# Never accept a fabricated absence

"Not found" must state the scope of the search. An absence inside one index is not an absence in the world; ask where it looked.

From the [Tips & tricks](../index.md#tips) section of [The Muse Field Guide](../index.md).

## The move

"Not found" must state the scope of the search. An absence inside one index is not an absence in the world.

## When to use it

Whenever the agent reports that something does not exist. The follow-up is mechanical: where did you look, and what would it look like if it were somewhere else?

## Steps

1. Ask which sources were searched, by name.
2. Ask what the thing would look like in the sources not searched.
3. Report the absence with its scope attached, or keep searching.
4. Treat "unknown while dark" as a valid report; a fabricated absent is not.

## The gotcha

Absence is the hardest claim in the system. A partial search presented as a complete one manufactures certainty the evidence never had.

## Where this came from

A claim of "nowhere in your library" was narrowed on correction to "nowhere in one machine's text index," because another device's index had the item all along.

Deep dive: [Practices and tips: the resource core](../deep-dives/practices.md)

Related resources: [Run a pre-flight before asking](preflight-before-asking.md), [Spot-check every background number](spot-check-background-numbers.md)

Canonical page: https://www.niclydon.io/muse/items/never-accept-fabricated-absence.html