Skip to main content

Source Attribution

Goal

Every fact in the brain traces to where it came from — who said it, in what context, and when.

What the User Gets

Without this: six months from now, someone reads a brain page and has no idea if “Pedro co-founded Brex” came from Pedro himself, a LinkedIn scrape, or a hallucination. With this: every claim is auditable, conflicts are surfaced, and the brain is a court-admissible record of reality.

Implementation

Tricky Spots

  1. Compiled truth is NOT exempt from citations. “Pedro co-founded Brex” in the synthesis section needs [Source: ...] just as much as a timeline entry does. Most agents skip citations above the bar.
  2. Tweet URLs are mandatory. [Source: X/@handle tweet, topic, date] without a URL is a broken citation. Hundreds of brain pages end up with unreachable tweet references when the URL is omitted. Always: [Source: X/@handle tweet, topic, date](https://x.com/handle/status/ID).
  3. “User said it” isn’t enough. WHERE, ABOUT WHAT, WHEN. [Source: User, direct message, 2026-04-07 12:33 PM PT] — not just [Source: User].
  4. Don’t silently resolve conflicts. When the user says one thing and an API says another, note the contradiction in compiled truth with both citations. Let the reader decide.
  5. Timeline entries need sources too. Every append to the timeline carries provenance. A timeline entry without a source is an orphan fact.

How to Verify

  1. Open any brain page with modusbrain get <slug>. Read the compiled truth section above the bar. Every factual claim should have an inline [Source: ...] citation.
  2. Search for tweet references: modusbrain search "X/@". Every result should have a full URL, not just an @handle.
  3. Find a page with data from multiple sources (e.g., a person enriched via API + mentioned in a meeting). Confirm both sources are cited independently.
  4. Check timeline entries on 3 random pages. Each entry should have a source citation with date and context.
  5. Look for a page where the user stated something that contradicts an API result. Confirm the contradiction is noted, not silently resolved.

Part of the ModusBrain Skillpack.