js-rigor: possibilistic validity layer (Cella FVN labels, conflict mass, validification)

Adds an epistemic validity layer in the spirit of the zig-contour fusion
spec: every check result now carries a validity block {label, operator,
regime, sources, conflictMass, validifiedPossibility, nonMaxitive}.

- Relations accept a validity label (default heuristic = unlabeled input).
- Labels propagate through fusion: identity/max preserve the weakest
  source label (max is already valid under arbitrary dependence); min
  (conjunctive: intersection, chain, TTU, multi_hop, parent) is
  approximate at best, surfaces the conflict mass (1 - possibility) that
  was previously dropped, and exposes the arbitrary-regime validification
  min(1, K*gamma); product-style operators (exclusion, defeasible) and
  interior OWA averaging are always heuristic, with nonMaxitive flagged.
- Reliability and validity are now explicitly distinct: reliability stays
  the scalar confidence adaptation; validity tracks the epistemic label.
- The hottest paths attach a shared frozen default block instead of
  allocating (perf A/B shows no regression: ~300k ops/s direct both ways).
- Pre-existing fixes surfaced while wiring: the array-form logical config
  dropped top-level aggregator/owaWeights (average union compiled as max),
  and _createStandardResult dropped unknown fields (validity never
  survived rule results).

New campaign validity-parity.test.js pins the label taxonomy, conflict
mass, validification, weakest-propagation, and the reliability/validity
separation. Suites: rigor 203/0, full 803/741/0.

src/authorization/AuthorizationChecker.js

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { buildValidity, normalizeValidity, mergeValidity, DEFAULT_VALIDITY } from '../core/validity.js';
 import { Arbiter } from '../core/Arbiter.js';
 import { RuleEvaluator } from './RuleEvaluator.js';
 import { RuleCollector } from './RuleCollector.js';
@@ -162,6 +163,9 @@ export class AuthorizationChecker {
         } else {
            result = {
              possibility: directRel.possibility,
+             validity: directRel.validity !== undefined
+               ? buildValidity('identity', [effectiveRelation], [normalizeValidity(directRel.validity)], 1, directRel.possibility)
+               : DEFAULT_VALIDITY,
              // A denied decision (possibility 0) must not leak the
              // relation's reliability — the rule-collection path zeroes it.
              reliability: directRel.possibility > 0
@@ -344,6 +348,7 @@ export class AuthorizationChecker {
        const finalResult = {
          possibility: resPossibility || 0,
          reliability: res.reliability !== undefined ? res.reliability : 1.0,
+         validity: res.validity || DEFAULT_VALIDITY,
          ...(collectValues && res.collectedValues && Array.isArray(res.collectedValues) && { collectedValues: res.collectedValues }),
          ...(includeMeta && {
            meta: { 
@@ -373,6 +378,8 @@ export class AuthorizationChecker {
      let bestDenyReliability = 0;
     let bestAllow = null;
     let bestDeny = null;
+    let bestAllowValidity = null;
+    let ruleValidityBlocks = [];
     let reason = undefined;
     let allRuleResults = shouldTrackEvaluation ? [] : null;
     let allCollectedValues = collectValues ? [] : null; // Collect values from all evaluated rules
@@ -457,7 +464,9 @@ export class AuthorizationChecker {
          maxAllow = resAllowPossibility;
          bestAllow = resMeta;
          bestAllowReliability = res.reliability !== undefined ? res.reliability : 1.0;
+         bestAllowValidity = res.validity || null;
        }
+       if (res.validity) ruleValidityBlocks.push(res.validity);
       
        if (resDenyPossibility > maxDeny) {
          maxDeny = resDenyPossibility;
@@ -543,9 +552,21 @@ export class AuthorizationChecker {
      const remediation = maxAllow === 0
        ? buildRemediation(remediationOptions.length > 0 ? { status: 'required', options: remediationOptions } : null, { status: 'required' })
        : null;
-     const result = {
+     // Possibilistic validity of the decision: the winning rule's block when
+    // a single rule drove it, otherwise the weakest-merge of all
+    // contributors (a heuristic/banned contributor downgrades the whole).
+    let finalValidity = DEFAULT_VALIDITY;
+    if (ruleValidityBlocks.length === 1) {
+      finalValidity = ruleValidityBlocks[0];
+    } else if (ruleValidityBlocks.length > 1) {
+      finalValidity = mergeValidity(ruleValidityBlocks);
+    } else if (maxAllow > 0 && bestAllowValidity) {
+      finalValidity = bestAllowValidity;
+    }
+    const result = {
        possibility: maxAllow,
        reliability: maxAllow > 0 ? bestAllowReliability : maxDeny > 0 ? bestDenyReliability : 0,
+       validity: finalValidity,
        ...(includeMeta && {
          meta: { 
           allow: bestAllow, 

src/authorization/CompiledEvaluator.js

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { buildValidity, normalizeValidity, DEFAULT_VALIDITY } from '../core/validity.js';
 import { OWAFusion, getOWAWeightsFromRule } from '../utils/OWAFusion.js';
 import { buildRemediation, extractRemediation, mergeRemediationOptions } from './remediation.js';
 
@@ -143,6 +144,9 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
     const result = {
       possibility: relationStrength,
       reliability: directRel.reliability !== undefined ? directRel.reliability : 1.0,
+      validity: directRel.validity !== undefined
+        ? buildValidity('identity', [relName], [normalizeValidity(directRel.validity)], 1, relationStrength)
+        : DEFAULT_VALIDITY,
       possibility_allow: relationStrength,
       possibility_deny: 0,
       ...(includeMeta && {
@@ -407,6 +411,7 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
     const possibilities = [];
     const reliabilities = [];
     const metas = [];
+    const resChildrenValidity = [];
     const remediationOptions = [];
     const allCollectedValues = collectValues ? [] : null;
 
@@ -416,6 +421,7 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       if (!res || typeof res.possibility !== 'number') {
         res = { possibility: 0, meta: { reason: 'missing_rule' }, collectedValues: [] };
       }
+      if (res.validity) resChildrenValidity.push(res.validity);
 
       mergeRemediationOptions(remediationOptions, extractRemediation(res));
 
@@ -477,9 +483,15 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       const maxP = Math.max(...possibilities);
       unionReliability = reliabilities[possibilities.indexOf(maxP)] ?? 1.0;
     }
+    const unionOperator = (compiled.aggregator || 'max') === 'max' && (!compiled.owaWeights || (compiled.owaWeights.length <= 1 || (compiled.owaWeights[0] === 1 && compiled.owaWeights.slice(1).every(w => w === 0))))
+      ? 'max' : 'owa';
+    const unionSourceLabels = (resChildrenValidity || []).map(v => v?.label).filter(Boolean);
+    const unionSources = [];
+    for (const v of resChildrenValidity || []) for (const s of v?.sources || []) if (!unionSources.includes(s)) unionSources.push(s);
     return {
       possibility: result.value,
       reliability: unionReliability,
+      validity: buildValidity(unionOperator, unionSources, unionSourceLabels, possibilities.length, result.value),
       ...(collectValues && { collectedValues: allCollectedValues }),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: {
@@ -523,10 +535,12 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
     // (no children); treat it as a one-element conjunction, matching the
     // union path's `compiled.children || [compiled]` fallback.
     const children = compiled.children || [compiled];
+    const resChildrenValidity = [];
 
     for (const child of children) {
       const childVisited = new Set(visited);
       const res = this.evaluate(child, userId, userKey, objectId, objectKey, childVisited, currentRelation, options);
+      if (res.validity) resChildrenValidity.push(res.validity);
       possibilities.push(res.possibility);
       reliabilities.push(res.reliability !== undefined ? res.reliability : 1.0);
       metas.push(includeMeta ? res.meta : null);
@@ -587,9 +601,13 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       const minP = Math.min(...possibilities);
       intersectionReliability = reliabilities[possibilities.indexOf(minP)] ?? 1.0;
     }
+    const interSourceLabels = (resChildrenValidity || []).map(v => v?.label).filter(Boolean);
+    const interSources = [];
+    for (const v of resChildrenValidity || []) for (const s of v?.sources || []) if (!interSources.includes(s)) interSources.push(s);
     return {
       possibility: result.value,
       reliability: intersectionReliability,
+      validity: buildValidity('min', interSources, interSourceLabels, possibilities.length, result.value),
       ...(collectValues && { collectedValues: allCollectedValues }),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: {
@@ -668,6 +686,7 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       // Both legs contribute to the decision, so their reliabilities
       // multiply (consistent with TTU/chain path semantics).
       reliability: (a.reliability !== undefined ? a.reliability : 1.0) * (b.reliability !== undefined ? b.reliability : 1.0),
+      validity: buildValidity('product', [a.validity?.sources?.[0], b.validity?.sources?.[0]].filter(Boolean), [a.validity?.label, b.validity?.label].filter(Boolean), 2, possibility),
       ...(collectValues && { collectedValues: allCollectedValues }),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: {
@@ -698,6 +717,7 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
     const possibilities = [];
     const reliabilities = [];
     const metas = [];
+    const listChildrenValidity = [];
     const allCollectedValues = collectValues ? [] : null;
     const directRules = compiled._optimized.direct;
 
@@ -712,6 +732,9 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       const possibility = directRel ? directRel.possibility : 0;
       possibilities.push(possibility);
       reliabilities.push(directRel ? (directRel.reliability !== undefined ? directRel.reliability : 1.0) : 1.0);
+      if (directRel) {
+        listChildrenValidity.push(buildValidity('identity', [direct.relation], [normalizeValidity(directRel.validity !== undefined ? directRel.validity : null)], 1, possibility));
+      }
       if (includeMeta) {
         const _src = directRel ? (directRel.source || 'persistent') : null;
         const _allowMeta = directRel ? {
@@ -808,9 +831,14 @@ export class CompiledEvaluator {
       listReliability = reliabilities[possibilities.indexOf(maxP)] ?? 1.0;
     }
 
+    const listOperator = aggregator === 'min' ? 'min' : (aggregator === 'max' ? 'max' : 'owa');
+    const listLabels = listChildrenValidity.map(v => v.label).filter(Boolean);
+    const listSources = [];
+    for (const v of listChildrenValidity) for (const s of v.sources || []) if (!listSources.includes(s)) listSources.push(s);
     return {
       possibility: result.value,
       reliability: listReliability,
+      validity: buildValidity(listOperator, listSources, listLabels, possibilities.length, result.value),
       ...(collectValues && { collectedValues: allCollectedValues }),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: {

src/authorization/RuleCompiler.js

@@ -140,14 +140,17 @@ export class RuleCompiler {
       type: 'logical',
       op: logicalKey,
       children,
-      aggregator: logicalConfig?.aggregator,
-      owaWeights: logicalConfig?.owaWeights,
-      _owaSparseCount: logicalConfig?._owaSparseCount,
-      reliabilityWeighting: logicalConfig?.reliabilityWeighting || false,
-      useBilattice: logicalConfig?.useBilattice || false,
-      capacityType: logicalConfig?.capacityType,
-      epistemicMode: logicalConfig?.epistemicMode,
-      negate: logicalConfig?.negate || false
+      // The array form ({ union: [a, b], aggregator: 'average' }) carries the
+      // operator options on the TOP-level config; the object form carries
+      // them on the union object itself. Honor both.
+      aggregator: logicalConfig?.aggregator ?? config.aggregator,
+      owaWeights: logicalConfig?.owaWeights ?? config.owaWeights,
+      _owaSparseCount: logicalConfig?._owaSparseCount ?? config._owaSparseCount,
+      reliabilityWeighting: logicalConfig?.reliabilityWeighting ?? config.reliabilityWeighting ?? false,
+      useBilattice: logicalConfig?.useBilattice ?? config.useBilattice ?? false,
+      capacityType: logicalConfig?.capacityType ?? config.capacityType,
+      epistemicMode: logicalConfig?.epistemicMode ?? config.epistemicMode,
+      negate: logicalConfig?.negate ?? config.negate ?? false
     };
 
     return compiled;

src/authorization/rules/BaseRule.js

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { OWAFusion } from '../../utils/OWAFusion.js';
+import { buildValidity, normalizeValidity, DEFAULT_VALIDITY } from '../../core/validity.js';
 import { BilatticeOrderings } from '../../qualitative/BilatticeOrderings.js';
 import { QualitativeCapacity } from '../../qualitative/QualitativeCapacity.js';
 import { QualitativeScale } from '../../qualitative/QualitativeScale.js';
@@ -134,11 +135,24 @@ export class BaseRule {
    * Create standardized rule result with collected values
    * @protected
    */
+  _defaultValidity() {
+    return DEFAULT_VALIDITY;
+  }
+
+  _validity(operator, sources = [], sourceLabels = [], K = 1, possibility = 0) {
+    return buildValidity({ operator, sources, sourceLabels, K, possibility });
+  }
+
+  _relationValidity(rel) {
+    return normalizeValidity(rel && rel.validity !== undefined ? rel.validity : null);
+  }
+
   _createStandardResult(authResult, collectedValues = []) {
     const result = {
       // AUTHORIZATION
       possibility: authResult.possibility || 0,
       reliability: authResult.reliability !== undefined ? authResult.reliability : 1.0,
+      validity: authResult.validity || DEFAULT_VALIDITY,
       
       // BINARY MODE FIELDS
       possibility_allow: authResult.possibility_allow !== undefined ? authResult.possibility_allow : (authResult.possibility || 0),

src/authorization/rules/ChainRule.js

@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ export class ChainRule extends BaseRule {
     const authResult = {
       possibility: finalPossibility,
       reliability: finalReliability,
+      validity: this._validity('min', normalizedRule.steps.map(s => s.relation).filter(Boolean), [], normalizedRule.steps.length, finalPossibility),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: finalPossibility > 0 ? {
           ruleType: 'chain',

src/authorization/rules/DirectRule.js

@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ export class DirectRule extends BaseRule {
     const authResult = {
       possibility: relationStrength,
       reliability: directRel.reliability !== undefined ? directRel.reliability : 1.0,
+      validity: directRel.validity !== undefined
+        ? this._validity('identity', [relName], [this._relationValidity(directRel)], 1, relationStrength)
+        : this._defaultValidity(),
       possibility_allow: relationStrength,  // For binary mode
       possibility_deny: 0,                 // DirectRule doesn't deny
       ...(includeMeta && {

src/authorization/rules/LogicalOperators.js

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { BaseRule } from './BaseRule.js';
 import { OWAFusion, getOWAWeightsFromRule } from '../../utils/OWAFusion.js';
+import { buildValidity } from '../../core/validity.js';
 import { Arbiter } from '../../core/Arbiter.js';
 import { BilatticeOrderings } from '../../qualitative/BilatticeOrderings.js';
 import { QualitativeCapacity } from '../../qualitative/QualitativeCapacity.js';
@@ -859,6 +860,7 @@ export class LogicalOperators extends BaseRule {
     return {
       possibility: Math.max(0, Math.min(1, possibility)),
       reliability,
+      validity: buildValidity('product', [], [], 2, Math.max(0, Math.min(1, possibility))),
       collectedValues: allCollectedValues,
       meta: {
         ...resultMeta,

src/authorization/rules/MultiHopRule.js

@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ export class MultiHopRule extends BaseRule {
     const authResult = {
       possibility: finalPossibility,
       reliability: finalReliability,
+      validity: this._validity('min', [relation], [], Math.max(1, bestPath ? bestPath.hops : 1), finalPossibility),
       ...(includeMeta && {
         meta: allowMeta
       }),

src/authorization/rules/RelationalComparatorRule.js

@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@ export class RelationalComparatorRule extends BaseRule {
         else comparisonOutput.meta = { fullEvaluationTrace: evaluationMeta };
       }
 
+      comparisonOutput.validity = this._validity('identity',
+        [leftOperand?.rule?.relation, rightOperand?.rule?.relation].filter(Boolean), [], 1, comparisonOutput.possibility || 0);
       return comparisonOutput;
     } catch (error) {
       return {

src/authorization/rules/TupleToUsersetRule.js

@@ -500,6 +500,7 @@ export class TupleToUsersetRule extends BaseRule {
       return {
         possibility: maxPossibility,
         reliability: maxReliability,
+        validity: this._validity('min', [(ruleMetaBase && ruleMetaBase.tuplesetRelation) || null, (ruleMetaBase && ruleMetaBase.computedRelation) || null].filter(Boolean), [], 2, maxPossibility),
         reason: reasons.includes('cycle') ? 'cycle' : (maxPossibility > 0 ? 'tuple_to_userset_found' : 'no_sufficient_tuple_to_userset_path')
       };
     }
@@ -565,6 +566,7 @@ export class TupleToUsersetRule extends BaseRule {
     return {
       possibility: fusionResult.value,
       reliability: fusedReliability,
+      validity: this._validity('min', [(ruleMetaBase && ruleMetaBase.tuplesetRelation) || null, (ruleMetaBase && ruleMetaBase.computedRelation) || null].filter(Boolean), [], 2, fusionResult.value),
       ...(includeMeta && { meta: finalMeta }),
       ...(collectValues && { collectedValues: fusionResult.value > 0 ? collectedValues : [] }),
       reason: reasons.includes('cycle') ? 'cycle' : (fusionResult.value > 0 ? 'tuple_to_userset_found' : 'no_sufficient_tuple_to_userset_path')

src/core/relation/RelationUpdates.js

@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ export class RelationUpdates {
       decayConfig: options?.decayConfig,
       updated_last_at: currentTime,
       changed_last_at: options?.changed_last_at !== undefined ? options.changed_last_at : currentTime,
-      stateId: newStateId
+      stateId: newStateId,
+      validity: options?.validity !== undefined ? options.validity : null
     };
     
     this.manager.arbiter.relations.push(relationObj);
@@ -599,6 +600,7 @@ export class RelationUpdates {
     oldRelation.reliability = newOptions?.reliability !== undefined ? newOptions.reliability : oldRelation.reliability;
     oldRelation.value = newOptions?.value !== undefined ? newOptions.value : oldRelation.value;
     oldRelation.decayConfig = newOptions?.decayConfig !== undefined ? newOptions.decayConfig : oldRelation.decayConfig;
+    oldRelation.validity = newOptions?.validity !== undefined ? newOptions.validity : oldRelation.validity;
     oldRelation.updated_last_at = currentTime;
     // Honor an explicit changed_last_at override like the add path does,
     // but only on writes that would refresh anyway: a write that does not

src/core/validity.js

@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+/**
+ * src/core/validity.js — possibilistic validity metadata (Cella FVN / Martin).
+ *
+ * Every check result carries a validity block describing how the decision
+ * value was produced, in the spirit of the zig-contour fusion spec:
+ *
+ *   label   — weakest validity label of the contributing sources, downgraded
+ *             by the fusion operator's class:
+ *               identity/max      : operator is valid (max is already valid
+ *                                   and normalized under arbitrary dependence);
+ *                                   the fused label = weakest source label
+ *               min (conjunctive) : unvalidified ranking -> the raw min is
+ *                                   reported as the decision, the validified
+ *                                   value min(1, K*gamma_min) is exposed
+ *                                   separately, and the conflict mass is
+ *                                   surfaced, never silently dropped
+ *               product-style     : exclusion P(A)*(1-P(B)) and defeasible
+ *                                   when*(1-unless) use the product operator,
+ *                                   which has no linear validification under
+ *                                   arbitrary dependence (Cella Thm 4) ->
+ *                                   always heuristic
+ *               owa (interior)    : convex mixtures of plausibilities are not
+ *                                   maxitive -> scoring heuristic, never a
+ *                                   valid possibility
+ *   regime  — dependence assumption (always 'arbitrary' unless declared)
+ *   operator — the fusion operator actually applied
+ *   conflictMass — 1 - fused_possibility: the conjunctive suppression (the
+ *             scalar analog of contour sub-normalization; 0 for disjunctive)
+ *   validifiedPossibility — the arbitrary-regime validification
+ *             min(1, K*gamma_min) for conjunctive results (null otherwise)
+ *   sources — the base relations that fed the decision
+ *   nonMaxitive — true for interior OWA/averaging operators
+ *
+ * The taxonomy follows the contour spec: finite_sample | anytime | conformal |
+ * approximate | heuristic | unknown. Unlabeled relations default to heuristic.
+ */
+
+export const VALIDITY_LABELS = ['finite_sample', 'anytime', 'conformal', 'approximate', 'heuristic', 'unknown'];
+
+// Shared immutable default for unlabeled decisions (all-heuristic): the
+// hottest paths attach this constant instead of allocating per check.
+export const DEFAULT_VALIDITY = Object.freeze({
+  label: 'heuristic',
+  operator: 'identity',
+  regime: 'arbitrary',
+  sources: [],
+  conflictMass: 0,
+  validifiedPossibility: null,
+  nonMaxitive: false
+});
+export const VALIDITY_RANK = { finite_sample: 0, anytime: 1, conformal: 2, approximate: 3, heuristic: 4, unknown: 5 };
+
+export function normalizeValidity(label) {
+  if (label === undefined || label === null) return 'heuristic';
+  const l = String(label);
+  return VALIDITY_RANK[l] !== undefined ? l : 'unknown';
+}
+
+/** Weakest (least valid) of a set of labels. */
+export function weakestValidity(labels) {
+  // Track the weakest (highest-rank) label; every label ranks >= 0.
+  let worst = 'finite_sample';
+  for (const l of labels) {
+    const n = normalizeValidity(l);
+    if (VALIDITY_RANK[n] > VALIDITY_RANK[worst]) worst = n;
+  }
+  return worst;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Operator validity classes:
+ *   'identity'     — a single source; fused label = source label
+ *   'max'          — disjunctive; valid by construction, label = weakest source
+ *   'min'          — conjunctive; unvalidified ranking; label downgraded to
+ *                    approximate unless already weaker
+ *   'product'      — banned operator (Thm 4); always heuristic
+ *   'owa'          — interior OWA averaging; non-maxitive; always heuristic
+ */
+export function operatorValidityClass(operator) {
+  switch (operator) {
+    case 'identity':
+    case 'max':
+      return { downgrade: false, nonMaxitive: false };
+    case 'min':
+      return { downgrade: true, nonMaxitive: false };
+    case 'product':
+      return { downgrade: true, alwaysHeuristic: true, nonMaxitive: false };
+    case 'owa':
+      return { downgrade: true, alwaysHeuristic: true, nonMaxitive: true };
+    default:
+      return { downgrade: true, alwaysHeuristic: true, nonMaxitive: false };
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build the validity block for a fused decision.
+ *
+ * @param {object} opts
+ *   operator   — 'identity' | 'max' | 'min' | 'product' | 'owa'
+ *   sources    — array of base relation names that fed the decision
+ *   sourceLabels — array of validity labels (parallel to sources, or a single
+ *                  'heuristic' when the engine does not track them)
+ *   K          — number of fused sources (for the min validification)
+ *   possibility — the raw fused possibility
+ */
+export function buildValidity(optsOrOp, sourcesArg = [], sourceLabelsArg = [], KArg = 1, possibilityArg = 0) {
+  // Accept both the object form ({ operator, sources, ... }) and the
+  // positional form (operator, sources, sourceLabels, K, possibility).
+  const opts = (typeof optsOrOp === 'object' && optsOrOp !== null)
+    ? optsOrOp
+    : { operator: optsOrOp, sources: sourcesArg, sourceLabels: sourceLabelsArg, K: KArg, possibility: possibilityArg };
+  const { operator = 'identity', sources = [], sourceLabels = [], K = 1, possibility = 0 } = opts;
+  const cls = operatorValidityClass(operator);
+  const base = sourceLabels.length > 0 ? weakestValidity(sourceLabels) : 'heuristic';
+  let label = base;
+  if (cls.downgrade) {
+    if (cls.alwaysHeuristic) {
+      label = 'heuristic';
+    } else {
+      // unvalidified conjunctive ranking: approximate at best
+      if (VALIDITY_RANK[base] < VALIDITY_RANK.approximate) label = 'approximate';
+    }
+  }
+  const block = {
+    label,
+    operator,
+    regime: 'arbitrary',
+    sources: [...sources],
+    nonMaxitive: cls.nonMaxitive
+  };
+  if (operator === 'min') {
+    const k = Math.max(1, K);
+    block.conflictMass = Math.max(0, 1 - possibility);
+    block.validifiedPossibility = Math.min(1, k * possibility);
+  } else if (operator === 'identity' || operator === 'max') {
+    block.conflictMass = 0;
+    block.validifiedPossibility = null;
+  } else {
+    block.conflictMass = null;
+    block.validifiedPossibility = null;
+  }
+  return block;
+}
+
+/** Merge several rule-level validity blocks into one (weakest label, unioned sources). */
+export function mergeValidity(blocks) {
+  const present = (blocks || []).filter(Boolean);
+  if (present.length === 0) {
+    return buildValidity({});
+  }
+  const labels = present.map(b => b.label);
+  const sources = [];
+  for (const b of present) {
+    for (const s of b.sources || []) {
+      if (!sources.includes(s)) sources.push(s);
+    }
+  }
+  // If ANY contributor is a banned-operator heuristic, the merged result is
+  // heuristic too (the weakest operator wins, not just the weakest source).
+  const anyBanned = present.some(b => b.operator === 'product' || b.nonMaxitive);
+  let label = weakestValidity(labels);
+  if (anyBanned && VALIDITY_RANK[label] < VALIDITY_RANK.heuristic) label = 'heuristic';
+  return {
+    label,
+    operator: present.length === 1 ? present[0].operator : 'mixed',
+    regime: 'arbitrary',
+    sources,
+    nonMaxitive: present.some(b => b.nonMaxitive),
+    conflictMass: present.some(b => b.operator === 'min') ? Math.max(0, 1 - Math.max(...present.map(b => b.conflictMass ?? 0))) : null,
+    validifiedPossibility: null
+  };
+}

tests/rigor/binary-mode-parity.test.js

@@ -296,7 +296,8 @@ describe('Binary (threshold) mode parity (rigor)', () => {
 
     const inv = report.crucibleVerdict?.invariants?.find(i => i.name === 'binary-normal-agreement');
     assert.ok(inv, 'invariant missing');
-    assert.equal(inv.passed, true, `binary parity violated in ${inv.failureCount} cases`);
+    assert.equal(inv.passed, true, `binary parity violated in ${inv.failureCount} cases: ` +
+      JSON.stringify((report.failures || []).slice(0, 2).map(f => ({ name: f.name, msg: f.message, seq: (f.sequence || []).map(s => s.args) }))));
   });
 
   it('MUTATION FRESHNESS: binary and normal agree after every mutation with caching enabled', async () => {

tests/rigor/validity-parity.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/**
+ * rigor/validity-parity.test.js — possibilistic validity metadata.
+ *
+ * Pins the Cella-FVN-inspired validity layer:
+ *   - every check result carries a validity block {label, operator, regime,
+ *     sources, conflictMass, validifiedPossibility, nonMaxitive}
+ *   - unlabeled relations default to heuristic; a labeled relation
+ *     propagates its label through identity/max fusion
+ *   - max (disjunctive) fusion preserves the weakest source label
+ *   - interior OWA/averaging is non-maxitive and always heuristic
+ *   - min (conjunctive) fusion is approximate at best, surfaces the
+ *     conflict mass (1 - possibility), and exposes the arbitrary-regime
+ *     validification min(1, K*possibility)
+ *   - product-style operators (exclusion, defeasible) are always heuristic
+ *   - reliability and validity are distinct: reliability stays the scalar
+ *     confidence; validity tracks the epistemic label
+ */
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { rigor } from '@rigor/core';
+import { Arbiter } from '../../src/index.js';
+import { buildValidity, mergeValidity, weakestValidity, DEFAULT_VALIDITY } from '../../src/core/validity.js';
+
+const child = (r) => ({ type: 'direct', relation: r });
+
+function mk() {
+  const a = new Arbiter();
+  a.addNode('u:0', 'user');
+  a.addNode('d:0', 'doc');
+  a.addNode('g:0', 'group');
+  return a;
+}
+
+describe('Possibilistic validity metadata (rigor)', () => {
+  it('FIXED: labels, operators, conflict mass, validification per kind', () => {
+    // direct unlabeled -> heuristic identity
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { type: 'direct', relation: 'r1' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8 });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.label, 'heuristic');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.operator, 'identity');
+      assert.deepEqual(r.validity.sources, ['r1']);
+      assert.equal(r.validity.conflictMass, 0);
+    }
+    // labeled direct propagates its label
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { type: 'direct', relation: 'r1' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      assert.equal(a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0').validity.label, 'finite_sample');
+    }
+    // max fusion preserves the weakest source label
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { union: [child('r1'), child('r2')] });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r2', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.5, validity: 'conformal' });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.label, 'conformal', 'weakest label wins through max');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.operator, 'max');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.nonMaxitive, false);
+    }
+    // interior OWA is non-maxitive heuristic
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { union: [child('r1'), child('r2')], aggregator: 'average' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r2', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.5, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.operator, 'owa');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.nonMaxitive, true);
+      assert.equal(r.validity.label, 'heuristic', 'averaging never claims validity');
+    }
+    // min fusion: approximate, conflict mass, validification
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { intersection: [child('r1'), child('r2')] });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r2', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.5, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.operator, 'min');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.label, 'approximate', 'unvalidified conjunctive is approximate at best');
+      assert.ok(Math.abs(r.validity.conflictMass - (1 - 0.5)) < 1e-9, 'conflict mass = 1 - possibility');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.validifiedPossibility, 1, 'min(1, K*gamma) with K=2, gamma=0.5');
+    }
+    // product operators are heuristic even with labeled sources
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { exclusion: [child('r1'), child('r2')] });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r2', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.5, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      assert.equal(a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0').validity.label, 'heuristic');
+      a.setRelationConfig('t2', { type: 'defeasible', when: child('r1'), unless: child('r2') });
+      assert.equal(a.check('u:0', 't2', 'd:0').validity.label, 'heuristic');
+    }
+    // chain: conjunctive ranking with conflict surfacing
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { type: 'chain', steps: [{ relation: 'member_of', direction: 'out' }, { relation: 'viewer', direction: 'out' }] });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'member_of', 'g:0', { possibility: 0.9 });
+      a.addRelation('g:0', 'viewer', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.6 });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.operator, 'min');
+      assert.ok(Math.abs(r.validity.conflictMass - 0.4) < 1e-9, 'chain conflict mass');
+    }
+    // reliability and validity stay distinct
+    {
+      const a = mk();
+      a.setRelationConfig('t', { type: 'direct', relation: 'r1' });
+      a.addRelation('u:0', 'r1', 'd:0', { possibility: 0.8, reliability: 0.42, validity: 'finite_sample' });
+      const r = a.check('u:0', 't', 'd:0');
+      assert.equal(r.reliability, 0.42, 'reliability unchanged');
+      assert.equal(r.validity.label, 'finite_sample', 'validity independent of reliability');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('PROPERTY CAMPAIGN: helper semantics (weakest, merge, default identity)', async () => {
+    const result = await rigor.campaign(
+      [rigor.fn('helpers', (labels) => {
+        const weakest = weakestValidity(labels);
+        const merged = mergeValidity(labels.map(l => ({
+          label: l, operator: 'max', regime: 'arbitrary', sources: ['r'], nonMaxitive: false, conflictMass: 0, validifiedPossibility: null
+        })));
+        const single = mergeValidity([{
+          label: labels[0], operator: 'max', regime: 'arbitrary', sources: ['r'], nonMaxitive: false, conflictMass: 0, validifiedPossibility: null
+        }]);
+        return {
+          weakest: weakestValidity([labels[0], weakest]),
+          mergedWeakest: merged.label === weakest,
+          singlePass: single === undefined ? false : single.label === labels[0],
+          defaultIsFrozen: Object.isFrozen(DEFAULT_VALIDITY),
+          buildPositional: buildValidity('min', ['a'], ['finite_sample'], 2, 0.5).validifiedPossibility === 1
+        };
+      }, rigor.args(rigor.gen.array(rigor.gen.oneOf(['finite_sample', 'anytime', 'conformal', 'approximate', 'heuristic', 'unknown']), 1, 4)))],
+      rigor.crucible([
+        rigor.invariant('helper invariants', ({ error, errorMessage, actual }) => !error && !errorMessage && Object.values(actual).every(Boolean))
+      ])
+    ).run({ effort: 200, seed: 'validity-helpers-2026', artifacts: { dir: '', persist: 'never' } });
+
+    const inv = result.crucibleVerdict?.invariants?.find(i => i.name === 'helper invariants');
+    assert.ok(inv && inv.passed, `validity helpers violated in ${inv?.failureCount} cases`);
+  });
+});