Citations and confidence
What "cited" actually means in Bucky — the status behind every fact, what an assumption is, and what to verify before you rely on a result.
"Cited" is doing a lot of work in these docs, so this page defines it once. Bucky is not the only tool now claiming citation-backed answers — the honest version of that claim is proving depth on a specific fact, not asserting it for the product as a whole.
Every fact carries a status, not just a value
A number without provenance is an opinion. Bucky attaches a status to zoning and feasibility values so you can tell a sourced fact from a cached guess:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
cited | Extracted from the bylaw. |
cited_conditional | Resolved from a conditional rule that applies to this site. |
conditional_unresolved | Conditional tiers exist; none resolve for this site. Unknown, not unlimited. |
no_limit_in_bylaw | The bylaw sets no zone-level limit. A real answer. |
unverified_default | A cached value with no citation behind it. Indicative only. |
not_extracted | Never extracted for this zone. Unknown. |
site_specific_schedule | The zone has its own site-specific bylaw (a PD or CD-1, for example). Unknown, never borrowed from a base district. |
You'll see this table applied on Zoning; this page is the canonical definition and covers what the table doesn't: assumptions, what to verify, and what "verified" would even mean.
Derived from a cited rule
Some values are not read off the bylaw directly — Bucky calculates them by
applying a cited rule to your site. A setback written as a percentage of lot
depth, for example, becomes a number once Bucky knows the lot's depth. These
values are derived from a cited rule: the rule is cited, the number is
Bucky's calculation. Agents see the status derived_from_cited ("Derived
from a citation") on constraint and development-program values. In the
per-site fact list, a value calculated from a cited formula comes through as
cited_conditional.
Treat a derived value as one step removed from a quote. Open the cited rule
and confirm it applies to your site the way Bucky read it. Bucky never shows a
derived value as plain cited, and when a rule needs a fact Bucky doesn't have
— the setbacks of neighbouring lots, for example — it says what is missing
instead of guessing.
Assumptions are not citations
Some feasibility figures are not extracted from a bylaw at all — they're a
declared assumption Bucky used to produce a number where no cited value
exists (for example, a typical setback pattern for a zone with
not_extracted values). An assumption is not a hidden default: it should be
visible on the result, not baked silently into the math.
Read the difference before you act on a figure:
- Cited — traceable to a specific bylaw section.
- Derived from a cited rule — Bucky's calculation from a cited rule and your lot's facts.
- Assumption — Bucky's stated placeholder, used because nothing is cited yet.
- Unverified default — a cached figure carried from another source, no citation attached.
Only the first is a fact you can defend without further work; the second is defensible once you have checked the rule applies.
How to inspect a citation
Every cited and cited_conditional value links back to the bylaw section
it came from. Open it. The citation is what makes the value checkable — that
is the entire point of citing it, not a formality to skip.
What to verify next
Before a cited_conditional, conditional_unresolved, or unverified_default
value goes into a decision, a deliverable, or a hearing:
conditional_unresolved— confirm with the jurisdiction which conditional tier actually applies to your site; Bucky flags the ambiguity, it does not resolve it for you.unverified_default— treat it as a planning estimate and check it against the current bylaw or a local professional before relying on it.not_extracted— Bucky does not know yet. That is not the same as "no limit" — see Zoning.site_specific_schedule— read the site's own bylaw or ordinance; Bucky does not fill in its envelope from a base district.- Derived values — open the cited rule and check the lot facts it used.
What "verified" would mean
Bucky does not currently mark any fact verified, and does not use the word
for a person, fact, or output without stating the standard behind it. If that
changes, this page will say what verification means and who performed it —
not just apply the label.
Where this shows up
- Parcels — geometry and dimensions carry the same sourced-vs-unsourced distinction.
- Zoning — the primary home of the status table above.
- Feasibility — combines cited and assumed values; read the status behind each input before trusting the output.
- Coverage — the jurisdiction-level status that determines whether any of this applies to an address at all.
- How to read and export a feasibility report — a deliverable carries these statuses forward; it does not upgrade them.
Last updated on