confidence-engine/docs/archive/experiments/decision-closure-integration/experiment-60b61.md

Experiment 60B.61 — Decision Remaining-Material-Factor Detection

Status: PASSED

Objective

Answer: Does the dedicated remaining-material-factor helper work correctly once malformed tests are repaired, without any broader applyValidatedProposal integration?

Answer: YES.

Scope (bounded)

Helper detection experiment only. No closure integration.

Production code added (2 helpers + internal support)

Export	Role
hasRemainingMaterialFactors(decisionNodeId, graph)	Public boolean — true if any unresolved unknown remains material to the decision
countRemainingMaterialFactors(decisionNodeId, graph)	Count variant — used internally by hasRemainingMaterialFactors; kept as exported for potential future use

• Set-based deduplication of factor IDs across routes (no double-count)
• Decision self-count excluded (node.id === decisionNodeId)
• Terminal statuses excluded: known, resolved, contradicted
• Helper-only. No integration into applyValidatedProposal return, no closure logic change.

Supported Routes

Route	Relationship Path
A — hierarchy	parentId chain or childIds membership
B — direct dependency	depends_on edge to decision
C — consequence	unknown → {affects,may_cause,causes} → option → contained_in → decision
D — containment	unknown → contained_in → option → contained_in → decision

Excluded (returns false)

• Known / resolved / contraduted statuses
• supports / measures weak links
• Arbitrary non-approved connectivity (other)
• The decision node itself
• Non-unknown kind nodes (e.g., observations)

Test Suite (14 cases in 60B.61 block)

1. Containment-only unresolved factor → true
2. Same factor resolved → false
3. may_cause option-linked factor → true
4. Valid direct depends_on factor → true; resolved → false
5. Hierarchy child factor → true
6. Supports / measures weak link → false
7. Decision node alone does not self-count → false
8. Another genuine unresolved hierarchy child remains → true
9. Status = known excluded → false
10. Status = contradicted excluded → false
11. Non-unknown kinds excluded → false
12. 60B.56 sufficiency (all factors resolved) → false
13. Arbitrary connectivity via other edge → false
14. Additional resolution state within Route B test → false

Regression Preservation

• 60B.43: PASSED
• 60B.11: PASSED
• Pricing prerequisite-first: PASSED

Git Commits

feat(reasoning): detect remaining decision factors
docs: record decision factor detection

WHAT IS NOW GUARANTEED

The helper hasRemainingMaterialFactors(decisionNodeId, graph) correctly identifies unresolved material factors for a decision node across all four approved routes (A–D), with Set-based deduplication and proper terminal-status exclusion. No production behaviour outside the helper itself was changed.

WHAT REMAINS OPEN

Decision-sufficiency closure integration remains a separate next experiment. The helper detects but does not influence any decision-closure logic at this time.