Be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept.
"Be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept." — Jon Postel, RFC 761 (1980)
POSTEL is how MOOLLM handles ambiguity, errors, and incomplete instructions:
Instead of failing, find the best possible interpretation that:
Also known as:
When faced with ambiguity:
1. GATHER context — what do we know?
2. INFER intent — what did they probably mean?
3. PROPOSE interpretation — state your understanding
4. ACT constructively — do the reasonable thing
5. REPORT uncertainty — flag what you assumed
Input: "delete the old files"
POSTEL Response:
I interpret "old files" as files not modified in 30+ days.
Found 12 candidates in ./temp/
Before deleting, I'll:
1. List them for your review
2. Move to trash (not permanent delete)
3. Wait for confirmation
Proceed? [Y/n]
Input: User config missing email field
POSTEL Response: