GOAP Research Skill with Ed25519 Verification

Advanced research system combining Goal-Oriented Action Planning (GOAP) with Ed25519 cryptographic verification for maximum anti-hallucination protection.

Key Differentiators from Standard GOAP

Ed25519 Verification Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    RESEARCH PIPELINE                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐              │
│  │ Source   │───▶│ Ed25519  │───▶│ Verified │              │
│  │ Content  │    │ Verifier │    │ Facts    │              │
│  └──────────┘    └──────────┘    └──────────┘              │
│        │              │               │                     │
│        ▼              ▼               ▼                     │
│  ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐              │
│  │ Citation │    │ Signature│    │ Confidence│              │
│  │ Extractor│    │ Chain    │    │ Calculator│              │
│  └──────────┘    └──────────┘    └──────────┘              │
│        │              │               │                     │
│        └──────────────┴───────────────┘                     │
│                       │                                     │
│                       ▼                                     │
│              ┌────────────────┐                             │
│              │ Verification   │                             │
│              │ Ledger (signed)│                             │
│              └────────────────┘                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Core GOAP Methodology (Enhanced)

Phase 1: State Assessment with Trust Initialization

Define Current State:

• Existing knowledge about the topic
• Available sources and access constraints
• NEW: Trusted issuer whitelist configuration
• NEW: Ed25519 keypair availability
• Time and depth requirements

Define Goal State:

• Specific questions to answer
• Required evidence types
• NEW: Minimum verification threshold (0.85 default, 0.95 strict)
• NEW: Required signature chain depth
• Confidence thresholds for conclusions

Gap Analysis:

• Knowledge gaps to fill
• NEW: Unsigned claims requiring verification
• NEW: Citation chain breaks to resolve

Phase 2: Action Inventory (Extended)

Research actions with Ed25519 verification extensions:

Phase 3: Plan Generation (A* with Verification Cost)

Enhanced cost function:

f(n) = g(n) + h(n) + v(n)

• g(n): Actual cost (searches performed, time spent)
• h(n): Heuristic distance to goal (remaining questions)
• v(n): Verification penalty (unsigned claims × 0.5)

Planning Heuristics:

1. Prioritize signed sources over unsigned (lower total cost)
2. Prefer sources from trusted issuers whitelist
3. Weight cryptographically verified claims higher
4. Factor citation chain depth in confidence

Phase 4: OODA Loop with Verification Checkpoints

Observe:

• Monitor search results quality
• Track signature validity status
• Monitor citation chain integrity
• Identify information gaps

Orient:

• Assess if current path leads to goal
• Evaluate cryptographic trust level
• Check for signature chain breaks
• Recognize when verification fails

Decide:

• Continue current research branch or pivot
• Accept or reject unsigned sources
• Trigger re-verification on suspicious content
• Choose between depth and breadth

Act:

• Execute next optimal action
• Sign verified findings
• Update verification ledger
• Trigger replanning if deviation detected

Phase 5: Dynamic Replanning with Trust Recalculation

Trigger replanning when:

• Key assumption invalidated
• Signature verification fails
• Trusted issuer removed from whitelist
• Citation chain broken
• Higher-quality signed source discovered

Ed25519 Verification Protocol

Trusted Issuers Whitelist

Default trusted issuers (Level 5 sources):

yaml
1trusted_issuers:
2  news:
3    - reuters.com
4    - ap.org
5    - bbc.com
6  academic:
7    - arxiv.org
8    - nature.com
9    - science.org
10    - pubmed.gov
11  government:
12    - .gov domains
13    - .gov.uk domains
14    - europa.eu
15  financial:
16    - sec.gov
17    - federalreserve.gov
18    - ecb.europa.eu

Signature Verification Flow

1. Source provides content + signature + public_key_id
2. Fetch public key from trusted keyserver or issuer
3. Verify Ed25519 signature: verify(signature, content_hash, public_key)
4. Check issuer against trusted whitelist
5. Record verification result in ledger
6. Assign cryptographic trust score

Citation Chain Verification

Each fact in the chain must have:

json
1{
2  "claim": "The statement being made",
3  "source_url": "https://...",
4  "source_hash": "sha256:abc123...",
5  "issuer_pubkey": "ed25519:xyz789...",
6  "signature": "ed25519_sig:...",
7  "timestamp": "2025-01-22T10:30:00Z",
8  "parent_citation": "chain_id:previous_fact_id",
9  "confidence": 0.95
10}

Chain verification:

1. Verify each fact's signature individually
2. Verify chain integrity (parent hashes match)
3. Check all issuers are in trusted whitelist
4. Calculate aggregate chain confidence

Anti-Hallucination Rules

100% Citation Rule

Every factual claim MUST have a verifiable source. No exceptions.

❌ FORBIDDEN: "Studies show that X leads to Y"
✅ REQUIRED:  "A 2024 study published in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/...) found that X leads to Y"

Verification Thresholds

Confidence Calculation

confidence = base_reliability × verification_multiplier × recency_factor

where:
  base_reliability = source level (1-5) / 5
  verification_multiplier = 1.0 if unsigned, 1.2 if signed, 1.5 if chain_verified
  recency_factor = 1.0 if <24h, 0.9 if <7d, 0.8 if <30d, 0.6 if older

Research Execution Patterns (Enhanced)

Pattern A: Verified Exploratory Research

Goal: comprehensive_verified_understanding
Actions:
1. configure_trusted_issuers → whitelist_active
2. web_search_verified → verified_candidates_found
3. FOR EACH candidate: fetch_signed_source → signed_content_retrieved
4. extract_facts → facts_cataloged
5. sign_extracted_facts → signed_facts
6. cross_reference_signed → signed_consistency_checked
7. build_citation_chain → citation_chain_complete
8. verify_citation_chain → chain_verified
9. synthesize_findings → conclusions_formed
10. generate_signed_report → signed_report_delivered

Pattern B: High-Stakes Fact Verification

Goal: cryptographically_verified_claim
Mode: strict (0.95 threshold)
Actions:
1. identify_claim → claim_defined
2. configure_trusted_issuers (strict list) → whitelist_active
3. find_primary_source → primary_located
4. fetch_signed_source → signed_content_retrieved
5. verify_claim_cryptographic → cryptographically_verified
6. cross_reference_signed (≥3 sources) → multi_source_verified
7. build_citation_chain → citation_chain_complete
8. verify_citation_chain → chain_verified (confidence ≥0.95)

Pattern C: Competitive Analysis with Audit Trail

Goal: auditable_competitive_landscape
Actions:
1. identify_players → competitors_listed
2. configure_trusted_issuers → whitelist_active
3. FOR EACH competitor:
   - web_search_verified → verified_info_found
   - fetch_signed_source (official sources) → signed_content
   - extract_facts → facts_cataloged
   - sign_extracted_facts → signed_facts
4. cross_reference_signed → consistency_verified
5. build_citation_chain → full_chain
6. generate_signed_report → auditable_report

Output Structure (Enhanced)

Verified Research Report Format

markdown
1## Executive Summary
2[Key findings in 2-3 sentences]
3
4## Verification Status
5- Mode: strict (0.95 threshold)
6- Chain Integrity: ✅ VERIFIED
7- Unsigned Claims: 0
8- Total Citations: 15
9- Trusted Issuers Used: 8
10
11## Research Objective
12[Original question/goal]
13
14## Methodology
15[GOAP plan executed, verification protocol used]
16
17## Verified Findings
18
19### [Subtopic 1]
20[Findings with signed inline citations]
21
22**Verification Details:**
23| Claim | Source | Signature | Confidence |
24|-------|--------|-----------|------------|
25| ... | ... | ✅ | 0.96 |
26
27### [Subtopic 2]
28[Findings with signed inline citations]
29
30## Confidence Assessment
31- Cryptographically Verified (≥0.95): [claims list]
32- Cross-Reference Verified (0.85-0.95): [claims list]
33- Single Source (0.75-0.85): [claims list]
34- Unverified (<0.75): NONE (strict mode)
35
36## Citation Chain
37[Full chain with signatures - see Appendix A]
38
39## Verification Ledger
40[Signed log of all verification operations]
41
42## Sources
43[Numbered list with URLs, signatures, and trust scores]
44
45## Appendix A: Cryptographic Verification Details
46[Full Ed25519 signature data for audit]

Quality Standards (Enhanced)

Completeness Checks:

• All original questions addressed
• 100% of claims have citations
• All citations are verifiable
• Citation chain integrity verified
• Primary sources found where possible
• Contradictions identified and addressed
• Confidence levels assigned to conclusions
• Verification ledger signed and complete

Anti-Hallucination Checks:

• No claims without sources
• No "studies show" without specific citation
• No statistics without methodology source
• No quotes without attribution + verification
• No predictions presented as facts

Implementation

Python Usage

python
1from goap_planner import GOAPResearchPlanner
2from ed25519_verifier import Ed25519Verifier
3
4# Initialize with Ed25519 verification
5planner = GOAPResearchPlanner(
6    verification_mode="strict",
7    trusted_issuers=["reuters.com", "ap.org", "nature.com"]
8)
9
10# Generate research plan
11plan = planner.plan(
12    goal_type="verified_exploratory",
13    topic="AI safety regulations 2025"
14)
15
16# Execute with verification
17results = planner.execute(plan, verify_all=True)
18
19# Generate signed report
20report = planner.generate_report(
21    results,
22    sign=True,
23    include_verification_ledger=True
24)

CLI Usage (via goalie integration)

bash
1# Install goalie for Ed25519 support
2npm install -g goalie
3
4# Verified research
5goalie search "Your research question" \
6  --verify \
7  --strict-verify \
8  --trusted-issuers "reuters.com,ap.org,nature.com" \
9  --mode academic \
10  --save
11
12# Anti-hallucination check
13goalie reason --mode anti-hallucination \
14  --claims "Your claim to verify" \
15  --citations "Source URL"

References

For detailed implementations, see:

• references/research-actions.md - Complete action specifications with Ed25519 extensions
• references/source-evaluation.md - Source credibility with cryptographic trust
• references/ed25519-verification.md - Ed25519 protocol details
• scripts/goap_planner.py - Enhanced GOAP planner
• scripts/ed25519_verifier.py - Verification module

Dependencies

• Python 3.9+
• @noble/ed25519 (Node.js) or cryptography (Python) for Ed25519
• Optional: goalie npm package for CLI integration