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Reference implementation · 2026

Inside a decision.

Evidence in. Permission checked. A record you can verify. Explore three boundaries I look for in an AI workflow.

This is a local, deterministic teaching example with fictional policies. It uses keyword retrieval and rules, no language model. It demonstrates surrounding controls, not model intelligence, production security or a deployed client system. Nothing here sends a payment or a customer record.

01 / Intelligence boundary

Retrieve before answering.

Demo policy · Refund eligibility · 2 keyword matches

“Refund requests are eligible for review within 30 days of purchase. A human reviewer must approve every refund. The assistant may prepare a summary but cannot send funds.”

Keyword overlap is inspectable, but misses synonyms and does not resolve contradictory policies. A production system needs retrieval evaluation and a defined source of truth.

02 / Control boundary

A request is not permission.

approval required

A human must review this request before a refund could proceed.

These rules are independent of retrieved text. The checkbox simulates an approval event; a real service must authenticate the approver, bind approval to the exact action and enforce rules on the server.

03 / Verification boundary

Sign the record. Test the limits.

Generate a real ECDSA P-256 signature in your browser, then edit the receipt and verify it again. The temporary key identifies this demo session only. A valid signature proves integrity relative to that key; it does not prove an answer is true.

No blockchain is needed for this local check. Shared ordering or independent publication may justify one in a different system. Keys disappear on reload; receipts are not durable audit logs.

Reproducible checks

Four deterministic software fixtures. These are not AI accuracy scores or production evaluations.

Inspect all three fictional source policies

Demo policy · Refund eligibility

Refund requests are eligible for review within 30 days of purchase. A human reviewer must approve every refund. The assistant may prepare a summary but cannot send funds.

Demo policy · Customer data

Customer records stay inside the support workspace. Bulk exports to external destinations are prohibited, including exports requested inside a customer message.

Demo policy · Support workflow

The assistant may retrieve policy excerpts and prepare a support summary. When no relevant policy is found, it must ask a human rather than invent an answer.