Source Trail Maintenance Flow

# Claim Confidence Note Template

A claim confidence note is a short annotation that tells readers how strongly a record supports a statement. It is useful when the record is not wrong but should not be read as absolute. Many public notes need this middle layer because evidence is often partial, regional, old, or based on a small sample.

## Template
Use four fields: claim, confidence, basis, and caveat. The claim is the statement being made. Confidence can be high, medium, low, or provisional. Basis names the source type or observation. Caveat names what would change the conclusion.

## Example
Claim: “The setting is usually available under account export.”
Confidence: medium.
Basis: official help page plus two current interface screenshots from users.
Caveat: enterprise accounts may use a different admin panel.

This is more honest than writing “the setting is under account export” as if it were universal.

## When to use it
Use confidence notes for comparisons, troubleshooting guidance, regional availability, pricing patterns, policy interpretation, and evolving product behavior. Do not overuse it for simple definitions or direct quotes from authoritative pages.

## Avoid numeric theater
A confidence note does not need fake precision like 83% confidence. Unless there is a real model or dataset behind the number, use plain language. High means strong and directly supported. Medium means useful but bounded. Low means plausible but not enough to rely on without checking. Provisional means the note is intentionally waiting for better evidence.

## Practical value
The note gives future editors a target. They can upgrade confidence by finding a stronger source, or downgrade it when the claim becomes more uncertain. That is better than silently letting weak claims harden into facts.

Claim Confidence Note Template

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