Hybrid sovereign retrieval
A question is routed before it is answered.
Ordinary retrieval takes every question, embeds it, and pulls back whatever paragraphs sit nearest in vector space. That works for "what does this text say" and fails quietly for "how many" — a paragraph that mentions a total is not the same as a table that holds it. So the router reads the question first and decides which machinery should answer it.
Structured query
Ask the tables. Counts, comparisons, totals, filters by jurisdiction or date.
Document retrieval
Find the passage. Wording, definitions, obligations, what a text actually says.
Authority graph
Walk the relationships. Who may act, who reviews whom, where authority stops.
External research
Leaves the device. Requires an explicit authorisation and a policy decision per source.
The external lane is never the first lane. Even when a question scores highest on "current", the local lanes are run first, so the reader sees what is already held before anything is asked of the outside. And the external lane does not run at all without an explicit authorisation and a per-source decision at the data border.
Four lanes. The question chooses; it is not asked to trust one answer machine with everything.
Route a question yourself
The router, running here.
This runs route() from /engine/sovereign.mjs — the same file the build imports in Node. No request is made. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Worked examples, computed at build time
Eight questions and where each one goes.
Compare what Maricopa spent on the 2020 and 2024 cycles
1. Structured query · 5
- STRUCTURED +3 — matched
Compare: asks for a comparison across rows - STRUCTURED +2 — matched
spent: names a numeric field
How many sources in my catalog may leave the device?
1. Structured query · 3
- STRUCTURED +3 — matched
How many: asks for a quantity, which a table answers exactly and a paragraph answers approximately
What does the unified specification say about ballot secrecy?
1. Document retrieval · 3
- DOCUMENT +3 — matched
What does the unified specification say: asks what a text says, which only the text can answer
Who can override a presidential veto, and what is the threshold?
1. Authority graph · 7
- GRAPH +4 — matched
Who can: asks about an authority relationship, not a value - GRAPH +3 — matched
override: names an authority relation
Has the Arizona elections procedures manual changed since this was written?
1. External research · 3 needs authorisation
- EXTERNAL +3 — matched
Has the Arizona elections procedures manual changed: asks whether the stored copy is out of date, which the stored copy cannot answer
Who reviews the Inspectors General, and where does that authority stop?
1. Authority graph · 7
- GRAPH +4 — matched
Who reviews: asks about an authority relationship, not a value - GRAPH +3 — matched
authority: names an authority relation
Explain why the token is separated from the ballot before tabulation
1. Document retrieval · 2
- DOCUMENT +2 — matched
Explain: asks for reasoning that lives in prose
List every dataset with more than fifty rows
1. Structured query · 2
- STRUCTURED +2 — matched
List: asks for an enumeration