# The author restated the thesis on 2026-10-25: small models need external knowledge; the project learned that… > Living preprint · as of 2026-10-25 · map node F-2236 (fact) · interim record, not a final result. - [F-2236] The author restated the thesis on 2026-10-25: small models need external knowledge; the project learned that and built a harness around a small model's real capabilities, tuned for the app user's experience (health gate, QuickMath, pack search and delivery, the Succinct persona, a fixed check-the-source line, refusal behaviour). It replaces the 2026-10-23 sentence "right whenever the content is in a pack" as the thesis statement; the conditional closing-test numbers are its evidence and its limits. thesis statement (author, 2026-10-25) · set UNKNOWN (status UNKNOWN) · judge UNKNOWN · n UNKNOWN · seeds UNKNOWN · CI not computed · date 2026-10-25 · caveat: who: author; a framing statement, not a measurement. Evidence: with the matching pack the 1.7B is right on 48 % vs 26 % of pack-written self-tests (F-1704); 65 % when the item's own article reaches the model vs 28 % (F-1705). Limits: the article is delivered on 54 % (F-1706); no pack reached the 0.75 bar (F-1707); no gain on real development items (F-2080). Never "the harness makes it half as good". Read chapter 14, Closing the research: what a small model needs: https://r4topunk.github.io/boar-research/research/closure.md --- Cite as: r4to, independent researcher. RatLab — A Boar Research (2026), research record 1.0, as of 2026-10-25. Text and data CC BY 4.0. Fact ids or a link must travel with a quote. How to cite: https://r4topunk.github.io/boar-research/cite/ · https://r4topunk.github.io/boar-research/CITATION.cff. AI-reviewed, not clinically reviewed. Nothing here is medical advice.