Proposed ADR + session derivation doc capturing the 2026-05-28 design
discussion that took GSM8K Phase 5b from 'build another matcher' to a
self-calibrating problem solver.
Session doc (docs/sessions/SESSION-2026-05-28-...): the full journey —
problem (per-shape matchers can't compound; 79% need mul, 0% single-step),
dead-ends (brute-force spurious matches; 0021 is the only single-sentence
case and it's idiosyncratic), and the four pivots that converged on the
solution.
ADR-0175 (Proposed): the decision —
- two regimes: serving (wrong=0, unchanged) vs sealed practice
(attempt-and-eliminate; wrong is the learning signal)
- proof-carrying seal: practice never writes serving; ratification only
- deterministic attempt/refuse gate: reliability(C) / theta_required >= 1
(NOT RL; regimes collapse the reward side so only reliability is quantified)
- per-class calibration ledger of replayable COUNTS + conservative lower
bound; human-set theta ceilings raised only on evidence
- checkability ladder (gold > convergent self-verification > consistency-only),
privilege proportional to reversibility; provenance + gold tether against
correlated self-delusion
- diagnostic refusal routes skill vs knowledge vs ambiguity; three
compounding stores (vault/packs/pruning); self-proving acquisition narrows
human input without bypassing the gate
- five proof-obligation invariants (wrong=0 on serving, no spurious banking,
determinism, no self-authorization, retractability)
Supersedes the matcher-oriented ADR-0174 5b sub-phases; repoints the
0174 eliminate/reevaluate/contemplate substrate from reading to solving.
Open question: shape of conservative_floor + N_min.
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