What is a claim boundary?

A claim boundary defines what may be stated from the available evidence.

In SDX, evidence does not automatically authorize broad claims. A claim boundary separates supported statements from unsupported, out-of-scope, or overextended interpretations. It determines the limits of what can be asserted without exceeding the mandate, the evidence chain, or the governed method.

This boundary is essential because institutional decision material must be defensible under scrutiny. A value may exist in a sealed run, but that does not mean it can be used as a reportable claim. The claim boundary controls whether an observation may become a statement, remain a limitation, or be excluded from decision-facing output.

The claim boundary therefore protects the system from exaggeration. It keeps report data and possibility spaces tied to what the evidence can actually support, rather than to what a reader, model, or analyst might infer.