FAQ

FAQ

What is PIC used for?

PIC is used to check AI agent output, preserve evidence and missing obligations, route verifier work, and decide whether candidate material can be safely reused under a declared scope.

Common uses include LLM output checking, AI agent workflow verification, read-only CI reports, agent-to-agent message checking, external knowledge intake, and reusable abstraction-capital checks.

Is PIC an ASI detector?

No. PIC does not detect or prove real ASI. It can emit protocol-relative ASI-proxy reports for finite declared records.

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

No. accepted=true means a finite checker accepted the report envelope. Execution still depends on sandboxing, approval, allowlists, and tool policy.

Is settled=false a failure?

Usually no. It means unresolved obligations are still visible. That is often the correct safe result.

How is PIC different from existing LLM evals or CI?

LLM evals usually score model behavior. CI usually checks code, tests, formatting, or build rules.

PIC is different because it focuses on candidate work, evidence routing, proof obligations, residual ledgers, verifier routes, and safe reuse decisions. It can complement evals and CI, but it is not a replacement for either.

Why keep residuals instead of just passing or failing?

A binary pass/fail result can hide why a claim is incomplete. Residuals keep the missing evidence, external assumptions, stale data, verifier backlog, and unresolved risks visible.

This helps agents continue safely without pretending that uncertain work is complete.

Can I use PIC without cloning the repository?

Yes, for installed-package smoke checks, snapshots, schema export, bundled demo bootstrap, and your own inputs.

Clone the repository when you need bundled examples/..., fixtures, canonical-source audits, release checks, or development workflows.

Does PIC need live network access?

No. Local and offline workflows are the default safe path.

Live HTTP, GitHub, Zenodo, and arXiv intake require explicit opt-in and still produce candidate packets until downstream checks accept them.

Does cryptographic identity prove who an agent really is?

No. It proves protocol-relative control of a key under the declared profile. It does not prove legal identity, real-world personhood, or global uniqueness.

What should an AI agent do with agent_tasks?

Treat them as recommended finite next tasks. Do not execute them automatically.

What should an AI agent do with route_execution_requests?

Treat them as verifier route requests. They are not arbitrary shell commands and they do not bypass host runtime approval.

What is the fastest first command?

pic agent explain
pic agent intake --text "Candidate packet: preserve residuals." --profile development

For source checkout:

uv run pic agent explain
uv run pic agent intake --text "Candidate packet: preserve residuals." --profile development

What is the most important output to preserve?

Preserve missing_obligations and residual_ledger. They are the safeguards against silent overclaiming.