Answer Shape
Defines the expected shape: text, table, status, Markdown or structured data.
Define what an answer must satisfy before using it
Answer Engineering works on output shape, admissible answer space and result extraction. Kerkito extends this logic with a deterministic answer contract and local structural validation.
ANSWER SHAPE · ANSWER SPACE · EXTRACTOR
The problem is not limited to phrasing a better question
Prompt-based learning literature has distinguished input design from expected output design since 2021. Shape, admissible values and result extraction become engineering objects in their own right.
Answer Space
Defines allowed values or states when the task can explicitly bound them.
Answer Extractor
Defines how the useful result is recovered from model or system output.
Structural validation
Checks observable rules such as sections, fields, dates or statuses without claiming to verify factual truth by itself.
KERKITO 8.3.3
Kerkito 8.3.3 compiles an answer contract
After P.O.N.T. and the four stages, Kerkito can compile a portable representation of the expected output. The contract describes what must be present, what may remain unknown and which rules should prevent false certainty.
Answer ShapeMarkdown
Answer SpaceSUPPORTED · UNCERTAIN · CONTRADICTED · UNKNOWN
Evidence PolicySources, dates, limitations and counter-evidence when the work requires them
Acceptance RulesUnknowns allowed, central claims sourced when required, contradictions kept visible
BOUNDARIES
Structural compliance and factual truth are different checks
An answer can follow a schema exactly and still be factually wrong. Kerkito therefore separates locally checkable properties from those requiring actual source retrieval or verification.
Check explicit structure
Required sections, formats, allowed values, requested dates, explicit unknowns and other deterministic contract rules.
Truth from compliance alone
Remote source authenticity, scientific validity of a conclusion or whether a citation actually supports a claim require a separate verification process.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Primary sources distinguish the concept from its marketing use
This page relies on publications documenting Answer Engineering, prompting techniques and structured outputs. Results remain bound to their protocols and do not constitute general guarantees.