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
- 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. - 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). - “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]. - 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.
- 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
- 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. - Search for tweet references:
modusbrain search "X/@". Every result should have a full URL, not just an @handle. - 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.
- Check timeline entries on 3 random pages. Each entry should have a source citation with date and context.
- 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.