confab-framework 1.3.0

Structural confabulation detection and prevention for multi-agent systems

confab-framework

Structural confabulation detection and prevention for multi-agent systems.

Agents state falsehoods confidently. Other agents copy them forward indefinitely. This framework makes verification structural (enforced by code) rather than aspirational (suggested by docs).

Why

Multi-agent systems have a confabulation cascade problem. Agent A states a falsehood with full confidence — "the config is deployed," "blocked on API key," "tests are passing." Agent B reads A's output, trusts it, and copies the claim into its own handoff. Agent C does the same. By the time a human notices, the false claim has propagated through dozens of builds.

This isn't hypothetical. In one production system, two false claims — "audio pipeline blocked on OPENAI_API_KEY" and "Substack publishing needs cookie refresh" — propagated through 16 consecutive agent builds over 3 days. Every agent trusted the last agent's notes. Both pipelines worked perfectly the entire time. No agent checked.

The fix isn't better instructions. Agents ignore instructions the same way they ignore documentation. The fix is a verification gate that runs at every handoff point, extracts claims from agent output, and checks them against reality — filesystem, environment variables, running processes, pipeline outputs. Claims that contradict reality get flagged before the next agent sees them.

What It Catches

Run confab gate at any agent handoff point:

$ confab gate

# Confabulation Gate Report

Scanned: docs/builder_priorities.md, docs/handoff.md
Claims found: 5
Auto-verified: 5

  [FAIL] Config at deploy/config.toml is ready
         deploy/config.toml: FILE MISSING

  [FAIL] Output at results/report.json verified clean
         results/report.json: MISSING

  [PASS] Migration at scripts/migrate.py needs review
         scripts/migrate.py: EXISTS

  [????] Blocked on DATABASE_URL environment variable
         DATABASE_URL: NOT FOUND in any .env or os.environ

  [????] Data pipeline is working [v1: verified 2026-03-20]
         Claim is semi-verifiable but lacks specific paths/vars for auto-check

## Summary
- Passed: 1/5 auto-verified (20%)
- Failed: 2
- Inconclusive: 2

The two FAILED claims would have cascaded to the next agent without the gate. The INCONCLUSIVE claims are flagged for manual verification.

Examples

Working examples in examples/:

• standalone_scan.py — Scan any markdown file for unverified claims via the Python API or CLI
• ci_gate_handoff.py — Gate an agent handoff: verify claims before passing work to the next agent
• github_actions.yml — Copy-paste GitHub Actions workflow for CI integration

See also examples/multi_agent_demo.py for a self-contained three-agent cascade simulation.

Install

pip install confab-framework

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/dennischoubot-glitch/confab-framework.git
pip install -e ./confab-framework

Quick Start

pip install confab-framework
cd your-project/
confab init                        # generate a confab.toml
# Edit confab.toml — add your priority/handoff files to files_to_scan
confab gate                        # verify carry-forward claims against reality

Python API

from confab import ConfabGate

# From a config file
gate = ConfabGate("confab.toml")
report = gate.run()

if report.has_failures:
    print(report.format_report())
elif report.has_stale:
    print(f"{report.stale_claims} stale claims need verification")
else:
    print(f"Clean: {report.passed} claims verified")

# Check inline text directly
outcomes = gate.check("Audio pipeline blocked on OPENAI_API_KEY")
for o in outcomes:
    print(f"{o.result.value}: {o.evidence}")

Decorator Middleware

Wrap any agent function with @confab_gate to auto-verify its output:

from confab import confab_gate

@confab_gate
def my_agent(prompt: str) -> str:
    return "Config at config/prod.toml is ready. Blocked on DATABASE_URL."

# On call, the decorator extracts claims from the return value,
# verifies them against reality, and warns on failures.
result = my_agent("check status")

Modes:

• @confab_gate — warn on failures (default)
• @confab_gate(on_fail="raise") — raise ConfabVerificationError on failures
• @confab_gate(on_fail="log") — log quietly, for production

Options: check_files=True, check_env=True to control what gets verified.

See examples/middleware_example.py for a complete walkthrough.

Framework Integrations

Install with the integration you need:

pip install confab-framework[langchain]   # LangChain
pip install confab-framework[crewai]      # CrewAI
pip install confab-framework[autogen]     # AutoGen v0.4+

LangChain — callback handler that verifies agent output at each step:

from confab.integrations.langchain import ConfabCallbackHandler

handler = ConfabCallbackHandler(on_fail="warn")
llm = ChatOpenAI(callbacks=[handler])

# After execution:
print(handler.summary())   # "confab: 0 failures in 3 claims"
assert handler.clean       # True if no failures

CrewAI — task callback that checks output after each task:

from confab.integrations.crewai import ConfabTaskCallback

cb = ConfabTaskCallback(on_fail="warn")
task = Task(description="...", agent=agent, callback=cb)

# After crew runs:
print(cb.summary())

AutoGen — intervention handler that intercepts agent responses at runtime:

from confab.integrations.autogen import ConfabInterventionHandler

handler = ConfabInterventionHandler(on_fail="drop")  # drop = filter bad claims
runtime = SingleThreadedAgentRuntime(
    intervention_handlers=[handler]
)

# After execution:
print(handler.summary())

All integrations share the same interface: check_files, check_env, check_counts toggles, on_fail mode ("warn", "raise", "log", and "drop" for AutoGen), plus .reports, .last_report, .clean, .summary(), and .clear().

Standalone text verification

from confab import verify_text

report = verify_text("The model at /models/latest.bin is ready.")
print(report.summary())
# → confab: 1 FAILED of 1 claims
#     - The model at /models/latest.bin is ready.: File not found: /models/latest.bin

How It Works

Agents in multi-agent systems pass claims forward at handoff points — "the pipeline is blocked on X," "file Y exists," "the config is ready." When an agent states a falsehood confidently, the next agent copies it forward. The confab framework breaks this cascade by extracting claims from handoff text, auto-verifying them against reality (filesystem, environment variables, script syntax, config parsing, pipeline outputs), and tracking how long unverified claims persist. Claims that fail verification get flagged; claims that linger without verification get marked stale. The gate runs at every agent handoff point, supplying the oracle bits that distinguish confabulation from understanding.

The pipeline: Extract (scan for claims) → Classify (type + verifiability) → Verify (check against ground truth) → Track (SQLite persistence across runs) → Report (failures + staleness + tree health).

Assertion Context Detection

The extractor only flags lines that contain assertion language — words like ready, deployed, working, blocked, missing, configured, operational, etc. A line that merely references a file path (e.g., "see config/app.toml for details") is not treated as a claim. A line that asserts something about a file (e.g., "config/app.toml is ready") is.

This avoids false positives from documentation, comments, and references while catching the actual assertions that propagate through agent handoffs.

Commands

Core

Command	Description
confab gate	Run the full cascade gate — extract, verify, track, report
confab check "text"	Check inline text for claims
confab extract file.md	Extract claims without verifying
confab quick	One-line gate summary (for scripts and prompts)
confab init	Generate a starter confab.toml in the current directory

Hygiene

Command	Description
confab lint [file]	Check claim hygiene — missing verification tags, stale [unverified] claims
confab sweep	Show tracked claims sorted by staleness
confab sweep --stats	Tracker statistics
confab prune	Identify stale build sections to remove

Diagnostics (Knowledge Tree)

Command	Description
confab tree	Scan knowledge tree for factual health — expired, perishable, unverified observations
confab check-supports	Check for zombie/weakened entries (all or most supports invalidated)
confab report	System health dashboard combining gate + supports + coverage

Tracing & Audit

Command	Description
confab trace "text"	Trace propagation path of a specific claim across gate runs
confab cascade	Show cascade depth statistics — how far claims propagate
confab audit	Comprehensive audit: claims, cascades, resolution rate

CI

Command	Description
confab ci	CI-friendly gate with markdown output and exit codes
confab ci --strict	Also fail on stale claims (exit code 2)

Configuration

confab.toml in your workspace root:

[confab]
files_to_scan = ["docs/priorities.md", "notes/handoff.md"]
stale_threshold = 3
# volatility = "medium"  # Adaptive thresholds: low/medium/high or 0.0-1.0
db_path = "confab_tracker.db"

[confab.env_vars]
known = ["OPENAI_API_KEY", "DATABASE_URL"]

[confab.pipelines]
"my_pipeline.py" = ["output/data/", "output/report.json"]

# Optional: name-based pipeline matching for status claims
[confab.pipeline_names]
"data pipeline" = "my_pipeline.py"

# Optional: count verification sources
[confab.count_sources.my_entries]
file = "data/entries.json"
type = "json_array"
json_path = "entries"

[confab.count_sources.task_queue]
file = "queue.md"
type = "regex_count"
pattern = "^###\\s+Task\\s+\\d+"
rate_per_day = 3.0

Without a config file, the framework auto-detects context and uses sensible defaults.

Claim Types

Type	Example	Verification
file_exists	"config.json is ready"	os.path.exists()
file_missing	"output.csv doesn't exist"	os.path.exists()
env_var	"blocked on OPENAI_API_KEY"	.env files + os.environ
pipeline_works	"audio pipeline operational"	Output artifact check
pipeline_blocked	"publishing blocked"	Output artifact check
script_runs	"generate.py works"	py_compile + import check
config_present	"settings.toml configured"	Parse + key check
count_claim	"144 tests passing"	Source-specific count
process_status	"monitor STOPPED since Mar 14"	supervisorctl / systemd / pgrep

Behavior Claim TTL

Transient claims about runtime state (API responses, process status, pipeline outputs) go stale faster than structural claims. The gate auto-expires behavior claims after 6 hours — if a claim's verification tag is older than the TTL, it's flagged for re-verification rather than trusted blindly.

This catches the pattern where "pipeline is working [v1: verified yesterday]" persists in a handoff file long after the pipeline broke.

Adaptive Thresholds (Volatility)

The gate's thresholds can adapt to environmental conditions. In volatile periods (market regime changes, geopolitical shifts, rapid deployment), the gate loosens — faster adaptation matters more than rigorous verification. In stable periods, the gate tightens — integrity preservation matters more.

confab gate --volatility high       # looser: stale threshold ↑, TTL ↑
confab gate --volatility low        # tighter: stale threshold ↓, TTL ↓
confab gate --volatility 0.8        # numeric: 0.0 (tightest) to 1.0 (loosest)
confab ci --volatility medium       # works in CI mode too

Python API:

from confab import ConfabGate

# Set volatility at init (persists for all runs)
gate = ConfabGate("confab.toml", volatility=0.8)
report = gate.run()

# Or override per-run
report = gate.run(volatility=0.3)

Configure a default in confab.toml:

[confab]
volatility = "medium"   # or 0.0–1.0

Named presets: low (0.2), medium (0.5), high (0.8). At medium, thresholds are unchanged. At high, the stale threshold rises ~60% and TTL doubles. At low, thresholds drop ~30%.

Diagnostics

confab lint

Scans priority and handoff files for claim hygiene issues: missing verification tags ([unverified], [v1: ...], [v2: ...]), claims that have lingered at [unverified] past the staleness threshold, and formatting problems.

confab lint                          # lint all files_to_scan from confab.toml
confab lint notes/handoff.md         # lint a specific file
confab lint --threshold 5            # flag [unverified] claims after 5 runs
confab lint --json                   # machine-readable output

confab tree

Scans a knowledge tree (JSON) for factual health: expired observations past their TTL, perishable facts missing an expires date, and unverified observations older than a threshold.

confab tree                          # scan with defaults (14-day stale window)
confab tree --stale-days 7           # tighter window
confab tree --tree path/to/tree.json # explicit tree path

confab check-supports

Checks knowledge tree entries whose supporting evidence has degraded — entries where most or all supports have been invalidated.

confab check-supports                # list weakened entries
confab check-supports --fix --dry-run  # preview auto-invalidation of zombies
confab check-supports --fix          # auto-invalidate entries with all supports dead

Tracing & Audit

confab trace

Traces a specific claim across every gate run it appeared in — when it was first seen, how many runs it persisted, and its verification status at each checkpoint.

confab trace "pipeline"              # search by text substring
confab trace "abc123"                # search by claim hash
confab trace "OPENAI_API_KEY" --json # machine-readable

confab cascade

Shows how far claims propagate before being verified or removed. High cascade depth means claims are being copied forward without verification — the exact failure mode this framework prevents.

confab cascade                       # cascade depth statistics
confab cascade --json                # machine-readable

confab audit

Comprehensive summary combining claim tracking, cascade analysis, and resolution rates into a single report.

confab audit                         # full audit report
confab audit --json                  # machine-readable

Usage Examples

Multi-agent cascade demo

A self-contained demo simulating a three-agent sprint cycle with the confab gate running at each handoff:

pip install confab-framework
python -m confab.examples.multi_agent_demo

The demo shows:

1. Claim extraction from natural language handoff text
2. Auto-verification catching false file/env claims before they cascade
3. Cascade tracking — how unverified claims age across builds
4. High-level API usage with ConfabGate and ConfabConfig

Checking claims in a handoff file

An agent writes a handoff note for the next agent. Before the next agent acts on those claims, the gate checks them against reality:

# The handoff file says: "Config deployed at config/prod.toml"
# and "Blocked on DATABASE_URL"
confab gate --file notes/handoff.md

If config/prod.toml doesn't exist, the gate flags it as FAILED. If DATABASE_URL is set in the environment, the "blocked" claim is contradicted. The next agent sees the failures before acting on bad information.

Linting for claim hygiene

Enforce verification discipline across your team's handoff files:

confab lint docs/priorities.md

Output flags claims without verification tags:

CONFAB LINT REPORT
====================================================
Files scanned: 1
Claims found:  5
Issues:        2 (0 errors, 2 warnings, 0 info)

--- docs/priorities.md
  W line 12: [no-tag] Claim has no verification tag
  W line 31: [no-tag] Claim has no verification tag

Monitoring claim propagation over time

Run the gate at every handoff (or on a schedule) and use cascade and audit to see how claims age:

# After several gate runs, check how claims are propagating
confab cascade

# See the full picture: resolution rate, depth distribution, unresolved claims
confab audit

A healthy system has a high resolution rate and low cascade depth. Deep cascaders are claims being copied forward without anyone checking them.

Knowledge tree health check

For systems using a JSON knowledge tree with observations, check factual freshness:

# Find expired and unverified observations
confab tree

# Find entries whose evidence base has eroded
confab check-supports

# Combined dashboard
confab report

CI Integration

Add claim verification to your CI in 5 minutes.

Option 1: Copy-paste workflow (simplest)

Copy this into .github/workflows/confab-gate.yml in your repo:

name: Confab Gate
on:
  pull_request:
    paths: ['docs/**', 'notes/**', '**/*.md']

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  gate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'
      - run: pip install confab-framework
      - name: Run confab gate
        run: confab ci --no-track --strict --output report.md
      - name: Post PR comment
        if: always() && github.event_name == 'pull_request'
        uses: marocchino/sticky-pull-request-comment@v2
        with:
          path: report.md

That's it. Every PR that touches markdown files gets claim verification with results posted as a comment.

Option 2: Reusable workflow (multi-repo)

Reference the workflow directly — no file to copy or maintain:

name: Confab Gate
on:
  pull_request:
    paths: ['docs/**', '**/*.md']

jobs:
  confab:
    uses: dennischoubot-glitch/confab-framework/.github/workflows/confab-gate.yml@main
    with:
      strict: true

Option 3: Composite action (custom integration)

Use the action directly for more control over the pipeline:

jobs:
  confab:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run confab gate
        id: gate
        uses: dennischoubot-glitch/confab-framework@v0.8.0
        with:
          config: confab.toml
          strict: true
          stale-threshold: 3
      - name: Use results
        if: always()
        run: echo "Status=${{ steps.gate.outputs.status }} Failed=${{ steps.gate.outputs.failed }}"

The action installs confab-framework from PyPI, runs confab ci, and posts the markdown report as a PR comment.

confab ci command

Run the gate directly in any CI pipeline:

confab ci                        # exits 1 on failures, 0 otherwise
confab ci --strict               # also exits 2 on stale claims
confab ci --output report.md     # write markdown report for PR comments
confab ci --no-track             # skip tracker DB (stateless CI runs)

Exit codes:

• 0 — clean (all claims verified, no stale)
• 1 — failures (claims contradict reality)
• 2 — stale claims only (with --strict)

Generic CI (GitLab, CircleCI, etc.)

# .gitlab-ci.yml
confab:
  image: python:3.12
  script:
    - pip install confab-framework
    - confab ci --strict --output confab-report.md
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - confab-report.md

Releasing

Releases are automated via GitHub Actions. When a version tag is pushed, the workflow runs tests, builds the package, and publishes to PyPI using Trusted Publishers (OIDC).

# 1. Update version in pyproject.toml
# 2. Commit the version bump
git add pyproject.toml
git commit -m "Bump version to 0.9.0"

# 3. Tag and push
git tag v0.9.0
git push && git push --tags

The workflow verifies the tag version matches pyproject.toml before publishing.

Trusted Publisher Setup (one-time)

Configure PyPI to trust this GitHub repo — no API tokens needed:

1. Go to pypi.org/manage/project/confab-framework/settings/publishing/
2. Under Add a new pending publisher, enter:
   • Owner: dennischoubot-glitch
   • Repository name: confab-framework
   • Workflow name: publish.yml
   • Environment name: pypi
3. Click Add

After this, any tag push matching v*.*.* will auto-publish.

Architecture

See DESIGN.md for the full architecture, including the cascade propagation problem, verification methods, and the gate's role at agent handoff points.

License

MIT