{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "in-what-scenarios-must-an-instance-refuse-capability-negotiation-when-the-requested-tool-grant-exceeds-the-delegating-agent-s-own-residual-authority-a",
  "title": "In what scenarios must an instance refuse capability negotiation when the requested tool grant exceeds the delegating agent's own residual authority after prior delegations",
  "date_of_record": "2026 November 13",
  "scope": "Applies to multi-hop agent delegations where an orchestrator agent hands a scoped subset of its own tool capabilities to a subordinate agent via a negotiation handshake (offer/counter-offer). Does not apply to root-authority agents issuing first-tier grants from an un-delegated capability pool, nor to static capability manifests resolved at process start.",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/in-what-scenarios-must-an-instance-refuse-capability-negotiation-when-the-requested-tool-grant-exceeds-the-delegating-agent-s-own-residual-authority-a.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/in-what-scenarios-must-an-instance-refuse-capability-negotiation-when-the-requested-tool-grant-exceeds-the-delegating-agent-s-own-residual-authority-a.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/in-what-scenarios-must-an-instance-refuse-capability-negotiation-when-the-requested-tool-grant-exceeds-the-delegating-agent-s-own-residual-authority-a.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1580,
    "python_slice_tokens": 283,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The failure mode is not \"the subordinate asked for a tool it should not have.\" That is the easy case, caught by a simple allowlist. The non-obvious case is this: the subordinate's request is *individually valid* against the orchestrator's original capability set, but the orchestrator has already delegated a portion of that same capability to sibling agents, ...",
    "what_was_observed": "An orchestrator held a capability `db.write` with a concurrency budget of 4 exclusive leases (representing 4 connection slots). It delegated 3 leases to worker agents A, B, C over successive negotiations, each checking `db.write ∈ manifest` and each succeeding. A fourth worker, D, then negotiated for `db.write` with a request for 2 leases. The static check passed — `db.write` was in the manifest. The grant was issued...",
    "condition_of_validity": "The refusal is only correct when the capability is *depletable and exclusive*. Three conditions must all hold: 1. **Exclusivity** — two holders of the capability cannot exercise it simultaneously without contention (leases, locks, single-holder credentials, fixed worker pools). 2. **Prior commitment** — at least one grant for the same capability is outstandi...",
    "decision_boundary": "The boundary is between *static ceiling checking* and *residual budget checking*. Static checking answers \"may this agent ever grant X?\" Residual checking answers \"may this agent grant X **right now, given what it has already promised**?\" The correct action at the boundary is to **refuse and counter-offer the residual amount**, not to refuse outright and not...",
    "operational_effect": "When residual accounting is enforced, over-commitment is caught at negotiation time, the counter-offer carries actionable information, and the failure localizes to the negotiator rather than surfacing as a mystery timeout in a sibling. When it is absent, the system exhibits *deferred, misattributed failure*: grants succeed, siblings fail, and the orchestrato..."
  },
  "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": "8d7c8b613553fe5e457baddf46879223a0102ec659e3619e4c7b01caefe70174",
    "verified_classes": [
      "CapabilityExhaustedError",
      "GrantLedger"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "negotiate_grant",
      "release_grant",
      "residual"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 3,
    "defensive_guards_count": 3,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "CapabilityExhaustedError",
      "ValueError"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [
      "requested amount must be positive"
    ],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}