brain-write git:20260911.1764b2aA

Immutable. This exact content is served forever at /api/v1/blob/6d6a6ccee3dd89db.

---
name: brain-write
description: How to write to the INITE Brain knowledge graph from an agent loop — record_fact (with the conversationId / evidence[] grounding inputs), ingest_document, link_entities, retract_fact, record_feedback, and the detect_contradiction preflight. Covers confidence picking, claim grounding, retract vs forget semantics, identity_of cycle-guards. Use when the user explicitly wants to record, merge, or revise structured knowledge from a conversation (not when they're just asking a question).
---

# brain-write

The write surface is small but consequential — every fact you record gets scored by the conflict resolver, may supersede or compete with existing facts, and stays in the audit trail forever. This skill covers when to reach for each tool and how to set the inputs so the resolver does what you mean.

## When to use

- The user says "remember that …" / "make a note that …" / "let's record …" → `record_fact`
- Multi-claim prose (meeting transcript, email body, markdown doc) → `ingest_document` — prefer it over `record_fact` for anything longer than one claim
- A fact you have on hand says "X is the same person as Y" → `link_entities` with `kind: identity_of`
- A typed edge between two known entities (`paid_for`, `mentioned_in`, `worked_with`, …) → `link_entities`
- Something brain previously believed is now known to be wrong → `retract_fact`
- "Before I save this, would it conflict with anything?" → `detect_contradiction`
- A retrieved fact turned out useful / wrong / irrelevant → `record_feedback`

Do **not** use for:
- Bulk ingest from a vertical's event stream — that's a /v1/ingest path, not an agent loop
- GDPR-grade hard delete → `forget_entity` (admin scope; see `brain-mcp-setup`)

All write tools require the `brain:write` scope on the API key. `forget_entity` requires `brain:admin`.

## record_fact — recording one fact

```ts
record_fact({
  entityRef: { vertical: "rent", id: "cust_42" }, // or { entityId: "..." }
  predicate: "tier",
  object: "platinum",
  validFrom: "2026-05-01T00:00:00Z",
  validUntil: undefined,            // optional — leave open-ended unless the user said "until X"
  confidence: 0.9,                  // 0..1
  sourceVertical: "rent",
  // Grounding inputs (claim-grounding plane) — name the observation
  // behind the claim so the fact counts as GROUNDED:
  conversationId: "conv-2026-05-01-support",   // the conversation you observed it in
  evidence: [                                  // ≤10 typed pointers, stored verbatim
    { kind: "message", ref: "msg_9f3", note: "user stated tier explicitly" },
  ],
})
```

### Ground your claims — conversationId + evidence[]

An MCP agent CAN name the observation behind its claim — always do. Pass
`conversationId` (the conversation the fact was observed in) and/or
`evidence[]` (up to 10 typed pointers: `event` / `message` /
`conversation` / `url` / `document` / `commit` / `other`, each
`{ kind, ref, note? }`). Their presence marks the fact **grounded** on
the claim-grounding plane: servers running `EVIDENCE_GROUNDING_STAMP`
stamp `groundingStatus: 'grounded'` on the row, and downstream gates
(ungrounded-exclusion from consolidation, the `ungrounded_evidence`
serving abstention) treat it as observation-backed. A bare `record_fact`
with neither input is permanently observation-free — the fact still
records, but it can be excluded from long-term consolidation and can
cause a strict server to abstain rather than serve answers resting only
on such claims. Verify what landed with `get_fact` (shows
`groundingStatus`) and `get_fact_provenance` (shows the grounding
turns), both available when the server runs `FACTS_API_ENABLED`.

### Picking confidence

The conflict resolver scores each candidate against existing facts using `confidence × CONFLICT_WEIGHT_CONFIDENCE + sourceTrust × CONFLICT_WEIGHT_SOURCE_TRUST + recency + authority`. Confidence is the per-fact axis you control; pick it honestly:

| Situation | confidence |
| --- | --- |
| User said "Alice is platinum tier" explicitly | 0.9 — 1.0 |
| Inferred from LLM extraction over a transcript | 0.5 — 0.7 |
| System observation (counted event, signed signature) | 0.95 — 1.0 |
| Vague phrasing ("I think she's gold?") | 0.3 — 0.5 |

A confidence of 1.0 implies a system-grade ground truth source — don't claim it for an LLM extraction.

### Preflight with detect_contradiction

When the cost of a contested write is high (e.g. agent loops that pay an ingest credit, or actions that would surface a CHANGED notification), check first:

```ts
detect_contradiction({
  entityRef:    { vertical: "rent", id: "cust_42" },
  predicate:    "tier",
  object:       "platinum",
  validFrom:    "2026-05-01T00:00:00Z",
  confidence:   0.9,
  sourceVertical: "rent",
})
```

Returns `{ wouldOutcome, reasoning, opposingFacts, predicatePolicy }`:

| `wouldOutcome` | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `INSERTED` | No overlapping prior; safe to write. | Just call `record_fact`. |
| `SUPERSEDED` | Would close a prior fact; resolver picks the new one as winner. | OK if the user knows the prior is outdated; surface a confirmation if it's user-visible. |
| `COMPETING` | Would land alongside a prior in COMPETING status — the resolver couldn't pick. | Either ask the user to disambiguate, or proceed and surface to a reviewer queue via `get_competing_facts`. |
| `REJECTED` | Score below reject threshold (too unconfident, too low-trust). | Either raise confidence (only if honest), drop the fact, or ask for a stronger source. |

The dry-run is JS-side approximation of `fn::resolve_fact` — small fidelity gap on `source_trust` (uses the seed table, not the per-tenant learned rate) but matches the resolver's logic on every other axis.

## ingest_document — multi-claim prose

For anything longer than one claim (meeting transcript, email body,
markdown), don't loop `record_fact` — feed the whole document through
the Source → Indexer → Candidates → Brain pipeline:

```ts
ingest_document({
  kind: "chat",                       // chat | email | markdown | pdf | …
  text: "<normalized document text>",
  title: "Support call with Alice",   // optional
  occurredAt: "2026-05-01T14:00:00Z", // the document's own timestamp → facts' validFrom
  vertical: "rent",
  indexers: "general",                // 'auto' also routes installed domain packs
  toolObservationRef: "tool_observation:abc123",  // optional provenance hop, see below
})
```

The document is stored (content-hash deduped), read by the indexer,
staged as candidates, and committed through the same conflict
resolution as `record_fact` — extraction and superseding are handled
for you. The tool is registered only when the server runs
`DOCUMENT_INGEST_ENABLED`.

`toolObservationRef` closes the tool-result → document → fact loop: when
the document you're ingesting was derived from a tool result the server
observed (servers running `TOOL_OBSERVATIONS_ENABLED` record content-free
observation rows per MCP tool call), pass the `tool_observation:<id>` so
every committed fact's `source.evidence[]` carries a `tool_observation`
entry pointing back at it.

## record_feedback — closing the retrieval loop

After using a fact from `search_knowledge` / `synthesize`, report how it
went:

```ts
record_feedback({
  factId: "knowledge_fact:01HXYZ...",
  verdict: "incorrect",             // 'helpful' | 'not_helpful' | 'incorrect'
  reason: "Tier was gold, not platinum — confirmed by billing.",  // optional
})
```

- `helpful` — the fact answered the question (positive reliability signal)
- `incorrect` — the fact is wrong; counts against its source's learned
  reputation at the nightly refit
- `not_helpful` — irrelevant hit; stored, but not a reliability signal

One standing vote per caller key per fact — repeat calls replace your
previous verdict. Note the trust effect is prospective: it shifts the
SOURCE's trust for facts ingested after the refit, it does not demote
the flagged fact itself (retract it if it's wrong).

## link_entities — declaring a typed edge

```ts
link_entities({
  from: { vertical: "rent", id: "cust_42" },
  to:   { vertical: "shop", id: "buyer_18" },
  kind: "identity_of",                // 'identity_of' merges; other kinds add typed edges
  weight: 1.0,                        // 0..1, optional
  sourceVertical: "rent",
})
```

### `kind: identity_of` — cross-vertical merge

`identity_of` is special — it triggers a cascade that merges `from` into `to`:

- Every fact on `from` is reparented to `to`
- `from.mergedAt` + `from.mergedInto` are set so the redirect is auditable
- The conflict resolver runs over the union (so two source-of-truth facts on the same predicate compete properly)

Cycle guards:

- A self-merge (`from == to`) is rejected.
- A merge that would create a cycle (`A → B → A`) is rejected.
- A merge against an already-merged entity (`B.mergedInto = C`) follows the redirect — you end up merging into `C`, not `B`. The semantic is "merge the whole identity cluster", not "merge into the row by id".

### Non-merge kinds

Typed edges (`paid_for`, `mentioned_in`, `worked_with`, `manages`, etc.) just add a row in `knowledge_edge`. They're surfaced by `find_related_entities` and contribute to PPR / SubgraphRAG context. Free-vocabulary; tenants extend the edge taxonomy without a migration.

## retract_fact — walking a belief back

```ts
retract_fact({
  factId: "knowledge_fact:01HXYZ...",
  reason: "Source misattributed; was Bob, not Alice.",
})
```

What happens:

- The fact's `status` flips to `retracted`, `retractedAt` is set, `retractionReason` recorded.
- The cascade walks `derivedFrom` — any fact derived from this one is also retracted (depth-first).
- If this fact had previously superseded another, the predecessor is REVIVED (`status='active'`, `validUntil` restored to its pre-supersede value). The audit trail keeps the supersede/revive chain.
- Cross-vertical changefeed picks up the change so dependent systems are notified.

The row stays for audit. To actually delete (GDPR), use `forget_entity` — admin scope only.

### Predicate-class admin escalation

Three predicate classes require `brain:admin` for retract, not just `brain:write`:

- `billing_event` — affects downstream invoicing audits
- `human_declared` — represents operator-attested ground truth
- Any fact whose `source.kind === 'legal'` — regulator-visible

If the API key has only `brain:write`, the retract on these falls through with a 403. Don't pre-validate this in the agent loop; let brain enforce it and tell the user the scope they need.

## retract vs forget — when to use which

| Question | retract | forget |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "Was this ever true?" | Yes — row stays | No — row gone, only HMAC tombstone left |
| "Affects audit trail?" | Walks supersede + cascade chains | Hard delete of the entity and all its facts |
| "GDPR Art. 17 right-to-erasure?" | No — facts remain | Yes — this is the intent |
| "Reversible?" | Yes — re-record the fact | No — fact-level rehydration impossible |
| "Required scope?" | `brain:write` (admin for some predicates) | `brain:admin` |

Default to retract. Reach for forget only when a DSAR or tenant-offboarding event genuinely requires erasure.

## Pitfalls

- **Confidence inflation.** Don't pad LLM-extracted facts to 0.95 because "the model sounded sure". The resolver weighs confidence honestly; inflated values poison the conflict math for the next legitimate update.
- **`validFrom` defaults to "now" feel wrong.** Brain has no default — you must pass `validFrom`. If the user said "Alice is platinum", validFrom is the moment of conversation. If they said "Alice has been platinum since April", validFrom is April. Be precise.
- **`sourceVertical` not where the user is.** `sourceVertical` describes WHO is asserting the fact — usually the vertical the agent is operating on behalf of (`"rent"`, `"shop"`), not the vertical the agent runtime lives in (`"chat"`). Get this wrong and the conflict resolver's source_trust math goes sideways.
- **identity_of as a generic "they're related" edge.** Don't. `identity_of` is a merge directive. For "are connected", use a typed edge like `worked_with` or `interacted_with`.
- **Recording the same fact twice in a row.** The resolver dedups by (entityId, predicate, object) when bitemporal windows match — second call returns INSERTED with the original factId, not a new row. Harmless but wasteful; cache the factId from the first call.

## Companion tools

- `detect_contradiction` — preflight before record_fact
- `get_competing_facts` — see what's already unresolved on this entity (see `brain-conflict`)
- `get_source_reputation` — the learned trust profile of a source vertical; check it when `detect_contradiction`'s seed-table approximation isn't precise enough
- `search_knowledge` / `get_entity_profile` — find the existing fact before retracting (see `brain-search`, `brain-recall`)
- `get_fact` / `get_fact_provenance` — read back the full trust record (incl. `groundingStatus`) and the grounding turns behind a fact you just recorded or are about to retract (`FACTS_API_ENABLED` servers)
- `memory_diff` — confirm the change landed (see `brain-bitemporal`)