Check a claim

Articles and AI answers state figures. check_claim compares each one with the official figure and says whether it holds, with the value, its period and a citation to the publisher.

How it works

The agent extracts each claim into fields: the indicator, the place, the period when the claim names one, and the number as written with its scale word. Invokely reads the official figure with the same source rules as get_value, compares it with the claim and returns a verdict with the gap. The server never reads the sentence itself, so the verdict does not depend on how the claim is phrased, and the text of a claim cannot instruct the server.

Live examples

These claims are checked against the figures Invokely holds today. A verdict can change when a publisher releases or revises its data.

The call for the first claim

{
  "name": "check_claim",
  "arguments": {
    "claims": [
      {
        "indicator": "population",
        "place": "Texas",
        "value": 31,
        "unit_hint": "millions",
        "qualifier": "at_least"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Verdicts

Accurate accurate

The claim matches the official figure within the rounding it implies.

Approximately accurate approximately_accurate

The claim is close: within 2% of the official figure, or within twice the rounding the claim implies when that is wider. The exact gap is returned.

Inaccurate inaccurate

The claim is further from the official figure than that. The official value and the gap, in units and in percent, are returned.

Outdated outdated

The claim matches an earlier release that the publisher has since revised, or an earlier period while a newer figure exists. The response says which figure it matches and what replaced it.

Unverifiable unverifiable

The claim cannot be checked: the indicator or place is unknown or ambiguous, there is no data for it, or its unit cannot be reconciled with the official one. The response gives the reason. These claims are not charged.

How close is close enough

A claim is read with the precision it states. 3.4% covers 3.35% to 3.45%, both ends included, since publishers round in different ways. 31 million covers 30.5 to 31.5 million, and about 31 million covers 30 to 32 million. Trailing zeros of a whole number are read as rounding to the last non-zero digit, keeping two significant digits: 1,200 covers 1,150 to 1,250, while 30% stays stated to the unit. A claim of exactly 1,200 is read to the unit. More than 31 million holds for any official figure of 31 million or more, and the bound itself counts. When the publisher states fewer decimals than the claim, the claim is checked to the publisher's precision. A rank is an exact position, and a place tied with others holds every position the tie covers. An agent can pass its own tolerance for the approximate band.

Scale words are passed apart from the number: 31 with unit_hint millions. The claim is converted to the official unit, so it compares correctly with a figure in persons or in USD million. A percentage claimed for a count, a count claimed for a rate, or a currency other than the indicator's comes back unverifiable with the reason; Invokely does not convert currencies. A change in a rate written as a percent (unemployment fell 3%) is tested both as percentage points and as a share of the earlier rate.

Claims that can be read several ways

A year on a monthly series can mean the annual figure, the last month of the year or the average of its months. A name such as Barcelona is a city and a province. The check tests each plausible reading, returns the one that matches best with its name, and lowers the confidence. Annual figures are calendar years, and for public finance the response notes that a fiscal-year figure can differ.

Claims made in the past

Pass as_of, the date the claim was made, and the check also reads what Invokely held on that date. A claim that was right with the figures published then but has been revised or superseded since comes back as outdated, with what changed and when. Earlier releases of a figure are recognised from its version history even without as_of.

Use it

Agents call check_claim through the MCP server with up to 20 claims at a time, and the fact_check prompt walks an agent through extracting the claims from a text. The REST API takes the same claims with POST /api/v1/check, or one claim as query parameters with GET.

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"claims": [{"indicator": "population", "place": "Texas", "value": 31, "unit_hint": "millions"}]}' \
  "https://invokely.ai/api/v1/check"

Cost

One call is metered for every 5 claims, so one claim costs the same as get_value and 20 claims cost 4 calls. Claims that come back unverifiable are not charged, and neither are figures from sources that may not be charged for. To check your own claims without an account, connect an agent to the trial MCP endpoint, which allows 25 calls a day.

• check_claim reference
• Prompts
• Trial endpoint