Phase 6. Beliefs are propositions with a prior set by epistemic kind and a
confidence computed from typed evidence: sigmoid(logit(prior) + slope ×
(support × diversity − opposition)), where support from a single source
is discounted so repetition cannot manufacture certainty, and bounds keep
the mind away from absolute certainty. Every evaluation stores its
breakdown and appends a version row protected by the append-only
trigger; the belief page shows the arithmetic, evidence for and against,
alternatives, contradictions and history.
Contradiction detection is deterministic first (negation plus token
overlap): a hit emits contradiction_detected, links both beliefs and
makes each counter-evidence for the other so both trend to contested.
Operators can assert beliefs (their statement is the evidence), add
evidence, mark a belief wrong (pinned rejected, history kept) and forbid
an inference; do-not-infer corrections block matching hypotheses.
Retracting a memory retracts the evidence that cited it and re-evaluates
the beliefs concerned.
The associate process proposes low-confidence causal hypotheses from
co-occurring notable observations, and the hypothesis handler turns
admitted ones into beliefs with automatic alternatives, closing demo
scenarios 1 and 2 without any model call.
Phase 5 (ADR-0003). pkg/concepts fixes the epistemic vocabulary
(observation, fact, memory, claim, hypothesis, belief, prediction,
assumption, inference, opinion), memory kinds and relation names.
internal/memory stores episodic, semantic, procedural and
autobiographical memories in one mind-scoped table with trust-derived
credibility, importance, salience and decaying activation. Retrieval
fuses full-text rank (any-term by default), optional pgvector similarity,
recency, activation, importance and credibility, and returns the
component scores so every recall can be explained. Decay lowers
activation and never deletes; retraction and supersession keep rows for
provenance. Relationships are constrained to one mind at insert time.
Embeddings live in a conditional pgvector table keyed by model so vector
spaces are never mixed; without an embedder the system degrades to text
and graph retrieval.
Attention gates encoding: the attend handler turns admitted observations
into episodic memories (operator changes become autobiographical ones)
with memory_created events; the retrieve process proposes recalled
memories as candidates and admitted recalls are reinforced with
memory_retrieved events carrying their scoring components.
Memory explorer UI (search with component breakdown, timeline, filters,
operator knowledge entry), memory detail with provenance, relationships,
citing events and an inaccurate-memory correction; API; noemactl memory
commands; decay and embed-missing background jobs.
Phase 2. Minds are rows with a slug, status (active/disabled/archived),
cognitive configuration and a pointer to the current personality version.
Personalities are structured (identity, values, traits, communication,
behaviour, free text) with a deterministic Brief() used by prompts and the
editor preview. Every change appends a personality_versions row protected
by the append-only trigger; restore copies an old version forward.
Templates carry reusable personalities; minds record their overrides so a
template can be re-applied without losing mind-specific edits. The
self-model starts with structural limitations the mind cannot drop
(no policy changes, no influence over shutdown, no cross-mind access).
API, UI (list, overview, editor with sliders/diff/history/import/export,
template editor) and noemactl mind/template commands. All mutations are
audited with field-level diffs.
Foundation for the persistent, inspectable cognitive runtime: README,
implementation plan with phases and risk register, architecture,
security model, threat model, contributing guide, eight ADRs covering
the global workspace, event immutability, memory representation, LLM
abstraction, capability system, authentication, frontend and storage.
Includes Makefile, env example, compose stack (pgvector) and Dockerfile
skeleton, plus a record of the development environment assumptions.
Andy Dixon
andy