Inference Method Glossary

This page is the reference for the raw enum values that appear in inference_options() and in the inference tables returned by summary(), inference_table(), contrast(), test_effect(), anova(), compare(), and confint().

Printed output may use reader-facing display columns such as display_status, display_reason, and what_to_do_next. The values below are the stable machine-readable contract for tests, reports, and downstream tooling.

expected_status

expected_status is used by inference_options() to say whether a route is usable on the current fit.

Value	Definition
available	The method can run on this fit and produce the requested quantity.
not_assessed	The method is known but refused for this fit, with the reason named in expected_reliability_reason or reason_code.
not_yet_wired	The method is part of the inference contract but is not exposed through the current R bridge.

expected_reliability_reason

expected_reliability_reason is the warrant attached to an expected route in inference_options(). The same vocabulary also appears as reliability_reason on actual inference rows when a verb runs or refuses.

Value	Definition	Example
not_available	No additional reliability warrant is attached to the row; inspect status and reason_code for the decision.	A refused cluster-bootstrap p-value row uses a specific reason_code while reliability itself is not available.
asymptotic_wald_z_at_boundary	Wald z can run, but boundary or reduced-rank fits can make asymptotic uncertainty too optimistic.	inference_options() on a singular random-slope fit marks the Wald route with this warrant.
interior_converged_well_specified	The fit is interior and the fast Wald route has no boundary caveat from the route map.	inference_options() on a non-singular LMM can use this for the Wald route.
degrees_of_freedom_unavailable_so_z_substituted	A t reference distribution was desired, but finite-sample degrees of freedom were unavailable, so z was used.	inference_table() on a boundary fit can report a low-reliability Wald row with this warrant.
satterthwaite_unavailable_at_boundary	Satterthwaite degrees of freedom are not certified when variance parameters are on the boundary.	test_effect(fit, term, method = "satterthwaite") refuses on a singular fit.
kenward_roger_unavailable_at_boundary	Kenward-Roger degrees of freedom and covariance adjustment are not certified when variance parameters are on the boundary.	test_effect(fit, term, method = "kenward_roger") refuses on a singular fit.
satterthwaite_finite_difference_approximation	The route uses a finite-difference Satterthwaite degrees-of-freedom approximation.	inference_options() on an interior fit marks Satterthwaite as available with this warrant.
kenward_roger_approximation	The route uses Kenward-Roger finite-sample degrees of freedom with covariance adjustment.	inference_options() on an interior fit marks Kenward-Roger as available with this warrant.
bootstrap_monte_carlo_replicates	Reliability is governed by replicate count and Monte-Carlo standard error.	Bootstrap term tests and bootstrap LRTs use this when enough successful replicates are available.
bootstrap_insufficient_replicates	The bootstrap route ran, but the requested replicate count is too small for a moderate reliability grade.	A demonstration call with nsim = 10 uses this warrant.
bootstrap_not_certified	A bootstrap payload was returned without a certified p-value.	A bootstrap LRT row with no engine-certified p-value uses this warrant.
inference_unavailable_by_policy	The method is refused by an explicit policy for this fit and requested target.	A bootstrap LRT on a REML fit returns this reliability warrant with a more specific reason_code.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_ml	A bootstrap likelihood-ratio test requires ML-fitted models, not REML-fitted models.	test_effect(fit, term, method = "bootstrap_lrt") refuses on a REML fit.
bootstrap_cluster_resample_p_value_unavailable	Cluster resampling describes estimator distributions and does not certify fixed-effect p-values in the current schema.	test_effect(fit, term, method = "cluster_bootstrap", group = "subj") refuses with this warrant.
profile_likelihood_ci	Profile-likelihood confidence intervals are available for this requested parameter set.	inference_options() marks profile_ci available on an ML fit away from the boundary.
profile_beta_unavailable_under_reml	Fixed-effect beta profile intervals require an ML fit and are not certified from REML profile payloads.	confint(fit, method = "profile") on a REML fit records beta rows with this reason.
profile_ci_unavailable_at_boundary	Profile intervals are not certified for boundary or reduced-rank fits.	inference_options() refuses profile_ci on a singular fit.

reason_code

reason_code is attached to actual unavailable or not-assessed rows and to typed errors from inference verbs. It may match expected_reliability_reason, but the two fields answer different questions: expected_reliability_reason predicts or grades a route, while reason_code names the concrete refusal that actually occurred.

Value	Definition	Example
satterthwaite_unavailable_at_boundary	Satterthwaite inference is refused because the fit is boundary or reduced-rank.	contrast(fit, L, method = "satterthwaite") on a singular fit returns a not-assessed row.
kenward_roger_unavailable_at_boundary	Kenward-Roger inference is refused because the fit is boundary or reduced-rank.	test_effect(fit, term, method = "kenward_roger") on a singular fit returns a not-assessed row.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_ml	Bootstrap likelihood-ratio testing is refused because at least one fit was REML-fitted.	compare(reduced, full, method = "bootstrap") refuses unless the models are ML fits.
bootstrap_lrt_reduced_formula_failed	The reduced formula for a term bootstrap LRT could not be constructed.	A term name that cannot be dropped from the model formula produces this code.
bootstrap_lrt_engine_refused	R validation passed, but the Rust bootstrap-LRT bridge refused the payload.	A malformed or unsupported engine-side bootstrap LRT request is returned with this code.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_nested_models	Compared models are not ordered as a nested reduced and larger alternative pair.	A bootstrap LRT comparison with no degrees-of-freedom increase in the alternative fit refuses.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_nested_model_frames	The reduced model uses variables that are absent from the alternative model frame.	A comparison where the reduced formula references a variable not carried by the full fit refuses.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_same_observations	The compared fits do not share identical model-frame values for shared columns.	A bootstrap LRT comparison after different row filtering refuses.
bootstrap_lrt_requires_same_weights	The compared fits use different case weights.	A weighted reduced fit compared to an unweighted full fit refuses.
bootstrap_cluster_resample_p_value_unavailable	Cluster bootstrap is available as an estimator-distribution target but not as a fixed-effect p-value certificate.	test_effect(..., method = "cluster_bootstrap", group = "subj") returns a not-assessed p-value row.
cluster_bootstrap_multifactor_ambiguous	A cluster-bootstrap term test needs an explicit grouping factor when the model has multiple random-effect groups.	test_effect(..., method = "cluster_bootstrap") on a crossed-random-effect model refuses until group is supplied.
profile_beta_unavailable_under_reml	Fixed-effect beta profile intervals are absent by contract under REML.	confint(fit, method = "profile") on a REML fit adds beta rows with NA limits and this code.
fixed_effect_inference_table_unavailable_legacy_object	A legacy or revived object lacks the Rust fixed-effect inference artifact.	inference_table() on an older saved fit returns not-assessed rows with this code.