#!/usr/bin/env python3 """Catch Step-3.7's numeric corruption before a tool call executes. Meant to be copied into an agent harness as a pre-tool-use check, not run as part of the REAP pipeline. See the HF README's "numbers corrupted inside the reasoning block" section for the measured behaviour this defends against. Why code and not the model: the failure survives self-review. In one traced run the model re-read the question 20+ times and reaffirmed the wrong value each time, because by then its own output was the strongest evidence in context. A checker that does not share that context does not share the bias. Three checks, cheapest first: scan_signature(text) known corruption shapes -- 4.4.7, "1 8 4 5", 2,4,5,6,1,3,3,7. No source needed. check_provenance(cmd,src) every numeral in cmd must appear in src. Catches invented numbers that happen to look well-formed. check_sed_bounds(cmd) sed line ranges against the real file length. Usage: from numeric_guard import guard problems = guard(proposed_command, source_text=file_contents) if problems: ...retry instead of executing... $ python3 scripts/numeric_guard.py "sed -n '4.4.7,4.9.5p' src/aero.py" """ from __future__ import annotations import re import sys from pathlib import Path # 1.2.0 / 4.4.7 -- a numeral carrying more interior dots than a decimal can. # Version-like strings are legitimate in many contexts, so this is reported # rather than treated as certainly wrong; see guard()'s `strict` flag. MULTI_DOT = re.compile(r"(? bool: """True unless the literal uses conventional 3-digit grouping. Legitimate: 5_000_000, 1_234, 12_345_678 -- every group after the first is exactly 3 digits and the first is 1-3. Anything else (5_1_8_4, 1_00_000) is the corruption signature. """ groups = lit.split("_") if any(g == "" for g in groups): return True return not (1 <= len(groups[0]) <= 3 and all(len(g) == 3 for g in groups[1:])) def scan_signature(text: str, strict: bool = False) -> list[str]: """Known corruption shapes. No source text required.""" out = [] for m in SPACED_DIGITS.finditer(text): out.append(f"digits split by spaces: {m.group(0)!r}") for m in COMMA_DIGITS.finditer(text): out.append(f"digits split by commas: {m.group(0)!r}") for m in UNDERSCORE_NUM.finditer(text): if _bad_underscore_grouping(m.group(0)): out.append(f"digits split by underscores: {m.group(0)!r} " f"(valid Python, but wrong in JSON/YAML/shell)") for m in MULTI_DOT.finditer(text): label = "malformed number" if strict else "version-like numeral (check)" out.append(f"{label}: {m.group(0)!r}") return out def check_provenance(command: str, source: str, min_len: int = 3) -> list[str]: """Every numeral of >=min_len digits in `command` must occur in `source`. min_len avoids flagging small incidental numbers (-9, exit codes, 0/1). Numbers the model legitimately *computed* will also trip this, so treat hits as "confirm before running", not as proof of corruption. """ return [f"numeral {n!r} does not appear in the source" for n in {m.group(0) for m in NUMERALS.finditer(command)} if len(n) >= min_len and n not in source] def check_sed_bounds(command: str, root: str | Path = ".") -> list[str]: """sed line ranges against the file's real length.""" out = [] for start, end, path in SED_RANGE.findall(command): p = Path(root) / path if not p.exists(): continue n = sum(1 for _ in p.open(errors="replace")) s, e = int(start), int(end) if s > e: out.append(f"sed range {s},{e} is inverted") if s > n or e > n: out.append(f"sed range {s},{e} exceeds {path} ({n} lines)") return out def check_python_int_positions(code: str) -> list[str]: """Float literals where Python requires an int: slice indices, range(). This is the corruption's most dangerous form, because one inserted '.' yields a *valid* float that no shape-based check can distinguish from a legitimate one. `content[idx-5:idx+1.5]` parses fine and fails only at runtime with "slice indices must be integers" -- the exact loop seen in the wild. Catching it needs the syntactic position, not the literal. """ import ast try: tree = ast.parse(code) except SyntaxError: return [] out = [] def floats_in(node): return [n for n in ast.walk(node) if isinstance(n, ast.Constant) and isinstance(n.value, float)] for node in ast.walk(tree): if isinstance(node, ast.Subscript): for f in floats_in(node.slice): out.append(f"float {f.value!r} used as a slice index " f"(line {f.lineno}) -- fails at runtime") elif isinstance(node, ast.Call) and getattr(node.func, "id", "") == "range": for arg in node.args: for f in floats_in(arg): out.append(f"float {f.value!r} passed to range() " f"(line {f.lineno}) -- fails at runtime") return out def guard(command: str, source_text: str | None = None, root: str | Path = ".", strict: bool = False, as_python: bool = False) -> list[str]: """All applicable checks. Empty list means nothing suspicious.""" problems = scan_signature(command, strict=strict) if source_text is not None: problems += check_provenance(command, source_text) problems += check_sed_bounds(command, root) if as_python: problems += check_python_int_positions(command) return problems if __name__ == "__main__": if len(sys.argv) < 2: print(__doc__.strip().split("Usage:")[-1].strip()) raise SystemExit(2) cmd = sys.argv[1] src = Path(sys.argv[2]).read_text() if len(sys.argv) > 2 else None found = guard(cmd, source_text=src) if not found: print("ok") else: print(f"SUSPECT: {cmd!r}") for p in found: print(f" - {p}") raise SystemExit(1)