domain-router

Domain Router

Classify the document's domain at the start of the agentic loop, then activate the correct reference files, reviewer subsets, and verification tier defaults. This step prevents applying scientific writing conventions to a legal brief or financial verification gates to an educational curriculum.

Detection Method

Domain detection uses four signals, in order of reliability:

1. User declaration (highest confidence) -- The user explicitly states the domain: "this is a grant resubmission," "review this contract," "edit our 10-K filing." Always takes precedence over automatic detection.

2. File type and metadata -- File extension, template markers, metadata fields. A .tex file with \bibliography is likely scientific. A .docx with "CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT" is legal. An .xlsx with GAAP account codes is financial.

3. Content keywords and structure -- Scan the first 2-3 pages (or first 500 lines) for domain-specific vocabulary and structural patterns:

   • Scientific: "hypothesis," "methodology," "p-value," "Figure N," IMRAD structure, citation brackets
   • Legal: "WHEREAS," "hereinafter," "shall," "Article/Section" numbering, defined terms in quotes
   • Financial: "EBITDA," "revenue recognition," "basis points," tabular financials, fiscal year references
   • Medical: "IRB," "adverse event," "CONSORT," "informed consent," dosing tables
   • Engineering: tolerance notation (e.g., +/- 0.005), "shall comply with ISO," requirements IDs (REQ-001)
   • Policy: "stakeholder," "regulatory impact," "public comment period," "proposed rule"
   • Education: "learning objective," "Bloom's taxonomy," "rubric," "accreditation standard"
   • Journalism: "sources say," "according to," byline, dateline, inverted pyramid structure

4. Structure patterns (lowest confidence) -- Document outline and section hierarchy match a known domain template. Used as a tiebreaker when keywords are ambiguous.

When signals conflict, prefer the higher-reliability signal. When no signal is strong, default to "general" and apply the universal verification gates from the agentic loop without domain-specific overlays.

Domain Classification Table

Domain	Reference File	Default Reviewers	Default Tier	Key Verification Focus
Scientific	references/scientific-writing.md	Domain accuracy, citation integrity, statistical reporting, language	Standard (Tier 2)	Data accuracy, variance reporting, citation-claim alignment, methodology consistency
Legal	references/legal-writing.md	Defined terms, precision of language, citation format, privilege	Standard (Tier 2)	Defined term consistency, obligation/permission word choice, Bluebook compliance, version control
Financial	references/financial-writing.md	Formula integrity, GAAP compliance, reconciliation, audit trail	High-stakes (Tier 3)	Formula verification, cross-statement reconciliation, rounding consistency, SEC formatting
Medical	references/medical-writing.md	Protocol compliance, reporting standards, safety, plain language	High-stakes (Tier 3)	CONSORT/STROBE adherence, adverse event completeness, IRB alignment, HIPAA compliance
Engineering	references/engineering-writing.md	Requirements traceability, units, tolerances, standards	Standard (Tier 2)	Requirements coverage, unit consistency, tolerance notation, standards compliance
Policy	references/policy-writing.md	Source attribution, framing neutrality, data provenance	Standard (Tier 2)	Source verification, stakeholder framing balance, data provenance chain, public comment compliance
Education	references/education-writing.md	Objective alignment, assessment validity, accessibility	Standard (Tier 2)	Bloom's alignment, rubric-objective mapping, accessibility (UDL), institutional format
Journalism	references/journalism-writing.md	Source verification, quote accuracy, editorial standards	Standard (Tier 2)	Independent source confirmation, quote fidelity, defamation risk, correction protocol

What Each Domain Activates

When a domain is identified, the router configures the agentic loop pipeline:

Reference File Loading

The domain-specific reference file is added to the Reference Loading Protocol table. It is loaded when the orchestrator reaches the Source Verify, Draft, or Dual Review steps -- not at session start.

Reviewer Subset

The Dual Review step (Step 7) dispatches domain-specific reviewers from references/review-dimensions.md. Each domain activates a different combination of review dimensions:

Domain	Domain Review Dimensions	Always Active
Scientific	Data accuracy, citation integrity, statistical reporting, methodology	Language review
Legal	Defined term consistency, obligation precision, citation format, privilege screening	Language review
Financial	Formula integrity, GAAP compliance, cross-statement reconciliation, materiality	Language review
Medical	Protocol compliance, reporting standards (CONSORT/STROBE), safety completeness	Language review
Engineering	Requirements traceability, units/tolerances, standards compliance	Language review
Policy	Source attribution, framing neutrality, data provenance, regulatory compliance	Language review
Education	Objective alignment, assessment validity, accessibility compliance	Language review
Journalism	Source verification, quote accuracy, defamation risk, editorial standards	Language review

Verification Tier Default

Each domain sets a default tier, but the orchestrator can override based on the specific phase:

• Financial and Medical default to Tier 3 because errors in these domains have direct real-world consequences (regulatory penalties, patient safety).
• All other domains default to Tier 2 for phases that change quantitative content.
• The orchestrator may escalate any domain to Tier 3 based on phase characteristics (cross-document work, >10 claims, compliance sensitivity).
• The orchestrator may de-escalate to Tier 1 for discovery and research phases in any domain.

Override Protocol

The user can always declare or override the domain:

Explicit declaration: "Treat this as a financial document." The router accepts this immediately, regardless of automatic detection results.

Domain correction: "This isn't legal -- it's a policy document." The router reclassifies and swaps reference files and reviewer subsets.

Multi-domain documents: Some documents span domains (e.g., a medical device regulatory filing is both medical and engineering; a research budget justification is both scientific and financial). In these cases:

1. Declare the primary domain (determines structure and conventions).
2. Load secondary domain references for their verification gates only.
3. Activate reviewers from both domains.
4. Use the higher default tier between the two domains.

No-domain override: "Skip domain-specific checks -- just verify the numbers." The router disables domain-specific reviewers and reference files, keeping only the universal verification gates and language review.

Phase Declaration Integration

When the domain router classifies a document, the result feeds into the Phase Declaration:

Domain reviewer: [scientific / legal / financial / medical / engineering / policy / education / journalism / general]

This field in the phase declaration is set automatically by the router but can be overridden in the declaration itself.

Adding New Domains

If you encounter a document type that doesn't fit any existing domain, note it in FEEDBACK.md with:

• What kind of document it was
• What verification gates would have been useful
• What conventions the existing domains couldn't capture

This feedback drives the creation of new domain reference files in future phases.