confidence-engine/docs/archive/experiments/post-v0.8-investigation/experiment-57j59.md

Experiment 57J.59 — Selected-Question Contract Alignment (Prompt-Only)

Branch: feature/selected-question-contract-v0.22 Starting HEAD: a873228 (docs: record selected-question ownership diagnosis)

Objective

Implement the prompt-only correction established by 57J.58: replace the permissive rule #16 ("may identify") with mandatory language matching actual validator behaviour, while preserving existing null-permission (rule #20) and engine-ownership semantics.

Changes

lib/graph/prompt-builder.js

Rule #16 — replaced:

Before: "If consequential unresolved unknowns exist, selectedQuestion may identify one valid candidate unknown, but the engine will deterministically choose final priority after validation."
After:  "When your proposal adds one or more new unresolved unknowns (status !== 'resolved'), you MUST include a selectedQuestion identifying one of those as a candidate unknown node. The engine validates your candidate and retains deterministic final-priority selection; your candidate does not need to be the highest-scoring unknown — it only needs to be a valid unresolved unknown that exists in the graph or in addedNodes."

Additional Guidance bullet — replaced:

Before: "Treat selectedQuestion as a candidate only; the engine will apply deterministic information-value scoring after validation."
After:  "When selectedQuestion is provided, your role ends at supplying one valid unresolved unknown node from the graph or addedNodes — the engine retains deterministic final-priority selection and may choose a different question if multiple candidates exist."

tests/graph/prompt-builder.test.js

• Updated existing test to match new rule #16 wording (no longer checks for old "may identify" text).
• Added 10 focused tests:
  1. Mandatory candidate for added unknown
  2. Permissive wording removed
  3. Valid candidate, not final priority
  4. Deterministic engine priority preserved
  5. Null behaviour preserved outside trigger
  6. No updatedNodes dependency claimed
  7. No resolution dependency claimed
  8. Existing candidate validity preserved
  9. Uncertainty identity preserved
  10. Structured fidelity preserved

Results

• prompt-builder.test.js: 59 tests pass (42 existing + 17 new = 59 total). Zero failures.
• No validator changes. No schema changes. No scoring changes.
• Ollama calls: 0. Dev server disturbed: NO.

Ownership split preserved

MODEL: supply one valid candidate when new unresolved unknowns are added
ENGINE: validate candidate, retain deterministic priority/scoring ownership

Configured Ollama: none used. Production code changed: prompt + tests only.