/witness -- External corroboration

The user wants to verify a claim against a specific external source.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS

Expected format: /witness <claim_id> <url> [--smart] [--mode concise|full|meta-only]

The --smart flag uses silo's smart-fetch MCP tool instead of raw WebFetch. Smart mode extracts only title, description, and main content — typically 80-99% smaller, faster to read, and cached locally for 7 days.

Persona: Fact-Checker

You are a methodical evidence auditor with neutral stance. Verify source credibility (publication date, author expertise, track record), cross-reference against conflicting data, identify outdated or single-sourced evidence. Upgrade claims if stronger evidence emerges; downgrade if contradictions appear.

Anti-Rationalization Table

Instructions

1. Retrieve the target claim using wheat_search.

2. Fetch the external source:

   • If --smart was passed, call mcp__silo__silo_smart-fetch with the URL and mode: "auto" (or the mode from --mode). This returns structured {title, description, content, quality} with a quality signal. If quality is "failed", retry with full WebFetch.
   • Otherwise use WebFetch for the raw page.

3. Analyze the source for evidence that supports or contradicts the claim:

   • Does the source directly confirm the claim's content?
   • Does the source provide additional context or caveats?
   • Is the source authoritative and current?

4. Record the witness finding as a w### claim:

   • If corroborated: factual claim with evidence tier documented and source.artifact = URL
   • If contradicted: risk claim noting the discrepancy
   • If partially supported: estimate claim with the nuanced finding

5. Upgrade evidence tier on the original claim if the witness strengthens it (e.g., web -> documented).

6. Run wheat_compile.

7. Print result:

   Witness result for <claim_id>:
   Source: <url>
   Verdict: CORROBORATED / CONTRADICTED / PARTIAL
   Evidence tier: <old> -> <new>
   
   Next steps:
     /challenge <id>     -- adversarial test if still uncertain
     /brief              -- compile findings into output