Prism records where variable insights came from and how confident they are.
This is a core Prism differentiator because it makes static-analysis output auditable instead of opaque.
This page is the technical companion to the top-level product guide at provenance-tracking.md.
Provenance Fields
- source file path
- source line number when available
- source type (
defaults,vars,meta,include_vars,set_fact,readme) - confidence level (
explicit,inferred,dynamic_unknown)
Why This Matters
- helps reviewers distinguish facts from inference
- supports confidence-aware documentation consumption
- improves triage for unresolved variable findings
Why It Is A Product Differentiator
- turns generated docs into reviewable contracts instead of black-box summaries
- preserves trust by exposing uncertain or runtime-dependent conclusions
- helps teams decide what can be enforced in CI and what still needs runtime validation
Example Interpretation
explicit: value was declared directly in source and can be treated as contract-gradeinferred: value was derived from static context and should be reviewed with surrounding logicdynamic_unknown: value depends on runtime behavior and should not be treated as fully resolved