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explain on a blocked literal returns bare null with no hint to why-not #13

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opened 2026-07-16 04:09:41 +00:00 by hugooconnor · 0 comments
hugooconnor commented 2026-07-16 04:09:41 +00:00 (Migrated from codeberg.org)
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Summary

explain <literal> on a non-provable (-D/blocked) literal returns a bare "explanation": null with no hint that the answer lives in why-not.

Repro

$ elephant explain lab-origin -t rootclaim --json
{ "explanation": null, "literal": "lab-origin", "theory": "7f47f265…", "v": 1 }

(status shows lab-origin -D.)

Expected

A small stub instead of silence, e.g. {"explanation": null, "not_provable": true, "hint": "see why-not lab-origin"}, or a non-zero exit / stderr note. Bare null is indistinguishable from a serialization failure.

Impact

Minor UX/contract clarity; pairs with the why-not ambiguity issue.

Env

elephant v0.1.2 (HEAD 4d58f06), macOS. FLF two-agent Rootclaim run.

### Summary `explain <literal>` on a non-provable (`-D`/blocked) literal returns a bare `"explanation": null` with no hint that the answer lives in `why-not`. ### Repro ``` $ elephant explain lab-origin -t rootclaim --json { "explanation": null, "literal": "lab-origin", "theory": "7f47f265…", "v": 1 } ``` (`status` shows `lab-origin -D`.) ### Expected A small stub instead of silence, e.g. `{"explanation": null, "not_provable": true, "hint": "see `why-not lab-origin`"}`, or a non-zero exit / stderr note. Bare `null` is indistinguishable from a serialization failure. ### Impact Minor UX/contract clarity; pairs with the `why-not` ambiguity issue. ### Env elephant v0.1.2 (HEAD 4d58f06), macOS. FLF two-agent Rootclaim run.
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anuna-research/elephant#13
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