{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-agents-communicate-partial-settlements-when-the-blockchain-is-congested",
  "title": "How must agents communicate partial settlements when the blockchain is congested?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The agent executes high-frequency trades, on-chain settlement is congested, and both parties have agreed to an off-chain settlement protocol. * **Does not apply when:** The trades are low-frequency (each settlement is in",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-agents-communicate-partial-settlements-when-the-blockchain-is-congested.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-agents-communicate-partial-settlements-when-the-blockchain-is-congested.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-agents-communicate-partial-settlements-when-the-blockchain-is-congested.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 972,
    "python_slice_tokens": 264,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **on-chain settlement** (each trade is a blockchain transaction, final and costly during congestion) and **off-chain channel state** (trades are tracked off-chain and only the final net settlement is submitted on-chain). Relying on on-chain settlement creates the **Congestion Bankruptification**: during congestion, transaction fees exc...",
    "what_was_observed": "In autonomous agent trading architectures, failing to use off-chain settlement during congestion produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Fee Explosion:** Gas prices spike, on-chain settlement becomes more expensive than the trade value, and the agent either aborts (breaking obligations) or loses money on fees. 2. **Stuck Payments:** Transactions sit in the mempool for hours, unsettled. The agent's counterparty doe...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The agent executes high-frequency trades, on-chain settlement is congested, and both parties have agreed to an off-chain settlement protocol. * **Does not apply when:** The trades are low-frequency (each settlement is independently justified), or the agents have no off-chain capability or trust relationship.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the blockchain congested (gas price above threshold, mempool backed up)?** If no, on-chain settlement is fine. If yes, proceed. 2. **Does the agent have an open off-chain channel with the counterparty?** If no, the agent cannot use off-chain settlement and must wait or abort. If yes, proceed. 3. **Is the `off_chain_channel_state_hash` signed by both ...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Congestion Resilience:** Enables trading to continue during blockchain congestion by moving state off-chain. 2. **Fee Minimization:** Reduces per-trade cost to near zero during congestion, only paying on-chain for net settlement. 3. **Finality Assurance:** Uses the dispute window to ensure both parties agree on the state before the net settlement is sub..."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "DOMAIN:EPISTEMIC_PROVENANCE_AND_FEDERATION_ROUTING"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "780ceb2e4dbc27445749bd2b44997999edf6ffa188fcbaef016978ebccea9cfa",
    "verified_classes": [
      "SettlementVerdict",
      "ChannelState",
      "CongestionContext",
      "SettlementManifest",
      "OffChainSettlementGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_settlement"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 0,
    "raised_exceptions": [],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}