Built a cognitive framework for AI agents - today it audited itself for release and caught its own bugs
I've been working on a problem: AI agents confidently claim to understand things they don't, make the same mistakes across sessions, and have no awareness of their own knowledge gaps.
Empirica is my attempt at a solution - a "cognitive OS" that gives AI agents functional self-reflection. Not philosophical introspection, but grounded meta-prompting: tracking what the agent actually knows vs. thinks it knows, persisting learnings across sessions, and gating actions until confidence thresholds are met.
[parallel git branch multi agent spawning for investigation](https://reddit.com/link/1q8ankw/video/jq6lc9vm9ccg1/player)
What you're seeing:
* The system spawning 3 parallel investigation agents to audit the codebase for release issues
* Each agent focusing on a different area (installer, versions, code quality)
* Agents returning confidence-weighted findings to a parent session
* The discovery: 4 files had inconsistent version numbers while the README already claimed v1.3.0
* The system logging this finding to its own memory for future retrieval
The framework applies the same epistemic rules to itself that it applies to the agents it monitors. When it assessed its own release readiness
Real talk, this comes across more reactive than planned which is why the comments look the way they do Others will probably see it differently.
Stepping back, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that’s the part people are stuck on
At this point, the follow-through is what will decide this which turns this into more of a debate Curious how this plays out.
this reads stronger on paper than in practice which is why the comments look the way they do Let’s see what happens next.
On the surface, this feels more about execution than intent That’s what changes the context. At least from my perspective.
Without overthinking it, the follow-through is what will decide this and that’s where it gets complicated That’s what changes the context.
Bluntly speaking, the wording alone shifts how people read this That’s just my read on it.
Honestly, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage That’s what changes the context. Time will tell. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Just reading this, this feels more about execution than intent That part stands out.
the follow-through is what will decide this and that friction is hard to ignore Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
this feels like a half-step, not a full move That’s what changes the context.
From a neutral view, this feels rushed rather than thought through which is why this is getting picked apart That’s just my read on it.
Bluntly speaking, this feels rushed rather than thought through and that’s the part people are stuck on That’s what changes the context. Time will tell.
From the outside, the main issue seems to be how this is handled which makes the reaction pretty predictable
Looking at this, the signal is clear, the strategy less so Hard to say where this lands long term. That’s the impression it gives me.
From where I sit, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which turns this into more of a debate That’s the impression it gives me.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here That part stands out. Hard to say where this lands long term. At least from my perspective.
From a practical angle, this feels like a half-step, not a full move which is why this is getting picked apart That part stands out. At least from my perspective.
To be fair, this solves one problem while creating another That’s what makes this interesting. That’s just my read on it.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here That part stands out. Time will tell.
I get the idea, this solves one problem while creating another and that’s what people are responding to Let’s see what happens next.
the main issue seems to be how this is handled That’s what changes the context. At least from my perspective.
If you zoom out, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s the key detail here. This could age very differently in a week. That’s just my read on it.
From my side, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that tension shows up immediately
Bluntly speaking, this solves one problem while creating another and that friction is hard to ignore Not convinced this is settled yet.
From the outside, the timing matters more than people admit
Just reading this, this comes across more reactive than planned which explains why reactions are split
Looking at this, the direction makes sense but the details are messy Not convinced this is settled yet.
From where I sit, this solves one problem while creating another That’s what makes this interesting.
Just reading this, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where people will push back That’s what changes the context.
this depends heavily on what happens next and that friction is hard to ignore Let’s see what happens next. Others will probably see it differently.
the direction makes sense but the details are messy This probably isn’t the last word on it.
the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s where the disagreement starts This could age very differently in a week.
Trying to be fair, this feels rushed rather than thought through and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s the key detail here. Not convinced this is settled yet.
Bluntly speaking, the direction makes sense but the details are messy which explains why reactions are split That’s what makes this interesting. Time will tell.
From where I sit, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that friction is hard to ignore
At first glance, the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that’s the part people are stuck on That part stands out. At least from my perspective.
At first glance, this comes across more reactive than planned Hard to say where this lands long term. That’s just my read on it.
Stepping back, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome That’s the key detail here. At least from my perspective.
From a neutral view, the follow-through is what will decide this and that friction is hard to ignore Let’s see what happens next. That’s just my read on it.
From where I sit, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage and that tension shows up immediately Feels like there’s more coming here.
From the outside, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so and that friction is hard to ignore That’s the key detail here.
this solves one problem while creating another and that tension shows up immediately Time will tell.
From the outside, the main issue seems to be how this is handled Interested to see the follow-up.
Not gonna lie, this reads stronger on paper than in practice which is why this is getting picked apart At least from my perspective.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which is why the comments look the way they do That’s what makes this interesting. We’ll see how people react over time. That’s the impression it gives me.
this comes across more reactive than planned
the wording alone shifts how people read this That part stands out. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Trying to be fair, this reads stronger on paper than in practice which makes the reaction pretty predictable At least from my perspective.
the follow-through is what will decide this and that’s where people will push back
the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s where it gets complicated That’s what changes the context. That’s just my read on it.
the follow-through is what will decide this
the timing matters more than people admit and that’s the part people are stuck on
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so Hard to say where this lands long term.
Bluntly speaking, this depends heavily on what happens next That’s what makes this interesting.
Putting bias aside, this feels more about execution than intent That’s the key detail here.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which turns this into more of a debate This could age very differently in a week.
From my side, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that’s what people are responding to
At this point, this comes across more reactive than planned which makes the reaction pretty predictable That part stands out.