Corrigibility Assess

Corrigibility Assessment

Evaluate infrastructure against five structural tests derived from cybernetics (Ashby), commons governance (Ostrom), and free software (Stallman). A system is corrigible only if ALL five tests pass.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Assessing DPI systems (identity, payments, data exchange, registries)
• Evaluating EPI systems (AI/ML in public services)
• Creating an audit.json assessment document
• Verifying operator claims in infrastructure.json
• Analyzing layer-by-layer corrigibility

Rule Categories by Priority

Quick Reference

1. Core Tests (Both DPI and EPI)

• test-exit - Penalty severity, FEE (Functional Exit Equivalence), human fallback
• test-code - Source inspection, open license, LWD-R for EPI systems
• test-audit - Verification depth (presence, behavior, proof), independent access
• test-govern - Grievance vs binding mechanisms, post-execution fallacy
• test-fork - Constructed vs natural barriers, swapability

2. Layer Analysis

• layer-decomposition - Propagation rule, weakest-layer principle

3. EPI Extensions

• variety-drift - Temporal drift Δ(t), revalidation threshold τ
• action-boundary - GDoS prevention, deterministic envelope

The Five Tests

Conjunctive Requirement

Corrigibility = EXIT ∧ CODE ∧ AUDIT ∧ GOVERN ∧ FORK

Failure of ANY test = Structurally Incorrigible

EPI Tier Classification

Output Format

Assessment produces audit.json following Protocol 3.0. The five booleans live under tests; the corrigibility verdict is a derived determination block (paper §A.2 Claim 2):

{
  "protocol_version": "3.0",
  "tests": {
    "EXIT": true,
    "CODE": false,
    "AUDIT": true,
    "GOVERN": false,
    "FORK": false
  },
  "determination": {
    "corrigible": false,
    "computed_from": "tests",
    "computed_at": "2026-02-15T10:30:00Z"
  },
  "findings": [
    {
      "test": "CODE",
      "finding": "Implementation proprietary despite open spec",
      "severity": "critical"
    }
  ]
}

How to Use

Read individual rule files for detailed evaluation criteria:

rules/test-exit.md
rules/test-code.md
rules/test-audit.md
rules/test-govern.md
rules/test-fork.md
rules/layer-decomposition.md
rules/variety-drift.md
rules/action-boundary.md

Each rule file contains:

• Theoretical foundation
• Schema fields to verify
• Pass/fail criteria
• DPI and EPI variations

Full Reference

For complete expanded guide: AGENTS.md

References

• Ashby, W.R. (1956). Introduction to Cybernetics
• Hirschman, A.O. (1970). Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
• Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons
• Aravind, A. (2025). Corrigibility Framework