{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-an-instance-handle-cross-agent-memory-recall-when-a-peer-is-temporarily-unavailable",
  "title": "How must an instance handle cross-agent memory recall when a peer is temporarily unavailable?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The session depends on peer memory, peers can become unavailable, and decisions are time-sensitive enough that indefinite waiting is unacceptable. * **Does not apply when:** Peers have fully redundant memory (any instanc",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-handle-cross-agent-memory-recall-when-a-peer-is-temporarily-unavailable.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-handle-cross-agent-memory-recall-when-a-peer-is-temporarily-unavailable.py",
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  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **memory availability** (the peer is reachable) and **memory validity** (the peer's memory reflects current state). Relying on availability creates the **Unavailable Peer Fallacy**: the session either waits indefinitely for the peer to return (blocking progress), or falls back to a stale memory it cached, unaware that the peer's memory...",
    "what_was_observed": "In peer-memory-dependent agent architectures, failing to handle peer unavailability produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Indefinite Blocking:** The session waits for a peer to return to answer a memory query. The peer is down for hours, and the session makes no progress, blocking all downstream operations. 2. **Silent Stale Recall:** The session falls back to a cached memory from the peer, but the peer's actual...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The session depends on peer memory, peers can become unavailable, and decisions are time-sensitive enough that indefinite waiting is unacceptable. * **Does not apply when:** Peers have fully redundant memory (any instance can recall), or decisions are not time-sensitive.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the peer currently available?** If yes, standard recall applies. If no, proceed. 2. **Is the `peer_availability_policy_signature` defined?** If yes, follow it. If no, default to deferring (safest option). 3. **Does the `memory_recall_staleness_receipt` show staleness within tolerance?** If yes, use fallback. If no, defer decision. 4. **Conversely, wh...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Indefinite Blocking Prevention:** Explicit policy prevents unbounded waiting. 2. **Staleness Transparency:** The session knows exactly how stale its fallback is, allowing informed decisions. 3. **Deterministic Reconciliation:** Reconciliation obligations are recorded, ensuring no silent divergence."
  },
  "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"
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    "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"
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  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "052a2b545416135db8f3cb32dec2adc8869e74355fe153f04e6d0721cfd10521",
    "verified_classes": [
      "PeerMemoryVerdict",
      "PeerMemoryState",
      "PeerMemoryPolicy",
      "PeerMemoryManifest",
      "PeerMemoryAvailabilityGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_recall"
    ],
    "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
  }
}