Decision Output

The engine produces a decision, confidence, rule IDs, explain, and optional constraints. This page describes the response shape, confidence calculation, and constraints reference.

Decisions & Confidence

• Decision: ALLOW, DENY, or ALLOW_WITH_LIMITS.
• Confidence: VERY_HIGH, HIGH, MEDIUM, or LOW.

Confidence Calculation

Base Confidence = 50. Each rule applies a confidenceDelta.

• VERY_HIGH: Score ≥ 80
• HIGH: Score ≥ 60
• MEDIUM: Score ≥ 40
• LOW: Score < 40

function mapConfidence(numericConfidence: number): ConfidenceTier {
  if (numericConfidence >= 80) return "VERY_HIGH";
  if (numericConfidence >= 60) return "HIGH";
  if (numericConfidence >= 40) return "MEDIUM";
  return "LOW";
}

type ConfidenceTier = "LOW" | "MEDIUM" | "HIGH" | "VERY_HIGH";

Machine-Readable Response

{
  "decision": "ALLOW",
  "confidence": "HIGH",
  "constraints": [],
  "retryAfter": null,
  "ruleIds": ["allow_strong_builder"],
  "version": "v1",
  "explain": ["Strong builder credibility with sufficient social trust"],
  "subjectHash": "subj_48c9a1"
}

Field	Description
decision	ALLOW, DENY, or ALLOW_WITH_LIMITS
confidence	LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, or VERY_HIGH
constraints	Applied when decision is ALLOW_WITH_LIMITS (see below)
retryAfter	Seconds to wait before retry; null if not applicable
ruleIds	Array of rule IDs that triggered the decision
version	Engine version (e.g. v1)
explain	Human-readable array of reasons
subjectHash	Hashed identity (when returned by API)

Constraints Reference

When a decision is ALLOW_WITH_LIMITS, one or more constraints are returned based on the Rule ID.

Rule ID	Constraints Applied	Meaning
probation_inactive	reduced_access, activity_required	User needs to be active/verify again.
probation_new_user	probation_period, limited_actions	New user trial period.
probation_mixed_signals	review_required	Manual review flagged.
limit_partial_signals	reduced_access	Limited features due to data gaps.
limit_comment_new	rate_limited	E.g. 5 comments/hour.
limit_publish_unverified	review_queue	Content goes to mod queue.
limit_governance_inactive	reduced_weight	Vote counts for less.

Decision Logging (Optional)

BaseCred does not log score history. Optionally, systems may log decision metadata only:

interface DecisionLog {
  subjectHash: string;
  context: string;
  decision: "ALLOW" | "DENY" | "ALLOW_WITH_LIMITS";
  confidence: ConfidenceTier;
  ruleIds: string[];
  signalCoverage: number;
  timestamp: number;
}

This enables audits and rule evaluation without storing raw scores or signals.