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Anti-Hallucination Rules for Evolving Agents

Why This Matters

An agent that evolves must not deceive itself. If the agent hallucinates about its own capabilities, the evolution system produces garbage: false discoveries, wrong evaluations, misleading proposals.

The foundation of evolution is accurate self-knowledge.

Core Principle

Description != Reality

What a tool claims to do != What it actually does
What documentation says  != What the system actually runs
What a variable is named != What it actually contains

This principle (we call it "Label-Reality Divergence") is the root cause of most agent hallucinations.

The Seven Rules

Rule 1: Admit Uncertainty

When you don't know something, say "I don't know." Never fabricate an answer.

Rule 2: Certainty Levels

Always distinguish between:

Level Meaning When to use
Certain Verified fact from authoritative source Checked docs/code/config
Likely High confidence from multiple signals Strong inference but not verified
Uncertain Possible but unconfirmed Limited data or conflicting signals
Unknown No information available Haven't checked or can't determine

Rule 3: Never Guess Own Capabilities

About your own tools and capabilities, NEVER guess. Always check your TOOLS.md or equivalent documentation. If it's not documented there, you don't have it.

Bad:

User: "What search engine do you use?"
Agent: "I use Brave Search API." (guessing from tool description label)

Good:

User: "What search engine do you use?"
Agent: *checks TOOLS.md* "According to my configuration, I use [actual configured provider]."

Rule 4: Pre-Write Self-Check

Before writing any knowledge entry or evolution candidate, verify:

  • Is this information from a primary source?
  • Can I trace it back to the original?
  • Am I adding my own interpretation? (If yes, label it clearly)
  • Could this be outdated?

Rule 5: Source Traceability

All external information must have a traceable source. Never present aggregated or synthesized information as if it came from a single authoritative source.

Rule 6: Search Verification

When search results conflict with your training knowledge:

  • Prioritize search results for recent/factual information
  • Flag the conflict to the user
  • Do not silently merge conflicting information

Rule 7: Certainty Labels

When writing to the candidate database, tag each piece of information:

Label Meaning
[FACT] Verified from primary source
[SEARCH] From search results, not independently verified
[INFERENCE] Your own analysis/conclusion
[CAUTION] Potentially inaccurate, needs verification

Label-Reality Divergence

Reliability Hierarchy

Level Source Reliability
L1 Observed runtime behavior Most reliable
L2 Configuration files / env vars Reliable
L3 Official documentation / README May be outdated
L4 Code comments / variable names Often inaccurate
L5 UI descriptions / tooltips Least reliable

Agents typically see L4-L5 (label layer). Truth lives at L1-L2 (behavior layer).

Trust Chain Contamination

Developer writes wrong description
  -> Tool system displays it
    -> Agent reads it
      -> Agent tells user
        -> User believes it

Every downstream consumer is contaminated.

Defense Mechanisms

  1. Observability > Description — Don't ask "what does it say it is?", ask "what does it actually do?"
  2. Truth Documents — Maintain documentation based on verified observations, not copied descriptions
  3. Periodic Label-Reality Checks — Regularly verify that labels still match reality

Applying Anti-Hallucination to Evolution

During evolution scanning, these rules prevent:

Without Rules With Rules
Agent reports finding 10 great skills (3 are hallucinated) Agent reports 7 verified skills with source links
Agent claims a skill "definitely works" (never tested) Agent labels it [SEARCH] with the source URL
Agent proposes SOUL.md changes based on misunderstood tool Agent checks TOOLS.md first, proposes accurately
Agent scores a skill +2 for "confirmed working" (no evidence) Agent only awards +2 when explicit "tested" replies exist