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T1/T2 Protocol — Heterogeneous Validation for MCP

中文文档 · MCP Registry entry (io.github.Fauxetine/t1-t2-protocol)

Reference implementation. This is a stdlib-only MCP reference server for structured reasoning discipline — not a production security product. Evaluate your own threat model before deploying in sensitive environments. Unlike official Python MCP servers, it does not use the mcp SDK; it speaks JSON-RPC over stdio directly.

T1/T2 is an MCP server that makes AI reasoning verifiable, auditable, and trustworthy — by decomposing ambiguous questions into structured tiers (T1), then validating answers through cross-model evaluation (T2), with a deterministic checksum layer that doesn't depend on any LLM.

Why?

When an LLM checks its own answer, it uses the same training data, the same reasoning preferences, and the same systematic biases. Self-reflection cannot catch its own blind spots.

T1/T2 introduces heterogeneous validation: the model that produces the answer and the model that evaluates it should be different. Their different training distributions cover each other's blind spots.

Tools

| Tool | Function | Why it matters | |------|----------|---------------| | t1_protocol | Decomposes ambiguous questions into L1 (facts) / L2 (assumptions) / L3 (hypotheses) / L4 (unknowns) | Forces structured reasoning before answering | | t2_protocol | Evaluates answer quality from another model's perspective (qualitative five-level confidence) | Catches blind spots self-reflection misses | | checksum | Deterministic structural validation — pure regex, zero LLM dependency | Safety that doesn't scale with intelligence |

How tools return data: t1_protocol and t2_protocol return structured prompt templates for your MCP host's LLM to execute. Only checksum returns deterministic JSON (checksum_passed, errors).

Tool inputs (MCP schema)

t1_protocol

| Input | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | question | string | yes | The ambiguous question to decompose | | locale | string | no | en (default) or zh | | weight_hint | string | no | fact-first, efficiency-first, cost-first, robustness-first, general-first (or Chinese equivalents) |

t2_protocol

| Input | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | answer | string | yes | Text to evaluate (often the host LLM's draft answer) | | locale | string | no | en (default) or zh | | weight_hint | string | no | Same values as t1_protocol |

checksum

| Input | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | text | string | yes | Structured answer text to validate |

Returns JSON: {"checksum_passed": bool, "errors": [...]}.

Quick Start

Requirements

Python 3.10+
An MCP client: Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, or any MCP-compatible host

Install

From PyPI (recommended):

pip install "t1-t2-protocol>=0.1.0"

From source (development):

git clone https://github.com/Fauxetine/t1-t2-protocol.git
cd t1-t2-protocol
pip install -e ".[dev]"
T1T2_DISABLE_COUNTERS=1 python -m pytest tests/ -v

Or run directly without installing:

python src/t1_t2_mcp_server.py   # Windows
python3 src/t1_t2_mcp_server.py  # macOS / Linux

Configure

After pip install, use the console script in MCP config (recommended):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "t1-t2-protocol": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "t1-t2-protocol"
    }
  }
}

Cursor — .cursor/mcp.json (same as above).

Claude Desktop — claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "t1-t2-protocol": {
      "command": "t1-t2-protocol"
    }
  }
}

From source (no pip install) — point at the script:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "t1-t2-protocol": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/t1-t2-protocol/src/t1_t2_mcp_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

On macOS/Linux use "command": "python3" instead of "python".

Verify it works

Restart or reload your MCP host after editing config.
Confirm three tools appear: t1_protocol, t2_protocol, checksum.
Call t1_protocol with {"question": "Should we adopt microservices?", "locale": "en"} — you should receive a structured T1 prompt template.
Call checksum with sample [L1 Facts] … --- text — you should receive JSON with checksum_passed.

Usage

T1: Structure a vague question

Call t1_protocol with your question. The host LLM receives a structured prompt template with four tiers:

Input:  {"question": "Should we migrate our monolith to microservices?"}

Output: Prompt template instructing the host to produce:
  [L1 Facts]      Team size, codebase size, current stack
  [L2 Assumptions] Expected benefits that need verification
  [L3 Hypotheses] Testable claims about migration risk
  [L4 Unknown]    Future growth trajectory
  [Core Question] The precise feasibility question

T2: Cross-validate a decision

Call t2_protocol with a decision or answer text. Returns an evaluation prompt for the host LLM:

Input:  {"answer": "Decision text for approach A..."}

Output: Prompt template requesting:
  Confidence: high | medium-high | medium | medium-low | low
  Adoption table with:
    ✅ Adopt     — verified conclusions (L1)
    ⚠️ Reserved — needs more evidence (L2)
    ❌ N/A      — blind spots to address

checksum: Validate output structure

Call checksum with structured text. It returns pass/fail based on deterministic rules:

Input: "[L1 Facts]\n1. ...\n[L2 Assumptions]\n1. ...\n---"
Output: {"checksum_passed": true, "errors": []}

Full pipeline

Vague question → T1 structured decomposition → Decision based on structure → checksum (optional) → T2 validation → Refined decision

For time-sensitive factual claims, search on the caller side before T2 — see Caller-side web verification (v2.6).

Configuration

Locale

Both t1_protocol and t2_protocol accept an optional locale parameter:

| Value | Output | |-------|--------| | en (default) | English templates | | zh | Chinese templates |

Example: {"question": "...", "locale": "zh"}

Weight hints

Both t1_protocol and t2_protocol accept an optional weight_hint parameter to bias evaluation criteria:

| Weight | Effect | |--------|--------| | 事实优先 / fact-first | Prioritizes factual accuracy | | 效率优先 / efficiency-first | Prioritizes efficiency | | 成本优先 / cost-first | Prioritizes cost | | 鲁棒性优先 / robustness-first | Prioritizes robustness | | 通用优先 / general-first | No specific bias |

Recursion protection

T2 automatically detects recursion depth and terminates at depth >= 3, where marginal information gain drops below 5%.

Design Philosophy

See docs/philosophy.md for the full design rationale.

Core tenets:

Separate intelligence from trust — AI capability and AI safety should be guaranteed by different systems
Heterogeneous over self-referential — Cross-model validation is more reliable than self-reflection
Deterministic over probabilistic — What can be checked by code should not be left to model judgment

Examples

See examples/ for step-by-step walkthroughs:

Positioning

| Project | Layer | What it does | T1/T2 relationship | |---------|-------|--------------|-------------------| | Sequential Thinking (official MCP) | Caller-side chain-of-thought | One model logs iterative steps | Complementary — T1 adds L1–L4 tiers + T2 cross-model review | | ThoughtProof / verdict APIs | Server-side verification | APPROVE/DENY/UNCERTAIN with confidence | Complementary — T1/T2 structures reasoning before verdict APIs act | | Self-reflection / prompt chains | Same model | Re-reads or re-prompts its own output | Replaced — heterogeneous validation catches shared blind spots | | Tool integrity (e.g. Phionyx) | Transport / tool schema | Detects tool poisoning, schema drift | Orthogonal — T1/T2 does not secure tool definitions |

T1/T2 is a stdlib reference implementation for MCP Discussion #2574-style reasoning discipline: structure first (T1), cross-validate second (T2), checksum what code can verify. It is not a signed verdict API and not a security scanner.

Versioning

Two version numbers — do not conflate them:

| | Example | Meaning | |---|---------|---------| | Package (PyPI) | 0.1.0 | Distribution lifecycle. 0.x = experimental (SemVer, FastAPI policy). | | Protocol (spec) | v2.5 | T1/T2 tool semantics in server output footer. Caller-side web verify docs use v2.6. |

Recommended install: pip install "t1-t2-protocol>=0.1.0". Erroneous PyPI releases 2.5.2–2.5.4 are yanked.

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.

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Built for the MCP ecosystem. Part of a broader exploration into AI safety through deterministic architecture.

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T1/T2 Protocol