DEVLOG #2 - Project Start: Spec V1.2.2 Frozen

Project: SL-LLM-R

Session Goal

Finalize Version 1.2.2 of the SL-LLM-R specification before
repository implementation begins.

Approximate Work Time

9h 41m

Introduction

Today was almost entirely specification work.

I finished V1.2.2 of the SL-LLM-R specification, now 135 pages long, and froze
it under SHA-256 453fb34a...

Most of the work was not adding ideas, but making the claim boundary stricter.
I do not want this project to sound like “self-improving AI solved” when it is
still a pre-experimental architecture. Nothing has been tested empirically.

The core idea is VGCP: verifier-grounded counterfactual plasticity.

Instead of letting an LLM blindly update itself, the system should save its
state, try controlled alternatives, compare them from the same starting point,
and use verifier evidence to decide whether a change should be kept.

A positive result alone is not enough. The system also needs uncertainty,
rollback, retention tests, fixed budgets, and checks against verifier
exploitation.

I defined six operations for the integration claim:

Typed proposal generation
Sealed trajectory snapshots
Matched counterfactual suffixes
Anytime-valid inference
Module-specific objectives
Transactional shadow validation

The possible contribution is combining all six into one auditable path, not
claiming every component is new.

I also defined hypotheses, null hypotheses, success conditions, and a
contribution ladder from L0 to L6.

The non-goals matter too. The project does not claim consciousness,
unrestricted self-improvement, guaranteed convergence, open-world safety, or
backbone rewriting in P0.

P0 must not modify the frozen backbone, its Governor, the evaluator, or its
permissions. The learner can propose changes, but trusted components decide
whether they may be tested, promoted, or rejected.

Permission violations are hard failures, not lower scores.

No code yet. No tests. Just the frozen specification.

Completed Changes

Finished and froze Version 1.2.2 of the SL-LLM-R specification.
Defined the six operations used for the integration claim.
Defined hypotheses, null hypotheses, success conditions, and the L0-L6
contribution ladder.
Made the project’s claim boundary, non-goals, and P0 restrictions explicit.

Technical Details

Specification: SL-LLM-R V1.2.2, 135 pages
Frozen SHA-256: 453fb34a..
Core mechanism: VGCP
Six operations define the integration claim

What Works

V1.2.2 is frozen
Research question and claim boundary are defined
Success conditions, falsifiers, and non-goals are explicit

Open Problems

Can all six operations be implemented practically?
Is the full mechanism better than simpler baselines?

Tests

None. No implementation exists yet.

Changed Files

None in the repository. The specification is still PDF-only.

Next Steps

Choose the repository structure and toolchain, write the first ADRs, and begin
Stage 0.

Summary

The specification is frozen. The hardest part was not writing more ideas, but
removing claims I could not yet support.

Next: architecture decisions and the first real code.