checklist.md

---

Structural repairs

• Wrong meaning despite high similarity → embedding-vs-semantic.md

• Top k keeps shuffling → rerankers.md and → patterns/pattern_query_parsing_split.md

• Bridges grow long or lose the thread → proof-dead-ends.md and → recursive-loop.md

• Symbols or units drift → symbolic-collapse.md

---

Verification

• Three paraphrases and two seeds keep the same snippet_id and section_id.
• ΔS(question, anchor) ≤ 0.45 for each run.
• Every step has a bridge with a named rule and at least one citation.
• E_resonance stays flat when joining micro bridges.
• The final answer includes a cite then explain section with stable references.

---

Copy paste prompt

You have TXT OS and the WFGY Problem Map loaded.

Task: rebuild my answer with anchored micro-bridges.

Inputs:
- question: "{q}"
- candidates: [{snippet_id, section_id, source_url, offsets, tokens, text_head}]
- current plan: [{step_id, text}]

Do:
1) Pick one anchor with ΔS(question, anchor) ≤ 0.45. If none exist, return the retrieval fix page to open.
2) Create micro bridges from the anchor to each subclaim using a named rule and citations.
3) If λ flips on paraphrase, apply BBAM and freeze the symbol table.
4) If still unstable, add a deterministic reranker and retry.
5) Return JSON:
   {
     "anchors": [...],
     "bridges": [...],
     "answer": "... cite then explain ...",
     "ΔS": 0.xx,
     "λ_state": "convergent",
     "verification": ["same snippet across seeds", "coverage ≥ 0.70"]
   }
Refuse to answer if no valid anchor exists and point to retrieval-traceability and data-contracts.

---

Common gotchas

• Bridge without rule. A narrative paragraph with “thus” but no named rule.
• Anchor crop. Offsets cut away the needed line so the premise is not actually present.
• Tie break chaos. Reranker uses non deterministic features so anchors rotate.
• Unit loss. Bridge drops the unit then compares mismatched quantities.
• Definition overreach. Bridge unfolds a definition beyond its scope.

---

When to escalate

• Corrections do not stick and the model re asserts the old bridge → patterns/pattern_hallucination_reentry.md

• Multi agent tools overwrite the shared memory and anchors change names → Multi-Agent_Problems.md → multi-agent-chaos/role-drift.md

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