results-sorted-by-node-id
IN premise
`check_stale()` returns results sorted lexicographically by `node_id`, enforced by iterating `sorted(network.nodes.items())`.
Summary
When you ask the system to check for stale beliefs, the results always come back in alphabetical order by their identifier, not in the order they were added or some other arrangement. This makes the output deterministic and predictable, so scripts or tests that consume stale-check results can rely on a stable ordering.
Details
| Source | entries/2026/04/24/tests-test_check_stale_issue25.md |