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Every answer in Ainomos says what it rests on: which documents, decisions and rules it used, how well they back it, and which checks ran. Who can do this: every member of the room. Opening a source never shows you more than you could open yourself.

The parts of an answer

  1. The verdict, followed by the room, its data class and the model that answered. A model that works outside the EU or Switzerland adds Outside EU/CH.
  2. Steps. If the chat looked things up first, a card such as “3 steps · in Finance” lists what it did. Select its header to open or fold it.
  3. The answer text, with numbered citation marks. Select a number to jump to that source.
  4. Source chips for the cited rules, decisions and documents, and a From line naming the rooms they came from.
  5. The sources fold, with a heading such as “3 cited sources · 2 context only”.
  6. The action bar: Copy answer, Show sources and More actions (the three dots).

Open the sources

The sources fold starts closed. Open it, or select a citation mark. Sources fall into two groups: Cited (used and marked by the answer) and Context only (given to the model but not cited, so not evidence). Rows can show Binding or Advisory. Select a row to open it:
  • A decision or rule opens in Knowledge, in the room it belongs to.
  • A document passage opens in a reader at the cited passage.
  • If knowledge browsing is switched off for your account, the row opens the evidence record instead. See Visibility.
A box marked Inferred, not binding holds a statement the answer derived from the decision named under Basis. The decision binds; the derived statement does not.

Which rules and decisions the answer followed

The cited rules and decisions appear in the chips and the sources list. The steps card shows checks, such as how many rules a planned action was checked against. The Rules button under the input field lists every rule applied in the room, including those set in the rooms above. See Rules. Where Ainomos checked the question against the room’s rulebook, an Ontology verdict follows the answer, for example Permitted, Against the rules or No rule applies. Select it to see the governing rule and how the verdict was reached. The verdict explains; it stops nothing.

When there is no grounded answer

An answer labelled No reliable basis has nothing to back it. Its sources fold is titled Closest citations, not pertinent: the nearest things Ainomos found, not evidence. A box may add No source in this room covers this question. What you can do:
  1. Check that you are in the right room. Rooms next to yours are not searched.
  2. Ask again with the decision’s key or the document’s own terms. See Asking questions.
  3. If the knowledge is missing, ask a curator or owner to import it.
  4. If the question needs a decision, select Prepare draft manually. It opens a decision draft in Knowledge with your question, the answer and its sources. Nothing is decided until a decider accepts it.
If the binding decisions an answer cites require an approval for your case and none covers it yet, an amber line says Case approval required and names who is responsible. Prepare request opens a draft of that approval in Knowledge.

Block cards

When a check stops a request, a red card stands in place of the answer, and the answer text is never shown. The card names the rule after Blocked by, says what it requires, and names the Policy owner. For personal data it lists the kinds found under Detected in the answer. View rule opens the rule, and Show evidence opens the record of the blocked request. A hard rule allows no exception. A guardrail offers Request exception (time-limited). If the privacy check itself could not run, the card says the answer was withheld as a precaution; that is not a finding, and no exception is offered.

Request an exception

Who can do this: any member of the room. Owners of the room where the rule is set decide in their Inbox.
1

Open the form

Select Request exception (time-limited) on the card.
2

Explain and choose a time limit

Under Justification, say why the room’s work needs this. Under Time limit, choose 1, 7, 14 or 30 days. The owner who decides sets the final duration.
3

Send

Select Submit request. The card confirms that the policy owner will decide.
Follow the request under Requests in the Inbox. For a one-off question, rephrasing is usually better than an exception. See Exceptions. The chat can also draft an exception request or a decision as one of its steps. Withdraw the request under the answer takes a drafted request back.

The Sources and Context drawers

Buttons under the input field open drawers on the right. Select a button again to close its drawer.
  • Sources opens Recent sources: the three newest answers in the room, each marked evidenced, without evidence or blocked. Select one to unfold its evidence record. It shows answers, not the questions behind them.
  • Context opens Context of this room: what the room inherits, the knowledge and rules in scope, the model, and What restricts this task, such as the data class and this month’s budget. Room owners can ask for a higher budget here. See Usage and budgets.
Room details in the top bar opens the room’s settings. See Rooms.

The evidence record behind an answer

Every answer, and every blocked request, writes an evidence record. Show sources opens it in the Evidence drawer: the model, room and data class, cost, every source marked cited or context only, the rule decisions, and whether the record is signed. Your question and the answer are kept only as fingerprints (hashes), not as text. Download sources under More actions saves the record as a file. Deleting a conversation keeps its records. See Audit log.

Give feedback on an answer

Under More actions, record what happened next:
  • I did it this way: you followed the answer.
  • I changed it: you did something different. You can add an amount and what you changed.
  • This was wrong: choose why, for example The rule was wrong or A rule was missing, and optionally name the rule or document.
Add a note if you like and select Record. This works only for answers that used the room’s rulebook. Who can do this: the person who asked, and the room’s owners, deciders and curators. The same menu offers Save as ADR draft: any member can turn the answer into a decision draft of the type they choose. Answers are not rated; ratings exist for decisions.