AFP Specification

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Document status: Working Specification · Version: 0.1 · Last substantive update: 12 September 2026 · Evaluation maturity: Pilot protocol published; benchmark scores not yet published.

This is the current public AFP specification. The 2025 whitepaper is a historical concept edition, not the current specification. See Specification History for material changes and status definitions.

Purpose

AFP defines a reliability-oriented workflow for AI systems that produce consequential or reusable outputs. The current public specification is intentionally small and testable.

Core workflow

  1. Assumptions — state material assumptions that could change the result.
  2. Evidence — attach important claims to inspectable evidence where available.
  3. Counter-evidence — actively check for evidence or conditions that could overturn the working conclusion.
  4. Decision — distinguish facts, inference, assumptions, and unknowns before converging.
  5. Validation — test the output against explicit acceptance criteria and known failure modes.
  6. Revision — when validation fails or evidence changes, revise and run the relevant checks again.

SafeLoop

SafeLoop is the feedback cycle around that workflow:

Produce → Inspect → Challenge → Validate → Revise → Re-test

The loop is complete only when the result either passes its stated checks or is explicitly marked as unresolved.

Reliability requirements

A conforming AFP workflow should make it possible to answer:

  • What evidence supports the important claims?
  • Which assumptions materially affect the result?
  • What could falsify or block the conclusion?
  • Which checks were performed?
  • What changed after a failed check or new evidence?
  • Can the relevant test be run again?

Scope boundary

AFP does not guarantee factual correctness, safety, or compliance by itself. It is a workflow structure for making those properties easier to test and audit. Domain-specific controls, qualified human review, and external rules remain necessary where applicable.

Status

Public specification status: Working Specification 0.1. This page defines the current minimum structure. Formal schemas, machine-readable states, and conformance tests are planned but are not claimed as complete.

Version 0.1 marks the first explicitly versioned working specification on this site. It does not imply that AFP began with this release, nor does it establish empirical superiority or external standardization.