Sources and evidence

A useful model distinguishes a recorded value from a supported fact. A document can be a source; the specific passage supporting a statement is the evidence you need to examine.

Check the source behind a value

In the pilot application fact sheet, source indicators accompany supported summary fields. Sources and gaps brings together available evidence and missing information.

Check what a source actually says, when it was produced and whether it still applies. A source that supports an application's owner may say nothing about its cost or lifecycle.

Decisions open as a list and a fact sheet that shows the decision's status, owner and rationale together with the applications, capabilities and initiatives it affects. Add ?classic=1 to open the earlier decision pages.

Make uncertainty visible

In an application portfolio assessment, shared capabilities are a starting point for review. If both applications serve distinct needs, record those needs when proposing to keep both. You can reopen the proposal from either application fact sheet.

Keep these situations separate:

• A confirmed value has a basis you can inspect.
• An estimate needs its assumptions and method recorded.
• An unknown value needs a question and someone to resolve it.

Do not turn an empty field into zero or treat an AI suggestion as confirmed information.

Why two applications are related

Ask your AI client for an application's fact sheet (get_fact_sheet) and it explains each relation the application's integrations list shows: which way data moves, where the relation came from, the evidence behind it and what is not known. The fact sheet panel in Atlas will read the same answer.

Where a relation came from is one of these:

• Recorded by a person: a named person created it in Atlas.
• Imported: it arrived through an import.
• Connector: a connected system set it.
• Derived by AI: a model proposed it. Any confidence shown is the value the model stored; Atlas does not calculate one.
• Recorded, no one named: the relation exists, but Atlas does not know who recorded it.
• Unknown: Atlas has no record of where it came from.

What is not known is named, never left blank:

• No evidence linked: no source is bound to the relation yet.
• Origin not recorded: see Unknown above.
• Target not recorded: the integration names no receiving application.
• Observation time not recorded: Atlas records when it captured a source, not when the fact held. This is always shown.
• Source changed since capture: the document was updated after the excerpt was taken. Check that it still says the same.
• Source removed: the document or link behind the evidence is gone.
• Source version unknown: Atlas cannot tell which version of the source the excerpt came from.

Review proposed changes

For an important change, compare the proposal with the source and ask the responsible owner to confirm it. Check relationships as well as individual fields: a plausible application description can still contain an incorrect dependency.

Review requirements and available controls depend on the workflow. This guide does not imply that every write is automatically held for approval.

What is still being developed

Consistent evidence for every individual fact, observations and decision briefs are part of Atlas's development direction. The current fact-sheet source display is a step toward that goal; it does not establish complete coverage of every entity or every AI-client workflow.

Use the evidence visible in your workspace and record any gap explicitly. See AI and MCP for the availability of client access.

See Data access and source handling before sharing sources or excerpts.