Cited Synthesis

This synthesis surface keeps Perseus resolver-first. The new synthesis surface is a bounded curator layer for cases where Perseus can add value before the consuming assistant sees the context: compression, cross-source consistency, and stable handoff claims.

The operating rule is strict:

The LLM is a drafter, not an authority. No citation, no claim.

Contradiction checks are useful, but secondary. A generated claim only survives when it includes at least one exact quote from a cited source line range. Invalid or uncited claims are dropped.

Command

perseus synthesize "What is the next allowable action?" \
  --source ROADMAP.md \
  --source HANDOFF.md

Without --llm, the command prints the source-bundled prompt and does not generate claims.

perseus synthesize "What is the next allowable action?" \
  --source ROADMAP.md \
  --source HANDOFF.md \
  --llm ollama \
  --enable-generation

LLM drafting is disabled by default. Enable it per run with --enable-generation or persistently with:

generation:
  enabled: true

JSON Contract

{
  "version": "v1.0.0-cited-synthesis",
  "question": "What is the next allowable action?",
  "generated": true,
  "claims": [
    {
      "text": "The next action is the resolver/generator decision gate.",
      "citations": [
        {
          "source_id": "src1",
          "path": "/workspace/ROADMAP.md",
          "label": "ROADMAP.md",
          "line_start": 640,
          "line_end": 666,
          "quote": "treating generation as an explicit opt-in product pivot"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "dropped_claims": [],
  "source_errors": [],
  "sources": [],
  "guardrails": {
    "citation_required": true,
    "exact_quote_required": true,
    "uncited_claims_dropped": true,
    "model_failure_leaves_render_unchanged": true
  }
}

The claims array is the only trusted generated surface. raw_response, when present, is diagnostic output from the model and must not be treated as accepted context.

Non-Goals

• Do not explain obvious single-source values.
• Do not replace resolved directive output.
• Do not add render-time generated sections until the command surface proves useful.
• Do not treat confidence scores as a substitute for citation validation.