# Intellectual Archaeology Depth Gate

Date: 2026-06-17

Status: draft rule hardening for `model_library_mvp`

## 1. Purpose

Intellectual Archaeology is a deep modeling model. It is not a default analysis mode, article summary mode, or ornament for ordinary questions.

The depth gate exists to prevent over-analysis and to force explicit stopping reasons.

## 2. When `should_call=false`

Set `should_call=false` when:

- the user only needs a fact lookup;
- the user asks for rewrite, translation, typo correction, or direct execution;
- QPI has not completed problem definition for an ambiguous problem;
- the input has deep words such as "底层", "模型", or "哲学" but the user intent is light;
- there is not enough material to separate real assumptions from generic abstraction;
- the analysis would not change judgment, route, verification, or action.

## 3. Depth Levels

Allowed `recommended_max_depth` values:

- `application`
- `domain`
- `process`
- `purpose`
- `core_mechanism`
- `human_capability`
- `philosophical_bedrock`

## 4. Depth Derivation

Use the shallowest level that can change the next action.

Stop at `application` when the request is about usage, examples, or immediate application.

Stop at `domain` when domain assumptions or contextual constraints explain the behavior.

Stop at `process` when the missing value is workflow, sequence, role boundary, or operating mechanism.

Stop at `purpose` when the problem is about what the system is trying to optimize or preserve.

Stop at `core_mechanism` when the request is to extract a reusable model or explain repeated failure.

Use `human_capability` only when the question depends on human cognition, judgment, agency, fatigue, attention, or embodied limitation.

Use `philosophical_bedrock` only when the problem explicitly involves value premises, epistemic assumptions, ontology of the problem, or the model's deepest ground.

## 5. Philosophical Bedrock Is Not Default

`philosophical_bedrock` must not be selected only because the input contains:

- "底层";
- "模型";
- "哲学";
- "第一性原理";
- "深层".

It is allowed only when deeper analysis changes the framing, validity, or action boundary.

## 6. Required Runtime Fields

The model-specific runtime contract requires:

- `should_call`
- `entry_reason`
- `recommended_max_depth`
- `layers_to_analyze`
- `stop_reason`
- `no_deeper_reason`
- `assumptions_by_layer`
- `validation_needed`
- `action_implication`

`value_of_deeper_analysis` may be added later as an optional field, but `no_deeper_reason` is required because it prevents depth inflation.

## 7. Stop Reason Templates

Use concrete stopping reasons:

- "Stop at purpose because the decision depends on what the system optimizes; deeper ontology would not change the next action."
- "Stop at core_mechanism because the reusable pattern is now explicit and validation can begin."
- "Stop before philosophical_bedrock because the input lacks evidence for value-premise or epistemic claims."
- "No call because QPI has not completed the problem frame."
- "No call because the user requested direct execution."

## 8. Status Boundary

This gate does not upgrade the model. Intellectual Archaeology remains:

```json
{
  "status": "draft",
  "stability_level": "B",
  "regression_status": "pending"
}
```

