Tsukikage7 · Sep 2, 2026 · Sep 2, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026 · Oct 5, 2026
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+---
+title: "RFC 1435: Explainable PreparedContext Receipts"
+---
+
+- Proposal Name: `explainable_prepared_context_receipts`
+- Start Date: 2026-09-02
+- RFC PR: [oceanbase/powercontext#1435](https://github.com/oceanbase/powercontext/pull/1435)
+- Tracking Issue: [oceanbase/powercontext#1356](https://github.com/oceanbase/powercontext/issues/1356)
+- Related RFCs: [RFC 0014](0014_memory_layer_design.md), [RFC 0028](0028_context_pack.md),
+  [RFC 0046](0046_observability_foundations.md), and [RFC 0080](0080_memory_search_reranking.md)
+
+# Summary
+
+This RFC adds an optional, bounded PreparedContext Receipt to request-time recall. The existing
+`powercontext.prepared-context.v1` injection value stays `status`, `content`, and `content_bytes`. Callers that opt in
+receive a companion Receipt that identifies what the Runtime selected, what it omitted, which retrieval path it used,
+and which byte budget it consumed, without retaining query text or Memory/Experience bodies.
+
+The first policy is `powercontext.prepared-context-receipt.v1`. Receipts are ephemeral diagnostics attached to one
+`prepare` response. They are not Artifacts, have no Revision, are not persisted by default, and are not a second
+authority for facts. OpenTelemetry spans remain the timing and outcome signal. A Receipt is the exact-selection
+contract for one injected byte string.
+
+# Motivation
+
+`POST /v1/context/prepare` already owns selection, citation, rendering, and the UTF-8 budget. The Runtime keeps exact
+origins on `PreparedContextBuild` and records search/build stage attributes on traces, then discards both at the public
+boundary. Integrations and operators therefore see only an opaque injection string.
+
+That gap blocks three product uses:
+
+- An operator cannot tell whether an Agent received a decision, hit the budget, or received an empty result for a
+  different reason.
+- Evaluation cannot score selected exact references, omission classes, or retrieval fallback independently from the
+  injected text.
+- Adjacent work such as multi-resolution packing can compare policies only after a stable, content-free selection
+  record exists.
+
+Spans answer "which stage ran and how long it took". They do not identify the exact Memory entry versions or Experience
+revisions that were rendered, and they must not grow into a public selection schema. Memory search's in-process rerank
+trace is also the wrong surface: it describes one search, not the interleaved, budgeted PreparedContext that the host
+injects.
+
+Without a Receipt, each host or benchmark will invent its own explanation of recall. That explanation will either leak
+content or disagree with what was actually injected.
+
+# Guide-level explanation
+
+## Ask for a Receipt
+
+The default `prepare` request is unchanged:
+
+```python
+prepared = await client.prepare_context(
+    PrepareContextRequest(scope_id="project:payments", query="Why did we choose SQLite?", max_bytes=8000)
+)
+```
+
+The response remains `powercontext.prepared-context.v1`. Hosts that inject `content` keep their current parsing.
+
+A caller that needs to explain the same result sets `include_receipt` to true:
+
+```python
+prepared = await client.prepare_context(
+    PrepareContextRequest(
+        scope_id="project:payments",
+        query="Why did we choose SQLite?",
+        max_bytes=8000,
+        include_receipt=True,
+    )
+)
+```
+
+When the Runtime produces a ready context, the response still contains the injection string and adds a Receipt. The
+Receipt names the exact selected citations, groups omitted candidates by a closed reason enum, records the retrieval
+mode actually used, and hashes the injected bytes. It never repeats the query or the selected bodies.
+
+Empty results also receive a Receipt when requested. An empty Receipt still reports the query digest, budget, retrieval
+path, and omission counts so "no Memory" is distinguishable from "everything was over budget".
+
+Automatic host recall must not set `include_receipt`. Official Pi, DSH, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code, and WorkBuddy
+validators currently require the injection object to contain exactly `schema`, `status`, `content`, and `content_bytes`.
+A default or host-recall Receipt would be rejected as an invalid response and would fail open without injecting
+context. Operators, evaluation harnesses, and a later CLI request Receipts on a separate prepare call, or through an
+updated validator that opts into the extra field.
+
+## Treat a Receipt as untrusted metadata
+
+A Receipt proves that PowerContext rendered those exact references under that policy and budget. It does not prove that
+the historical content is currently true, and it does not outrank system, developer, repository, or current-user
+instructions. Hosts must not inject Receipt JSON into the model prompt. The injection value remains `content`.
+
+PreparedContext Receipts are not Handoff Receipts. A Handoff Receipt is a Work Continuity acknowledgement of an exact
+Handoff Revision. A PreparedContext Receipt explains one ephemeral recall.
+
+## Inspect without a new content API
+
+The compact Receipt is the first disclosure level. Progressive inspection reuses existing exact-read operations:
+
+1. Receipt: selected refs, omission counts, retrieval path, digest, budget.
+2. Exact Memory or Experience read by the cited identity.
+3. Exact Source evidence already attached to that Artifact, when the caller is authorized to read it.
+
+The Receipt does not cache item bodies for later expansion. If the caller needs the text, it loads the current exact
+identity through the ordinary Memory and Experience APIs. If that identity has since been retired, the exact-read
+failure is the explanation; the Receipt is not a time-travel store.
+
+## Failure stays fail-open
+
+Receipt assembly must not change or block injection. If `include_receipt` is true and Receipt construction fails, the
+Server still returns the PreparedContext that would have been returned without the flag, omits `receipt`, and records a
+content-free diagnostic. Integrations that ignore the new field keep working.
+
+# Reference-level explanation
+
+## Public request
+
+`PrepareContextRequest` gains one optional field:
+
+| Field | Default | Contract |
+| --- | ---: | --- |
+| `include_receipt` | `false` | When true, the Runtime attempts to attach `powercontext.prepared-context-receipt.v1` to this response. |
+
+Omitted, null, and false are equivalent. Existing clients send neither the field nor a Receipt parser. v1 does not
+offer a Server deployment default that turns Receipts on for every prepare.
+
+`query`, `scope_id`, and `max_bytes` keep their current bounds. `query_digest` hashes the same normalized query Memory
+search already uses (`normalize_text`: NFC Unicode of the trimmed query, UTF-8). The Receipt stores only `sha256:<hex>`.
+
+## Public response
+
+`PreparedContext` keeps `schema`, `status`, `content`, and `content_bytes`. It gains:
+
+| Field | Presence | Contract |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `receipt` | omitted unless requested and successfully built | `PreparedContextReceipt` |
+
+When `include_receipt` is false, null, or omitted, the JSON object must not contain a `receipt` key. A `null` value is
+not equivalent to omission. Official host validators and OpenAPI `additionalProperties: false` reject unknown keys,
+including `"receipt": null`.
+
+The injection schema name remains `powercontext.prepared-context.v1`. Default prepare responses therefore stay a
+four-field object. Callers that set `include_receipt` true must parse the optional `receipt` field; official generated
+clients are regenerated in the implementation PR. Host recall plugins keep their exact four-field validators until they
+explicitly opt in.
+
+## Receipt schema
+
+Policy ID: `powercontext.prepared-context-receipt.v1`.
+
+```text
+PreparedContextReceipt
+  schema: powercontext.prepared-context-receipt.v1
+  receipt_id: opaque UUID
+  policy_id: powercontext.prepared-context-receipt.v1
+  query_digest: sha256 hex of normalized query
+  content_digest: sha256 hex of injected UTF-8 content, or null when status=empty
+  requested_max_bytes: integer
+  used_bytes: integer, equal to content_bytes
+  truncated: true when any selected item was size-truncated
+  retrieval:
+    memory_mode: auto | fts | vector | hybrid | none
+    rerank_policy_id: string | null
+    rerank_fallback: boolean
+    experience_configured: boolean
+  selected: [SelectedItem]  # schema max 16; current Builder emits at most 8
+  omitted: [OmittedGroup]   # max 16 groups
+  stages: [StageTiming]     # memory.search, experience.search, context.build
+```
+
+`receipt_id` correlates this Receipt with the HTTP `X-PowerContext-Request-ID` in logs. It is not an Artifact ID and
+must not be used as a durable fetch key in v1.
+
+`SelectedItem`:
+
+| Field | Contract |
+| --- | --- |
+| `kind` | `memory` or `experience` |
+| `memory_citation` or `artifact_ref` | Exact identity already admitted by the Builder |
+| `rendered_bytes` | UTF-8 size of that item's rendered fragment, not the source body |
+| `truncated` | Whether the Builder truncated that item to fit |
+
+Selected items are listed in injection order. The set of selected identities must equal `PreparedContextBuild.origins`.
+A Receipt whose selected refs do not match the injected origins is invalid and must not be returned; the Server then
+follows the Receipt-assembly failure path.
+
+The OpenAPI array cap is 16 so a later Builder change does not require a schema bump. The current Coding Agent Builder
+admits at most eight Memory items and two Experience items, interleaves Memory first, and caps the injected list at
+eight. A v1 Receipt lists exactly that injected list, never a superset.
+
+`OmittedGroup`:
+
+| Field | Contract |
+| --- | --- |
+| `reason` | Closed enum below |
+| `count` | Distinct dropped identities, except empty-set flags which always use `1` |
+
+Closed `reason` values:
+
+| Reason | Meaning |
+| --- | --- |
+| `duplicate` | Same Memory entry version or Experience revision already admitted |
+| `blank` | Empty identity or empty renderable text |
+| `family_limit` | Exceeded the Builder's Memory or Experience admission cap |
+| `entry_limit` | Exceeded the combined injection item cap |
+| `over_budget` | Could not fit even at the minimum truncated size |
+| `rerank_not_selected` | Present in the coarse Memory pool and dropped by listwise rerank before the Builder |
+| `memory_not_retrieved` | No Memory head, or Memory search returned zero hits |
+| `experience_not_retrieved` | Experience recall is not configured, or it returned zero hits |
+
+`memory_not_retrieved` and `experience_not_retrieved` are empty-set flags, not scans of the Artifact. Each appears at
+most once, with `count` equal to `1`. They are omitted when that source produced a non-empty candidate list, even if
+every candidate is later dropped for another reason. Other reasons count distinct candidate identities in the pool that
+reached the Builder or were excluded immediately before admission. Omission counts never try to count the entire Memory
+Artifact.
+
+`StageTiming` records milliseconds for `memory.search`, `experience.search`, and `context.build`. Missing stages are
+omitted. Stage names match the existing Runtime span names so a Receipt can be correlated with a trace without copying
+span payloads.
+
+Rerank: when Memory search produced a `MemoryRerankTrace`, the Receipt copies `policy_id` and `used_fallback` only. It
+does not copy candidate hits, selected ranks, usage, or any Memory text from that trace.
+
+## Bounds
+
+| Limit | Value |
+| ---: | ---: |
+| `selected` | 16 items in the schema; current Builder output is at most 8 |
+| `omitted` groups | 16 |
+| `stages` | 8 |
+| `receipt` JSON UTF-8 size | 8192 bytes |
+| item bodies, query text, prompts, vectors, secrets, tokens, absolute paths | forbidden |
+
+If a valid Receipt would exceed 8192 bytes, the Server drops the Receipt rather than truncating selected identities.
+A truncated identity list would disagree with the injected bytes.
+
+## Persistence and MCP
+
+v1 does not persist Receipts and does not add a fetch-by-`receipt_id` operation. Evaluation that needs a durable record
+stores the response itself in the evaluation harness. A later opt-in store with TTL requires its own RFC.
+
+`prepare_context` remains absent from the default MCP tool surface. Receipts are not a reason to project prepare as an
+Agent-facing tool.
+
+## CLI
+
+The Client SDK exposes `include_receipt` on the existing prepare operation. A later CLI command such as
+`powercontext context prepare --include-receipt` may print the Receipt as JSON. That command is implementation work
+after this RFC; it must not inject Receipts into Agent prompts.
+
+## Compatibility
+
+| Surface | Change |
+| --- | --- |
+| Default `prepare` | Same four-field JSON object; no `receipt` key |
+| OpenAPI `PrepareContextRequest` | Optional `include_receipt` |
+| OpenAPI `PreparedContext` | Optional `receipt`, present only when requested and successfully built |
+| SQLite / OceanBase | No schema change in v1 |
+| Host recall plugins | No required change while they omit `include_receipt` |
+| Host validators | Exact four-field checks remain valid on the default path |
+| Tracing | No new required span; existing stage names are reused in `stages` |
+
+Generated Python, DSH, Pi, and OpenCode operation tables are regenerated in the implementation PR. Automatic recall
+must keep sending the current request shape. A host that wants to log Receipts updates its validator in the same
+change that sets `include_receipt`.
+
+## Implementation sketch
+
+1. Extend `PrepareContextRequest` and `PreparedContext` in OpenAPI, then regenerate bindings.
+2. Keep `PreparedContextBuilder.build_result()` as the origin of selected items. Count omitted identities while
+   walking the same candidate lists the Builder already walks.
+3. Copy retrieval mode and rerank summary from the Memory search result already produced in
+   `ScopedContextApplication._prepare`.
+4. Hash the Memory-search-normalized query and the injected `content` after the Builder returns.
+5. If Receipt validation fails, log a content-free error and return the four-field PreparedContext with no `receipt`
+   key.
+6. Leave official host recall requests unchanged. Update a host validator only in a change that opts that host into
+   Receipts.
+
+Focused tests cover empty, ready, truncated, deduplicated, reranked, fallback, `include_receipt=false` (no `receipt`
+key), `memory_not_retrieved` / `experience_not_retrieved` flags, and Receipt-assembly failure. Each ready case asserts
+`content_digest` matches the returned `content` and selected refs match `origins`. Host recall fixtures keep asserting
+exactly four response keys.
+
+# Drawbacks
+
+- Optional fields expand the OpenAPI models and every generated client even when most hosts never request a Receipt.
+- Omission counts are summaries of the admitted candidate pool, not of the entire Memory Artifact, so they can be
+  misread as "how much of the project was considered".
+- Callers might inject Receipt JSON into prompts despite the trust rule.
+- `receipt_id` looks like a durable identifier even though v1 cannot fetch it later.
+
+# Rationale and alternatives
+
+**Opt-in field on `prepare`, not a second operation.** A separate `POST /v1/context/explain` would either re-run
+selection and disagree with the injected bytes, or require the Server to remember the last prepare. The first is
+incorrect; the second is persistence. Attaching the Receipt to the same response keeps one selection, one digest, and
+no store.
+
+**Do not put diagnostics on PreparedContext v1 by default.** Every host would download selection metadata on the hot
+path. Fail-open injectors would start depending on a larger schema.
+
+**Do not use OTel spans as the public contract.** Spans are sampled, exporter-specific, and must stay content-free.
+They cannot carry exact Memory citations as a supported API.
+
+**Do not reuse Memory search's rerank trace.** That trace includes candidate hits and is in-process only. HTTP search
+already withholds it. PreparedContext selection happens after Memory search and Experience search and applies a
+different budget.
+
+**Do not persist every prepare.** Request-time recall would become an unbounded history of user queries. Evaluation can
+keep the HTTP response in the harness.
+
+**Do not invent a progressive-content cache.** Expanding a Receipt item through existing exact-read APIs preserves
+Artifact authority. A prepare-side body cache would be a second store of Memory text keyed by an ephemeral id.
+
+Impact of not doing this: hosts and benchmarks will keep reverse-engineering recall from injected text or private
+logs, and later packing experiments will have no shared omission vocabulary.
+
+# Prior art
+
+PowerContext already has four related but distinct records:
+
+- `PreparedContextBuild.origins` is the exact selected set, discarded at the HTTP boundary.
+- Runtime `memory.search`, `experience.search`, and `context.build` spans record counts and modes, not citations.
+- `MemoryRerankTrace` explains listwise Memory search inside the process.
+- Handoff Receipts acknowledge an exact Handoff Revision in Work Continuity.
+
+RFC 0028 already requires citations and budgets on the injection path; it does not expose the selection record.
+RFC 0046 forbids putting Memory bodies and query text into traces. RFC 0080 keeps rerank diagnostics off the HTTP
+search contract.
+
+Outside PowerContext, retrieval systems often return hit IDs and scores with the answer. This RFC returns exact
+PowerContext identities and closed omission reasons, and it refuses scores and bodies so the diagnostic cannot become
+another prompt.
+
+# Unresolved questions
+
+- Should a later evaluation profile persist Receipts under an explicit TTL, or is harness-side storage enough?
+- Does Dashboard inspection belong in the first implementation issue, or only CLI/SDK?
+
+v1 keeps `include_receipt` request-only. A Server default that attaches Receipts to every prepare would break current
+host validators and is out of scope.
+
+These remaining questions do not block accepting the v1 contract above. They belong in the implementation issue or a
+follow-up RFC.
+
+# Future possibilities
+
+- A Context Inspector UI that renders selected refs and omission counts from a prepare-with-receipt response.
+- Evaluation reports that join Receipt omission reasons with task scores.
+- Multi-resolution packing ([#1426](https://github.com/oceanbase/powercontext/issues/1426)) reporting selected level
+  through the same Receipt `omitted` vocabulary.
+- An opt-in durable Receipt store for audits, with query digests only and a short TTL.
+- Host-visible, content-free diagnostics that log `receipt_id` and `content_digest` when recall is empty or truncated.