FAQ

FAQ

What is PIC used for?

PIC is used to check AI agent output, preserve evidence and missing work, route verifier tasks, inspect packet flow, and decide whether candidate material can be reused under a limited scope.

Common uses include LLM output checking, coding-agent reports, read-only CI checks, agent-to-agent message checks, bounded external intake, Phase Ecology Lab diagnostics, and reusable abstraction checks.

What is new in v0.5.0?

v0.5.0 adds Phase Ecology Lab and related diagnostics:

• phase windows;
• effective packet graphs;
• closure checks;
• execution-available path checks;
• BIT bottleneck diagnostics;
• SQOT queue obstruction diagnostics;
• ALT lift diagnostics;
• TRC typed trace adapter reports;
• protocol-relative threshold and certificate candidates.

Is PIC an ASI detector?

No. PIC does not detect or prove real ASI.

It can emit protocol-relative reports about finite declared records, packet flow, verifier routes, and phase proxy thresholds. Those reports are not proof of real ASI.

Does accepted=true mean the agent may execute the action?

No. accepted=true means the finite report envelope passed checks.

Execution still depends on the host runtime: sandboxing, allowlists, permissions, tool policy, user approval, and credential policy.

Is settled=false a failure?

Usually no. It means unresolved obligations are still visible.

For many agent and Phase Lab reports, settled=false is the correct safe result because the report is useful but not complete.

Why not just pass or fail?

Binary pass/fail can hide why work is incomplete. PIC keeps residuals visible so the next agent or human can see missing evidence, stale data, external-domain limits, route work, identity gaps, or unsafe packet status.

Can I use PIC without cloning the repository?

Yes. The PyPI package is enough for compact checks, demos, schema export, snapshots, Phase Ecology Lab demo assets, and your own inputs.

python -m pip install percolation-inversion-compiler
pic demo installed-smoke --profile development
pic demo bootstrap --output-dir pic-demo

Clone the repository when you need the full examples/... tree, canonical TeX audits, development fixtures, or release checks.

What are the optional extras?

Use optional extras when you need identity checks, live connector support, or the local service layer:

python -m pip install "percolation-inversion-compiler[identity,connectors,server]"

The base install is still enough for the normal pip-first path.

Does Phase Ecology Lab run commands from reports?

No. Phase Lab stores reports and packets as inert data. It does not run embedded command text, safe_commands, tool traces, shell snippets, network requests, repository mutations, package installs, or model changes.

Does raw packet volume mean progress?

No. A larger number of packet candidates is not progress by itself.

PIC looks for evidence, accepted routes, semantic support, rollback support, authority, residual reduction, queue health, and safe reuse conditions.

What are ECPT, BIT, TRC, SQOT, and ALT?

They are the five source theory names used by the project:

• ECPT: packet flow and collective phase-control model.
• BIT: bottleneck and missing-witness diagnostics.
• TRC: typed traces and action-boundary checks.
• SQOT: salience queue and attention discipline.
• ALT: reusable abstraction value and liquidity checks.

See Theory Map for a plain-language explanation.

Is live intake enabled?

PIC can perform bounded intake only for an explicitly supplied source and only through the relevant command and install surface.

It does not grant background crawling, autonomous polling, arbitrary network access, shell execution, form submission, or automatic trust in external content.

Where are the schemas?

Use:

pic schema --type AgentCheckReport
pic schema --type EffectivePacketGraph
pic schema --type TraceAdapterReport
pic schema --all --output-dir schemas

The schema registry is the complete truth source for exported record schemas. schemas/index.json and agent-manifest.json are indexes.