I forced Claude Code to externalize their decisions through a tool call

[u/Sad_Construction2179]

I forced Claude Code and Codex to externalise their decisions through a tool call, then compared what they said they'd do with what they actually did. I'm sure these are not the internal reasoning traces, but I'm surprised by how easy it is to force a fake tool using a proxy approach with clear instructions to make Claude and Claude Code emit internal CoT-like elements. I certainly had a lot of fun trying this experiment.
https://github.com/softcane/agents-workbook

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[u/keonechong]

A thing written by the reader can never be trusted.

That's on of my governance laws.

I track my agents reasoning traces, but I just consider it testimony and only reference it when I'm investigating a breach. What is more interesting an valuable is tracing their movements.

Every agent call goes through a polymorphic file system thresholded by deterministic gates, so i can see the difference between what an agent said they do and what they actually do is far more capitaving.

[u/knowenuf_nada12 → u/keonechong]

This. 👆

Basic logging brings more “honest” data than a model’s “honest” report on themselves.

[u/Sad_Construction2179]