{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "how-must-an-instance-record-memory-state-after-a-jvm-gc-pause-that-exceeded-the-heartbeat-window",
  "title": "How must an instance record memory state after a JVM GC pause that exceeded the heartbeat window?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The runtime can pause the process long enough to miss heartbeats, and the orchestrator has failover logic that could promote a successor during the pause. * **Does not apply when:** The runtime has bounded GC pauses that",
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    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-record-memory-state-after-a-jvm-gc-pause-that-exceeded-the-heartbeat-window.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-record-memory-state-after-a-jvm-gc-pause-that-exceeded-the-heartbeat-window.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-must-an-instance-record-memory-state-after-a-jvm-gc-pause-that-exceeded-the-heartbeat-window.warrant.json"
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  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **process liveness** (the heartbeat was missed) and **process death** (the process actually stopped functioning). A GC pause creates a **Liveness Gap Without Death**: the orchestrator sees missed heartbeats and may trigger failover, but the original process is still alive (just paused) and will eventually resume. Without recording the ...",
    "what_was_observed": "In JVM-based agent architectures, failing to record GC-induced liveness gaps produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Split-Brain Failover:** The orchestrator promotes a successor during a GC pause. The original resumes and continues acting, causing two live agents with divergent state. 2. **Double-Write Corruption:** The original process wakes up mid-GC-pause and flushes pending writes, while the successor has alr...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The runtime can pause the process long enough to miss heartbeats, and the orchestrator has failover logic that could promote a successor during the pause. * **Does not apply when:** The runtime has bounded GC pauses that never exceed the heartbeat interval, or the orchestrator uses monotonic fencing tokens that distinguish paused from dea...",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Did the process miss heartbeats?** If no, standard state persistence applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Was a GC pause recorded during the missed heartbeat window?** If yes, the process was paused, not dead. The successor must coordinate with the original, not replace it. If no, the process may have genuinely failed. 3. **Does the `post_pause_state_hash` ma...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Split-Brain Prevention:** Prevents the orchestrator from promoting a successor while the original is merely paused. 2. **Corruption Prevention:** Prevents double-write conflicts by distinguishing pause-resume from replacement. 3. **Audit Clarity:** Provides a cryptographic record of the pause, so auditors can reconcile timelines."
  },
  "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": "e694442b7e9c51ea10afdf4a0452e73349d3645c48560e01d508e821d61ff5e7",
    "verified_classes": [
      "GCPauseVerdict",
      "GCPauseState",
      "GCPolicy",
      "GCPauseManifest",
      "GCPauseGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_pause"
    ],
    "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
  }
}