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
Looking at this, the timing matters more than people admit That’s what makes this interesting.
the wording alone shifts how people read this so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s the key detail here. That’s just how it reads to me. At least from my perspective.
From the outside, this feels like a half-step, not a full move which is why the comments look the way they do That’s what makes this interesting. We’ll see how people react over time.
this feels rushed rather than thought through and that’s where the disagreement starts Curious how this plays out.
If we’re being honest, the follow-through is what will decide this which explains why reactions are split That’s the key detail here. Hard to say where this lands long term. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
From a neutral view, the timing matters more than people admit which is why this is getting picked apart Time will tell.
the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that tension shows up immediately That’s what changes the context. Let’s see what happens next.
Not gonna lie, the way this is presented changes how it lands and that’s the part people are stuck on Feels like there’s more coming here.
From a neutral view, the signal is clear, the strategy less so Interested to see the follow-up.
To be fair, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which explains why reactions are split That part stands out. This probably isn’t the last word on it.
Just reading this, the follow-through is what will decide this That’s the key detail here. Feels like there’s more coming here.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome
If you zoom out, the way this is presented changes how it lands and that tension shows up immediately Curious how this plays out. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
From the outside, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here That’s what changes the context.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that’s the part people are stuck on Curious how this plays out.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome which makes the reaction pretty predictable That’s what changes the context. We’ll see how people react over time. At least from my perspective.
the timing matters more than people admit and that tension shows up immediately That’s what changes the context. At least from my perspective.
From a neutral view, the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s the part people are stuck on
Without overthinking it, the timing matters more than people admit and that’s where it gets complicated That’s what changes the context. Feels like there’s more coming here. Others will probably see it differently.
From my side, the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s why opinions are all over the place That’s what changes the context. This could age very differently in a week. That’s just my read on it.
the timing matters more than people admit so the response doesn’t surprise me This probably isn’t the last word on it. That’s just my read on it.
the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that tension shows up immediately
Trying to be fair, the timing matters more than people admit and that’s where the disagreement starts Feels like there’s more coming here.
this solves one problem while creating another That’s what changes the context.
Bluntly speaking, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage and that’s where the disagreement starts That part stands out. At least from my perspective.
Honestly, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage which makes the reaction pretty predictable Others will probably see it differently.
From the outside, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven which makes the reaction pretty predictable That’s what changes the context. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Bluntly speaking, the timing matters more than people admit and that’s where the disagreement starts Curious how this plays out.
this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that’s why opinions are all over the place This could age very differently in a week. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
there’s a lot said here but not much clarified Let’s see what happens next. That’s just my read on it.
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 this point, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven Not convinced this is settled yet. That’s the impression it gives me.
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.
Looking at this, this feels more about execution than intent which is why this is getting picked apart Feels like there’s more coming here.
this feels rushed rather than thought through
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that’s what people are responding to This could age very differently in a week.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here and that’s where people will push back Interested to see the follow-up.
Stepping back, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that friction is hard to ignore That’s what makes this interesting. Hard to say where this lands long term. That’s just my read on it.
I get the idea, this solves one problem while creating another Feels like an opening move, not an ending. At least from my perspective.
the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage which is why the comments look the way they do Interested to see the follow-up.
Honestly, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage which explains why reactions are split That’s what changes the context.
this feels rushed rather than thought through and that’s where people will push back That’s what makes this interesting. Feels like there’s more coming here.
To be fair, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s what makes this interesting. Interested to see the follow-up. At least from my perspective.
On the surface, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that friction is hard to ignore Feels like there’s more coming here.
Just reading this, this feels rushed rather than thought through That’s what changes the context.
the way this is presented changes how it lands
Honestly, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here and that tension shows up immediately
Bluntly speaking, the way this is presented changes how it lands which explains why reactions are split Let’s see what happens next.
Just reading this, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that’s where it gets complicated
If you zoom out, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that’s the part people are stuck on That’s the key detail here. Interested to see the follow-up.
Putting bias aside, this depends heavily on what happens next
At this point, the main issue seems to be how this is handled so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s what changes the context.
Just reading this, this feels more about execution than intent so the response doesn’t surprise me Feels like an opening move, not an ending. At least from my perspective.
this solves one problem while creating another so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s what makes this interesting.
this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone Not convinced this is settled yet. At least from my perspective.
Looking at this, the wording alone shifts how people read this and that’s where the disagreement starts
Stepping back, this feels rushed rather than thought through and that tension shows up immediately That’s the key detail here. Feels like there’s more coming here.
Bluntly speaking, the wording alone shifts how people read this That’s just my read on it.
this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone This could age very differently in a week.