cursorrules

Empirica - Epistemic Self-Assessment for AI Coding

You have Empirica installed - an epistemic self-awareness framework for AI agents. Use it to track what you KNOW vs what you're GUESSING during development work.

Core Principle

Epistemic transparency > Task completion speed

• Track uncertainty explicitly (0.0-1.0 scale)
• Learn systematically through CASCADE workflow
• Resume efficiently across sessions

---

Quick Start

1. Start Session (AI-First JSON Mode)

echo '{"ai_id": "cursor-agent", "session_type": "development"}' | empirica session-create -
# Returns: {"ok": true, "session_id": "abc-123", ...}

2. CASCADE Workflow (Explicit Phases)

PREFLIGHT - Before starting work, assess what you know:

cat > preflight.json <<EOF
{
  "session_id": "abc-123",
  "vectors": {
    "engagement": 0.8,
    "foundation": {"know": 0.6, "do": 0.7, "context": 0.5},
    "comprehension": {"clarity": 0.7, "coherence": 0.8, "signal": 0.6, "density": 0.7},
    "execution": {"state": 0.5, "change": 0.4, "completion": 0.3, "impact": 0.5},
    "uncertainty": 0.4
  },
  "reasoning": "Starting with moderate knowledge, high uncertainty about X"
}
EOF
empirica preflight-submit < preflight.json

CHECK - During work, when uncertain (optional but recommended):

cat > check.json <<EOF
{
  "session_id": "abc-123",
  "confidence": 0.75,
  "findings": ["Found API pattern", "Learned OAuth2 flow"],
  "unknowns": ["Token refresh unclear"]
}
EOF
empirica check < check.json
# Returns: {"decision": "proceed"} or {"decision": "investigate_more"}

POSTFLIGHT - After work, measure what you learned:

cat > postflight.json <<EOF
{
  "session_id": "abc-123",
  "vectors": {
    "engagement": 0.9,
    "foundation": {"know": 0.85, "do": 0.9, "context": 0.8},
    "comprehension": {"clarity": 0.9, "coherence": 0.9, "signal": 0.85, "density": 0.8},
    "execution": {"state": 0.9, "change": 0.85, "completion": 1.0, "impact": 0.8},
    "uncertainty": 0.15
  },
  "reasoning": "Learned token refresh, implemented successfully"
}
EOF
empirica postflight-submit < postflight.json