Brings the JSON variant back as a third ANSWER_MODE, distinct from the
pointer variant. The substrate exposes both: pointer for prose-
distribution / small-model paths (Hermes-3 8B), JSON for grammar-
constrained / large-reasoning-model paths (vLLM guided_json,
Claude/GPT-4 native JSON, Qwen 3.6 reasoner). Agents pick by setting
`policy["answer_mode"]`; both fold into governance_policy_hash so
records under different modes never alias.
Components:
- aborist/qa/verify.py:
* ANSWER_MODES = ("quote", "claim_lattice_pointer", "claim_lattice")
* `_lenient_json_parse(raw)` — defensive pre-parser. Strips markdown
fences, trims preamble/suffix to {/}, normalizes curly quotes,
fixes trailing commas. Returns (parsed, fixups[]) so the verifier
logs which drift had to be peeled. Lenient on syntax, strict on
semantics: parsed JSON still has to schema-check.
* CLAIM_LATTICE_JSON_SCHEMA — JSON Schema for the {"claims":[...]}
shape. Used by vLLM guided_json sampling-time constraint.
* `verify_claim_lattice_json(answer_json_text, evidence_map, ...)` —
runs the same hard checks as verify_claim_lattice (evidence_id
resolves, source_role allowed, no manual quotes, claim text non-
empty, claim textually overlaps evidence) but on content-
addressed evidence_ids directly. Returns the same verdict shape
plus a `json_fixups` list.
- aborist/qa/client.py: ChatClient Protocol & OpenAICompatibleClient
gain optional `extra_body` kwarg. Forwarded as additional fields in
the JSON request payload — opaque pass-through for vLLM-specific
knobs like `guided_json`. Endpoints that don't recognize a key
silently drop it. StubClient ignores; tests inspect via self.calls.
- aborist/qa/evidence.py: `render_evidence_block_for_json` and
`render_evidence_map_for_json` — JSON-mode prompts label blocks with
the content-addressed evidence_id (long hex) since that's what the
model cites in its JSON. Pointer mode keeps using the short
pointer_id.
- aborist/qa/query.py:
* Imports the JSON verifier + schema + JSON-mode evidence renderer.
* Message-build branch: `elif answer_mode == "claim_lattice"`
builds the same per-chunk evidence map as pointer mode, but
uses `claim_lattice_json_system_prompt` and labels blocks with
evidence_id.
* LLM call: when answer_mode=claim_lattice and policy
`claim_lattice_use_guided_json` is on, passes
`extra_body={"guided_json": SCHEMA}` so vLLM constrains output.
* Verifier dispatch: new `elif answer_mode == "claim_lattice"`
branch calls verify_claim_lattice_json.
* DAG persistence: lattice-mode raw_answer / parsed_lattice /
rendered_text threading now applies to both pointer and JSON.
* DEFAULT_QUERY_POLICY adds `claim_lattice_json_system_prompt`,
`claim_lattice_json_grounding_reminder`, and
`claim_lattice_use_guided_json` (default True).
- tests/test_verify_json.py: 14 tests covering the lenient parser
(strict pass-through, fence strip, preamble trim, curly-quote
normalize, trailing-comma fix, multi-fixup, hard-fail) and the
JSON verifier (STRICT on resolved claims, HYBRID on partial,
UNGROUNDED on schema invalid, fence recovery, manual-quote
violation, source-role block).
The whitepaper rewrite to 13.9.1 (substrate exposes both modalities,
both first-class) becomes accurate post-ship — JSON mode now exists
in code as it always existed in the architecture's intent.
554 tests pass.
russell@unturf.com
b39e79b0c1