Declared Evaluation Context

Definition

A Declared Evaluation Context is an explicit, rule-bound specification that defines which externally governed parameters are in force when AVOL instantiates a value representation. A Declared Evaluation Context:

• is supplied explicitly at evaluation time
• is never inferred, derived, or assumed by the system under any condition
• is deterministic, inspectable, and finite
• references externally defined rules or entitlements, not user preferences or intent

A Declared Evaluation Context does not alter AVOL’s ontology, conversion logic, or aggregation rules. It constrains which rule-bound facts are considered operative for a given evaluation.

What a Declared Evaluation Context Is Not

When multiple Declared Evaluation Contexts are valid, selection among them is external to AVOL. AVOL SHALL NOT infer, prioritize, reconcile, or select among contexts, nor combine or adjudicate outputs across contexts. A Declared Evaluation Context is not:

• Personalization
• Preference expression
• Intent signaling
• Outcome optimization
• Ranking logic
• Recommendation logic
• Adaptive weighting
• Probabilistic or predictive modeling within the canonical (AVOL-Base) value representation

Context declaration does not express normative importance or evaluative judgment. It declares only which externally governed conditions apply.

Purpose and Rationale

Declared Evaluation Context exists to allow AVOL to represent value as it exists under explicitly specified conditions, without inference or steering by the system.

Many transactional value components are contingent on rule-governed states (e.g., loyalty tier rules, payment instrument terms, contractual entitlements). If those states are not explicitly declared, a system would be required to assume, guess, or infer which rules apply. AVOL does not perform such inference.

Declared Evaluation Context eliminates that ambiguity by requiring all contingent conditions to be explicitly supplied, allowing AVOL to apply externally defined rules deterministically, without interpreting user intent, likelihood of benefit realization, or preference. Absence of a Declared Evaluation Context is not an error condition. In such cases, AVOL evaluates the option under AVOL-Base, the context-free canonical instantiation.

Declared Evaluation Context provides a formal mechanism to:

• Resolve rule-dependent value components
• Preserve determinism and inspectability
• Avoid implicit personalization or intent inference
• Maintain AVOL’s neutrality boundary

Canonicality Within Context

AVOL guarantees canonical outputs within a Declared Evaluation Context.

Canonicality Rule:
Identical inputs + identical declared evaluation context → identical outputs

Canonicality is preserved per context, not across contexts.

Different declared contexts may yield different outputs without violating canonicality, provided that:

• Each context is explicitly declared
• Each context is rule-bound and deterministic
• No context mutates AVOL’s ontology or computation rules

There is no implicit or default context beyond AVOL-Base.

Structure and Constraints of a Declared Evaluation Context

A valid Declared Evaluation Context must satisfy all of the following:

Allowed Contextual Parameters

Declared Evaluation Context may include parameters that reference externally governed entitlements or conditions, such as:

• Loyalty program tier (as defined by the issuer)
• Payment instrument type (as defined by issuer terms)
• Contractual eligibility flags
• Jurisdictional rule applicability
• Program enrollment status
• Any other externally defined, rule-governed entitlement or condition whose applicability is explicitly declared and independently inspectable

These parameters:

• Reference what rules apply, not what the user prefers
• Do not encode subjective value or intent
• Do not alter AVOL’s conversion logic

Contextual parameters that do not meet these criteria are non-permissible within AVOL. Externally governed parameters are defined and maintained outside AVOL and are not authored, selected, curated, or modified by AVOL for evaluative purposes.

AVOL does not evaluate likelihood, utility, or desirability of these parameters. It only applies their externally defined rules if declared.

Prohibited Behaviors Within Context

Within a Declared Evaluation Context, AVOL must not:

• Infer user intent or preference
• Learn or adapt weights over time
• Rank or order options
• Recommend or label outcomes as “best”
• Optimize toward any outcome
• Incorporate likelihood, probability, forecasting, or expected-value assumptions into the canonical (AVOL-Base) value representation
• Resolve ambiguity through heuristics

Non-canonical analyses, projections, simulations, or decision systems may operate on AVOL outputs, provided that the canonical value representation remains intact and distinguishable.

Any such behavior constitutes decisioning and is explicitly outside AVOL’s scope.

Separation From Decisioning

Declared Evaluation Context does not perform decisioning. Specifically, it does not:

• Compare options relative to one another
• Determine superiority or preference
• Influence ordering or visibility
• Produce choice guidance

It produces context-instantiated value representations only. Any interpretation, comparison, ranking, or recommendation occurs strictly downstream of AVOL.

Relationship to AVOL-Base

AVOL-Base is the context-free instantiation of AVOL.

• AVOL-Base applies when no Declared Evaluation Context is supplied
• It represents value under baseline, non-contingent rules
• It is canonical, deterministic, and inspectable

Declared Evaluation Contexts are additive instantiations, not mutations:

• They do not override AVOL-Base
• They do not rewrite AVOL’s ontology
• They do not alter conversion or aggregation rules

Multiple contexts may coexist, each producing its own canonical output.

Coexistence of Multiple Contexts

Multiple Declared Evaluation Contexts may be applied to the same option without contaminating neutrality, provided that:

• Each context is independently declared
• Each context is evaluated separately
• Outputs are not combined, weighted, or collapsed within AVOL

AVOL does not reconcile or adjudicate between contexts. It represents value as instantiated under each declared context, nothing more.

Governance and Enforcement

Declared Evaluation Context is a first-class, governed construct within AVOL. Compliance is enforced through versioned specifications and formal review of any changes affecting context structure or admissibility. Any context that:

• Is inferred rather than declared
• Introduces adaptive or heuristic behavior
• Encodes preference, intent, or optimization
• Alters AVOL’s ontology or computation rules

is non-compliant with AVOL’s canonical posture.

Boundary Statement

Declared Evaluation Context allows AVOL to support contextualized value evaluation without becoming a personalization, ranking, or decision system.

AVOL’s responsibility ends at representation.

Context does not extend that responsibility.