Epistemic Surface Extraction (ESE)

Many verification artifacts are not text-first: screenshots, recordings, videos, PDF slides. Without a structured "surface," they become invisible influence: present, persuasive, and unauditable.

Epistemic Surface Extraction (ESE) is a repeatable method to extract what an artifact asserts and depicts in a way that:

• makes evidence discoverable and searchable for humans and agents
• preserves emphasis and structure (not just words)
• prevents accidental canonization
• maintains contestability

ESE is not "OCR."
ESE is awareness extraction.

• MUST produce sidecar files for any non-text evidence artifact
• MUST include containment clause marking surfaces as non-canonical
• MUST use anchor contracts for time-based media (audio/video)
• MUST NOT treat surface extractions as doctrine or instruction
• MUST reference source artifacts explicitly

For an artifact artifact.ext, produce:

• artifact.surface.json — authoritative, machine-usable surface (source-of-truth)
• artifact.surface.md — human-readable rendering (derived from JSON when possible)

Artifacts remain non-canonical by default.

Every *.surface.json MUST contain:

1. Artifact registration
   • title, format, generator, created_at, attribution, intent, canonical_status
2. Segmentation spec
   • modality, unit, method, anchor stability notes
3. Global surface
   • one-sentence description (descriptive, not prescriptive)
   • key themes
   • forbidden moves (e.g., "do not treat as instruction")
4. Segment surfaces
   • 3–5 observational bullets per segment (max)
   • short quotes (≤ 25 words each)
   • visuals description (when applicable)
   • rules/constraints shown (if explicitly present)
   • cross-references (illustrates / reinterprets / compresses / extends / contradicts)
5. Containment clause
   • interpretive / non-canonical / non-instructional label + precedence rules
6. Provenance
   • extraction method and human review status

Screenshots / Images

• unit: frame
• anchor_type: frame_index (or 1)
• segments: 1 per image (unless intentionally subdividing regions)

Slides / PDFs

• unit: page
• anchor_type: page_number
• segments: 1 per page

Audio Recordings

Audio is time-structured. Meaning may rely on emphasis and pacing.

Choose segmentation based on source:

• multi-speaker: unit = speaker_turn (preferred)
• single-speaker: unit = topic_block (preferred)

Anchors MUST be stable:

• anchor_type: timestamp+hash (required)

Where:

• timestamp_start / timestamp_end are included
• snippet_hash is included (see Anchor Contract below)

Video Recordings

Video contains two channels: speech + visuals.

• unit: scene (preferred) or topic_block
• anchor_type: timestamp+hash (required)
• Segment surfaces SHOULD include:
  • spoken surface (ASR-derived quotes + bullets)
  • visual surface (what appears on screen; on-screen text; diagrams; notable gestures)

Timestamps alone can drift if:

• the file is trimmed
• the file is re-encoded
• a different cut is produced

Transcript text alone can drift if:

• ASR improves
• punctuation changes
• casing or normalization changes

Therefore anchors MUST include BOTH:

• timestamp_start
• timestamp_end
• snippet_hash

snippet_hash

A short, stable identifier derived from a transcript snippet near the start of the segment.

Guidelines:

• use ~10–20 words from the segment start
• normalize whitespace
• hash with a stable algorithm (e.g., sha256)
• store only the hash (not the full snippet) if privacy is a concern

This creates an anchor that remains usable under minor shifts.

Per segment:

• 3–5 bullets maximum
• observational / descriptive language
• avoid "should/must" unless quoting the artifact
• do not introduce new doctrine
• if making an inference, label it explicitly as "Inference: …"

Use one of:

• illustrates — directly depicts content from a referenced doc
• compresses — summarizes or condenses referenced content
• reinterprets — reframes the meaning without adding new facts
• extends — adds new claims beyond the referenced source (high risk)
• contradicts — conflicts with referenced source

Default to illustrates or compresses.

Every surface MUST include a containment clause similar to:

This artifact is interpretive and non-canonical. It may illustrate themes but does not define rules. If it can be safely treated as instruction, it has failed.

Precedence:

• Canon overrides surface artifacts.
• Surface artifacts override nothing.

Surfaces can inform canon edits, but:

• Artifacts do not become canon.
• Only separately authored canon changes can be promoted.
• If a surface reveals a durable insight, promote the insight by editing canon, not by referencing the artifact as authority.

• Raw Dump: Extracting text without structure or emphasis
• Doctrine Creep: Treating a surface extraction as instruction
• Anchor Drift: Using timestamps alone without hash anchors
• Missing Containment: Omitting the non-canonical warning

• Verification & Evidence
• Visual Proof Standards
• Definition of Done

Promoted from /canon/apocrypha/artifacts/SURFACE-EXTRACTION.md to Canon.