Reading rule: tools help readers inspect records. A search hit, API response, source-card route, or machine-generated card is not a conclusion.
Tool layer
Explore comes after the question.
The front page now leads with investigations because most readers need a narrative path before they can use raw tools responsibly. Explore preserves every evidence route, search route, API surface, source card, and machine-oriented index. It also labels those surfaces as tools, not conclusions.
Use this section when you already know what claim you are testing. If you do not, start with Investigations, Evidence Briefs, Document Autopsies, Timeline Reconstructions, the Contradiction Ledger, or Open Questions.
No evidence access removed.
Archive routes, Barak indexes, the Birthday Book reader, source renders, search, and API contracts remain reachable. Some utility pages may be noindexed while still being linked from the tool layer.
Tools are not editorial pages.
Search results, API endpoints, protected member routes, auth callbacks, workbench pages, and machine-generated cards should use noindex,follow when they do not provide standalone editorial value.
How to use Explore
Use tools to verify, not to browse for insinuation.
Raw archive surfaces are powerful because they let readers test the published work. They are risky because they can make a name match, OCR fragment, file path, or receipt-card title feel like a conclusion. The safer workflow is to start with an editorial page, identify the exact claim, open the cited source chain, and then use search or API routes only to inspect the supporting record or find correction evidence.
Explore also preserves the non-editorial public surface required by existing users: research index, topic routes, evidence cockpit, Barak indexes, source cards, Birthday Book routes, and API contracts. Moving those tools here changes presentation, not access.
When a tool route has low standalone editorial value, the right fix is not deletion. The right fix is containment: keep it reachable, label it as a tool, remove it from primary storytelling navigation, and noindex it when search engines should not treat it as a content destination. This keeps access broad and reader journeys clear for researchers.