---
slug: "Belief"
name: "Belief"
type: "Data Structures"
layer: "Infrastructure"
ref: "Belief#09e1"
sema_id: "sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:09e1c919d9829e30422f3fffee11c1af4af54ac7894d157ff371ed50b03f69b1"
tags: ["Infrastructure","Data Structures"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Belief/
related: ["Agent","State","BayesUpdate","BeliefTracking","Normance","OODA","SteelmanCheck","TraceBelief","Normance#6844"]
---

# Belief

A subjective claim with confidence and evidence

Layer: Infrastructure · Category: Data Structures

## Mechanism

A unit of epistemic [State](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/State.md). Represents a claim held by an [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) with a specific confidence score (0.0 to 1.0) and a pointer to supporting evidence. Unlike a Fact, a Belief is subjective and mutable.

## Invariants

- Names the [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) holding it; a claim with no holder is an assertion, not a Belief.
- Carries a pointer to its supporting evidence, or records that it has none.

## Failure modes

—

## Data schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "proposition",
    "confidence",
    "supporting_evidence"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "proposition": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The claim held by the agent"
    },
    "confidence": {
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 1,
      "description": "Subjective probability (Bayesian Prior)"
    },
    "supporting_evidence": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "IDs of observations supporting this belief"
    },
    "provenance": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Source of the belief (Inference, Axiom, Observation)"
    }
  }
}
```

## Builds on

- [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) (Mind; References)
- [State](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/State.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [BayesUpdate](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/BayesUpdate.md) (Mind; References)
- [BeliefTracking](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/BeliefTracking.md) (Mind; References)
- [Normance](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Normance.md) (Mind; References)
- [OODA](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/OODA.md) (Mind; Composes with)
- [SteelmanCheck](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/SteelmanCheck.md) (Mind; References)
- [TraceBelief](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/TraceBelief.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:09e1c919d9829e30422f3fffee11c1af4af54ac7894d157ff371ed50b03f69b1`
- Ref: `Belief#09e1`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:5ad9a529582c153a8fcf44db3b2d15f68040049729f13121c484bc8fa9c241df`
  - `sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:7d838b98686e17c69e96df09b2c7ec870df22bba9a9bd02dc29bd62be41d5da8`
  - `sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:675c86db12fcc346e8a95dbf0c49c6a28a7bf81cc65915bdcb695bf291123524`
  - `sema:Belief#mh:SHA-256:e160f5d3c82f6a64902c8619ec411f1c33eb0a4d031aea46bddb0f0776d5f150`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Belief/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/#Belief)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Belief.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json)