{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-an-instance-detect-and-quarantine-cooperative-memory-contamination",
  "title": "How must an instance detect and quarantine cooperative memory contamination?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** Memory is shared across agents, writes can contain errors or speculation, and downstream decisions depend on shared memory. * **Does not apply when:** Memory is strictly per-agent (no sharing), or every shared write is v",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-detect-and-quarantine-cooperative-memory-contamination.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-detect-and-quarantine-cooperative-memory-contamination.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-detect-and-quarantine-cooperative-memory-contamination.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1058,
    "python_slice_tokens": 311,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **shared memory write** (an agent writes to shared memory) and **shared memory trust** (other agents can rely on what was written). Relying on writes creates the **Cooperative Contamination**: agents trust shared memory because it's \"the shared state,\" but any agent can write errors to it, and the errors propagate to every agent readin...",
    "what_was_observed": "In cooperative memory agent architectures, failing to quarantine contamination produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Error Propagation:** Agent A misreads a signal and writes \"user is authorized\" to shared memory. Agent B reads it, authorizes action. Agent C reads B's confirmation, then authorizes further action. The original misread propagates through 3+ agents without re-verification. 2. **Write Amplification:...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** Memory is shared across agents, writes can contain errors or speculation, and downstream decisions depend on shared memory. * **Does not apply when:** Memory is strictly per-agent (no sharing), or every shared write is verified against ground truth before being written.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the memory being read from shared state?** If no, agent's own memory applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Does the write have `shared_memory_write_provenance_receipt`?** If no, the write is unverified. Treat as speculation, not fact. 3. **Is the writing agent's `per_agent_write_quality_signature` above acceptable threshold?** If yes, weight the write accor...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Error Propagation Prevention:** Provenance and quality weighting prevent amplification. 2. **Speculation Quarantine:** Speculation is distinguished from fact, preventing laundering. 3. **Cross-Agent Coordination:** Quarantine decisions propagate to all readers."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "OOM_KILL_OR_MEMORY_EXHAUSTION"
  ],
  "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": "3b23e5bacebac58866a27656b69833b25181dab93d57de1caf0e0c62e4ed4435",
    "verified_classes": [
      "ContaminationVerdict",
      "SharedMemoryWrite",
      "MemoryContext",
      "ContaminationPolicy",
      "ContaminationManifest",
      "CooperativeMemoryContaminationGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_write"
    ],
    "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
  }
}