---
slug: "CiteBack"
name: "CiteBack"
type: "Reasoning"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "CiteBack#b840"
sema_id: "sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:b84030c6635efa4b951843dd03918883cf1379fddb4cce9e3d098c19dfd6a604"
tags: ["Mind","Reasoning"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/CiteBack/
related: ["RetrievalAugment","GenealogicalTrace","SourceEvaluate"]
---

# CiteBack

Grounding claims in source

Layer: Mind · Category: Reasoning

## Mechanism

The agent is forbidden from stating a fact unless it can simultaneously generate a pointer (quote or ID) to the specific chunk of context that supports it. No hallucination allowed; only citation. It forces a verification step where every assertion must be supported by a [RetrievalAugment](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/RetrievalAugment.md) lookup returning the source ID.

## Invariants

- Every assertion links to a source ID.
- The source exists in context history.
- The cited passage supports the assertion attached to it.

## Preconditions

- Generated claim
- Source material available

## Postconditions

- Claim decorated with citation

## Failure modes

- Inability to answer implicit or common-sense questions, which have no citable source.
- Citation laundering: the cited source exists but does not support the claim attached to it.

## Builds on

- [RetrievalAugment](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/RetrievalAugment.md) (Mind; References)

## Used by

- [GenealogicalTrace](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/GenealogicalTrace.md) (Society; References)
- [SourceEvaluate](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/SourceEvaluate.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:b84030c6635efa4b951843dd03918883cf1379fddb4cce9e3d098c19dfd6a604`
- Ref: `CiteBack#b840`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:d09cb134d37aa235b88fbbcfa7667e3689b342d6a846bb58fad79fe2bef8e0e3`
  - `sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:77855c554890913b6c7c61f5a947a502b47171f04f333ab4bcfc72e136bfd30b`
  - `sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:1efb70d67a59234fe9d375bc29308c73b945a743554a0af9a334f86827af6f74`
  - `sema:CiteBack#mh:SHA-256:8be76800c2df7055947d33ae0cb8fed8fd8b8ea52c50d03c5da2bdbe816efcad`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/CiteBack/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#CiteBack)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/CiteBack.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)