Use a claim budget for high-stakes answers

Choose the claims before drafting

List the decisions the answer must support. For each decision, identify the few factual statements that are necessary. Avoid adding peripheral claims solely to make the answer sound comprehensive.

Review each claim

Assign a source, scope and uncertainty. When a necessary claim lacks evidence, mark it unresolved rather than replacing it with an equally unsupported generalization. A claim budget limits unsupported breadth; it does not permit omitting a material warning.

Example

For a database migration assessment, the answer may need three claims: the schema change is compatible with the old application, the new application passed the isolated test, and recovery is possible under stated conditions. “This migration is safe” hides all three. Report the observed checks individually and state where recovery has not been demonstrated.

Acceptance and limits

Remove a sentence if it does not support the user's decision or a necessary caveat. Expand the budget if a missing dependency changes the conclusion. This original editorial technique is not a substitute for qualified medical, legal, financial or safety review; such domains need appropriate primary evidence and human expertise.