Supreme rules and RED LINES¶

The supreme rules govern the entire Belico ecosystem: in any conflict with another file in the stack, these rules win. This page summarizes each rule with its statement and how the stack enforces it automatically.

Canonical source

The rules SSOT is Belico.md at the repo root. This page (migrated from docs/shared/RULES.md) explains them, it does not replace them. On any divergence, Belico.md wins.

The rules¶

#	Rule	Primary enforcement
1	No data hallucinations — if there is no sensor reading, report failure; never invent values.	GGA #2 (fallback values) · `validate_submission.py` `traceability` gate · Verifier
2	Single SSOT — the source of truth is `config/params.yaml`. No parameter lives in two places.	GGA #6 (duplicates) · `generate_params.py` propagates to `params.h`/`params.py`
3	One commit = one coherent state — firmware, simulation and article advance together.	GGA #8 (commit coherence) · Verifier
4	Raw data is sacred — only the sensor writes to `data/raw/`.	GGA #4 · pipeline `raw/ → processed/ → articles/`
5	Mandatory validation (Verifier) — every computation passes the Verifier. Q1/Q2 run a statistical preflight before Results.	GGA #9 · Reviewer Sim Gate 1 · `preflight_statistics.py`
6	No hardcoding SSOT values — any physical value in `params.yaml` is referenced, not copied.	GGA #1 · code review + Verifier
7	One paper at a time — do not start a new paper until the active one passes ARCHIVE.	Orchestrator checks `paper:{id} ARCHIVED`
8	Mandatory ladder — Conference → Q4 → Q3 → Q2 → Q1. No level skipping.	`journal_specs.yaml` · orchestrator at ARCHIVE
9	No silent failures — no `try: ... except: pass`.	GGA #5 · GGA #3
10	No hardcoded secrets — keys/passwords/tokens via `.env` + `os.getenv`.	GGA #10 · `.env` in `.gitignore`
11	Mandatory traceability — every number in the paper has an entry in `db/manifest.yaml`.	GGA #11 · `validate_submission.py` `traceability` gate
12	Zero AI-generated images (SUPREME) — every figure reproducible from code + data. No DALL-E, Midjourney, etc.	`validate_submission.py` `no_ai_images` gate · Figure Agent
13	No citation without verification (VERITAS, SUPREME) — every `[@cite]` passes VERITAS before insertion.	`scientific_narrator.py` inline · `validate_submission.py` `veritas_pre` gate

Cross-cutting RED LINES¶

Anti-AI prose¶

Every sentence generated for a draft must pass the "human author test". If a reviewer or AI detector flags it, the paper is dead.

Canonical source: .agent/specs/blacklist.yaml.
4 enforcement layers: Belico.md RED LINE · per-venue Style Card · Reviewer Simulator Gate 0 · automatic scan in validate_submission.py.

Any blacklisted phrase in any layer = VERIFY fails, batch rejected.

ArXiv always HTTPS¶

ArXiv URLs must use https:// (never http://).

Abort protocol (hardware)¶

In hardware flows, bridge.py sends SHUTDOWN to the Arduino if any of these holds: consecutive jitter > threshold, critical stress σ > 0.85·fy, or solver numeric divergence. Primary protection lives in firmware (ISR + heartbeat); the bridge is the second line of defense.

Anti-fabrication corollary (2026-05-22)¶

Rule #1 was extended to cover three additional fabrication classes: bibliographic (cite without DOI or without claim↔source alignment), presentational (omitting the target journal's editorial artifacts) and internal-anchor (citing internal concepts as if they were external papers).