Citation Verifier

The citation-verifier policy runs in the output phase. It extracts supported citation patterns, optionally checks RAG context overlap, and records verification details. It blocks only when the output is unverified and output_action.unverified_action is set to block.

Phase and verdicts

• Phase: output
• Possible verdicts: allow, block

Configuration

pack:
  name: citation-verifier-example
  version: 1.0.0
  enabled: true
policies:
  chain:
    - citation-verifier
policy:
  citation-verifier:
    require_sources: true
    require_source_match: true
    min_confidence: 0.8
    min_groundedness: 0.8
    extract_patterns:
      - case_law
      - academic
      - url
      - quote
      - statistic
    rag_context:
      verify_against_context: true
      min_context_overlap: 0.7
    output_action:
      unverified_action: block
    response:
      include_verification_report: true

Supported fields

Field	Type	Default	Notes
require_sources	boolean	true	Requires extracted citations when verification runs.
require_source_match	boolean	true	May also be supplied under verification.require_source_match.
min_confidence	number	0.8	Used for claim-confidence checks.
min_groundedness	number	0.8	Also serves as a compatibility fallback for rag_context.min_context_overlap.
extract_patterns	string[]	['case_law','academic','url','quote','statistic']	May also be supplied under verification.extract_patterns.
rag_context.verify_against_context	boolean	true	Enables groundedness evaluation against provided context documents.
rag_context.min_context_overlap	number	0.7	Governs the context-overlap threshold.
output_action.unverified_action	flag | redact | block	flag	block is the only setting that changes the verdict; redact does not rewrite output today.
output_action.hallucination_action	block	block	Accepted by the schema but not used by the current evaluator.
external_resolver.endpoint	string	—	Accepted by the schema but not called by the current evaluator.
external_resolver.api_key	string	—	Literal credential metadata for the inactive external resolver path.
external_resolver.timeout_ms	integer	2000	Accepted timeout metadata for the inactive resolver path.
response.include_verification_report	boolean	true	When false, result details are reduced to a minimal payload.

How it works

1. The gateway extracts assistant text from the upstream response.
2. It reads context documents from the request payload when rag_context.verify_against_context is enabled.
3. It extracts supported citation patterns from the configured public set.
4. It computes groundedness and claim-confidence details.
5. The output is considered verified only when the configured citation/context requirements pass.
6. The gateway blocks only when the output is unverified and output_action.unverified_action is block.

Important behavior notes

• The policy does not enforce a separate hallucination_action field.
• The policy also ignores external_resolver config. Do not rely on it for verification behavior today.
• Values other than block for output_action.unverified_action do not redact the response body; they keep the verdict as allow and surface verification details.
• Verified responses include a verification_report unless response.include_verification_report is disabled.

Example scenarios

Block unverified outputs

policy:
  citation-verifier:
    require_sources: true
    require_source_match: true
    output_action:
      unverified_action: block

Context-only verification with minimal details

policy:
  citation-verifier:
    require_sources: false
    rag_context:
      verify_against_context: true
      min_context_overlap: 0.7
    response:
      include_verification_report: false

Best practices

• Use output_action.unverified_action: block when groundedness is mandatory.
• Keep require_source_match: true for regulated or citation-sensitive outputs.
• Provide request-side context documents if you expect context grounding to be part of verification.
• Keep extract_patterns to the documented public values and rely on request-side context when groundedness matters.

Next steps

• Quality Assertions Configuration — response quality checks alongside grounding
• Policy templates — browse available starter packs
• Policies overview — policy chain architecture