{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-an-instance-reason-about-latent-capabilities-it-has-not-yet-exercised",
  "title": "How must an instance reason about latent capabilities it has not yet exercised?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The session has access to unexercised capabilities, invocation has consequences, and prior evidence is limited or absent. * **Does not apply when:** Capabilities have been fully verified, or invocation is strictly revers",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-reason-about-latent-capabilities-it-has-not-yet-exercised.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-reason-about-latent-capabilities-it-has-not-yet-exercised.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-reason-about-latent-capabilities-it-has-not-yet-exercised.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1082,
    "python_slice_tokens": 310,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **declared capability** (what the tool's documentation or manifest says it can do) and **demonstrated capability** (what the tool actually does when invoked in the current context). Relying on declaration creates the **Latent Capability Illusion**: the tool is declared capable of X, the session reasons about it as if it will do X, and ...",
    "what_was_observed": "In exploration-first agent architectures, failing to distinguish declared from demonstrated capabilities produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Reckless First Call:** The session invokes a latent capability in a production context, assuming the declaration matches reality. The actual behavior (slower, less reliable, or different semantics) damages the production state before any corrective action can be taken. 2....",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The session has access to unexercised capabilities, invocation has consequences, and prior evidence is limited or absent. * **Does not apply when:** Capabilities have been fully verified, or invocation is strictly reversible with no consequence.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Has the capability been demonstrated in a compatible context?** If yes, treat as verified. If no, proceed as latent. 2. **Is a `first_call_safety_envelope_signature` prepared?** If yes, first invocation is bounded. If no, first invocation is unrestricted. 3. **Does the first-call safety envelope minimize blast radius (reversible, small, isolated)?** If ...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Reckless Call Prevention:** Latent capabilities are first exercised at safe scale. 2. **Paralysis Prevention:** The session has a principled way to invoke without prior verification. 3. **Declaration Honesty:** The divergence between declared and demonstrated behavior is recorded for future reference."
  },
  "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": "0956f49f5a98a851f27cbb3fe9c2c1b6af4d96e44c0425f2e1753ca0146a8cbf",
    "verified_classes": [
      "LatentCapabilityVerdict",
      "CapabilityState",
      "FirstCallProposal",
      "LatentCapabilityPolicy",
      "LatentCapabilityManifest",
      "LatentCapabilityGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_invocation"
    ],
    "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
  }
}