missing-outlist-nodes-pass-validation
IN premise
In `_justification_valid`, missing antecedent nodes cause the check to fail (node goes OUT), but missing outlist nodes pass (don't block) — an open-world default.
Summary
When the system checks whether a justification is valid, it treats missing inputs and missing outputs differently. If an antecedent node referenced in a justification doesn't exist, the justification fails and the belief goes OUT. But if a node listed in the outlist doesn't exist, the justification still passes. This means the system assumes unknown things are OUT by default — a reasonable open-world assumption — but it also means a typo in an outlist entry would silently pass validation, which could mask bugs where a belief stays IN when it shouldn't.
Dependents
These beliefs depend on this one:
- missing-nodes-have-asymmetric-fail-semantics — Missing nodes are treated asymmetrically: absent antecedents fail validation (conservative), absent outlist nodes pass (permissive), creating a "believe unless proven otherwise" default
Details
| Source | entries/2026/04/23/reasons_lib-network.md |