Evidence Lock Skill
For most drafts, plausible is enough. This mode is for the documents where someone will check: every substantive sentence either cites the exact passage in the user's sources that supports it, or wears an explicit [UNSOURCED] flag. No third state.
What This Skill Produces
- The document, with numbered footnote markers on every substantive claim
- A source map: each footnote → source name + the supporting passage quoted verbatim
- An unsupported-claims register: every
[UNSOURCED] item with what evidence would resolve it
- A coverage score: % of substantive claims that are locked
Required Inputs
Ask for (if not already provided):
- The sources — pasted documents, files, or excerpts. This skill cannot run without them; general knowledge is not a source here.
- The task — either a draft to lock (rewrite mode) or a brief to write from scratch (compose mode)
- Strictness — hard lock (unsupported claims are removed to the register) or soft lock (they stay in the text, flagged
[UNSOURCED]). Default: soft.
Locking Method
- Index the sources first. Skim all provided material and note what each source can support. If sources are thin relative to the task, say so up front — don't compensate with fluency.
- Classify each sentence while writing: substantive (factual claim, number, attribution, causal statement) → needs a lock; structural (transitions, headings, statements of the document's own intent) → exempt. When in doubt, it's substantive.
- Lock = quote-level, not document-level. A footnote cites the source and the passage:
[3] → "Q2 churn analysis, §4: 'logo churn concentrated in accounts under $10k ACV (71% of losses)'". Citing a whole document is not a lock.
- No stretching. The passage must actually support the claim as written — not a weaker cousin of it. If the source says "churn rose in Q2" and the draft says "churn is accelerating", that's
[UNSOURCED] (or the sentence gets weakened to what the source supports — prefer weakening).
- Conflicts surface, never average. Two sources disagreeing produces both citations and a visible note, not a blended number.
- Inference is allowed but labelled. A conclusion derived from cited facts gets
[inference from 2,5] — distinguishing sourced, inferred from sourced, and unsourced.
Output Format
[Document title] — evidence-locked · coverage: [n]% ([x] of [y] substantive claims)
[The document. Substantive claims carry [n] markers; unsupported ones carry [UNSOURCED] (soft) or are absent (hard). Inferences carry [inference from n,m].]
Source map
| # |
Source |
Supporting passage (verbatim) |
| 1 |
[doc, section] |
"[exact quote]" |
Unsupported claims register
| Claim |
Why it's unsourced |
What would resolve it |
Conflicts noted: [source A says X; source B says Y — surfaced at footnote n]
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
1---2name: evidence-lock3description: Write or rewrite a document in evidence-locked mode: no unsourced sentences — every substantive claim carries a footnote citing the exact passage in the user's provided sources, and anything unsupportable is explicitly marked. Use when asked to make a document fully sourced, add citations from my docs, ground a draft in the attached material, or produce something for audiences that will check (legal, board, regulators, enterprise buyers). Produces the document with numbered citations, a source map quoting each cited passage, and an unsupported-claims register.4---5
6# Evidence Lock Skill
7
8For most drafts, plausible is enough. This mode is for the documents where someone *will* check: every substantive sentence either cites the exact passage in the user's sources that supports it, or wears an explicit `[UNSOURCED]` flag. No third state.
9
10## What This Skill Produces
11
12- The **document**, with numbered footnote markers on every substantive claim
13- A **source map**: each footnote → source name + the supporting passage *quoted verbatim*
14- An **unsupported-claims register**: every `[UNSOURCED]` item with what evidence would resolve it
15- A **coverage score**: % of substantive claims that are locked
16
17## Required Inputs
18
19Ask for (if not already provided):
20- **The sources** — pasted documents, files, or excerpts. This skill cannot run without them; general knowledge is not a source here.
21- **The task** — either a draft to lock (rewrite mode) or a brief to write from scratch (compose mode)
22- **Strictness** — *hard lock* (unsupported claims are removed to the register) or *soft lock* (they stay in the text, flagged `[UNSOURCED]`). Default: soft.
23
24## Locking Method
25
261. **Index the sources first.** Skim all provided material and note what each source can support. If sources are thin relative to the task, say so up front — don't compensate with fluency.
272. **Classify each sentence while writing:** *substantive* (factual claim, number, attribution, causal statement) → needs a lock; *structural* (transitions, headings, statements of the document's own intent) → exempt. When in doubt, it's substantive.
283. **Lock = quote-level, not document-level.** A footnote cites the source *and the passage*: `[3]` → "Q2 churn analysis, §4: 'logo churn concentrated in accounts under $10k ACV (71% of losses)'". Citing a whole document is not a lock.
294. **No stretching.** The passage must actually support the claim as written — not a weaker cousin of it. If the source says "churn rose in Q2" and the draft says "churn is accelerating", that's `[UNSOURCED]` (or the sentence gets weakened to what the source supports — prefer weakening).
305. **Conflicts surface, never average.** Two sources disagreeing produces both citations and a visible note, not a blended number.
316. **Inference is allowed but labelled.** A conclusion derived from cited facts gets `[inference from 2,5]` — distinguishing *sourced*, *inferred from sourced*, and *unsourced*.
32
33## Output Format
34
35### [Document title] — evidence-locked · coverage: [n]% ([x] of [y] substantive claims)
36
37[The document. Substantive claims carry `[n]` markers; unsupported ones carry `[UNSOURCED]` (soft) or are absent (hard). Inferences carry `[inference from n,m]`.]
38
39---
40**Source map**
41| # | Source | Supporting passage (verbatim) |
42|---|---|---|
43| 1 | [doc, section] | "[exact quote]" |
44
45**Unsupported claims register**
46| Claim | Why it's unsourced | What would resolve it |
47|---|---|---|
48
49**Conflicts noted:** [source A says X; source B says Y — surfaced at footnote n]
50
51## Quality Checks
52
53- [ ] Every substantive sentence has a footnote, an `[UNSOURCED]` flag, or an `[inference from …]` label — zero unmarked claims
54- [ ] Every footnote quotes the passage verbatim; spot-checking any quote against the source succeeds
55- [ ] No passage is stretched — each supports the claim *as written*
56- [ ] The coverage score is computed by counting, and low coverage is stated plainly, not disguised
57- [ ] Source conflicts appear in the text, not silently resolved
58
59## Anti-Patterns
60
61- [ ] Do not fill source gaps with general knowledge — in this mode the provided sources are the entire universe of evidence
62- [ ] Do not cite documents wholesale — a lock names the passage
63- [ ] Do not launder inference as citation — derived conclusions are labelled as derived
64- [ ] Do not quietly drop claims that can't be sourced in soft mode — the register exists so the author sees what's resting on air
65- [ ] Do not proceed without sources "just this once" — without sources this is a normal draft, and other skills do that better
Mohit Aggarwal