# Evidence Over Presentation

_Published 2026-08-26._

The page loaded. The API returned 200. The model drew a box. The PDF looked official.

None of those facts proves that the business process was correct.

The fifth [engineering principle](/engineering) is evidence over presentation. A system is correct when the operational outcome is correct and explainable, not when the interface makes the path look complete.

## Records outlive impressions

In Avtosan, the valuation record is the source of truth and the PDF is a projection. In SaigaVision, a detection becomes useful when it participates in a track and a location record. In Fire & Smoke, an event carries time, camera, geometry, and confidence instead of leaving an operator to inspect a screenshot.

Those records give a future reader something to check. Which market data supported this number? Was this track continuous or restarted after a gap? Did the alert path acknowledge the event?

Evidence over presentation does not mean ignoring the visible result. The point is that the artifact should be generated from a record whose assumptions can be inspected.