{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-consensus-barrier-signatures-must-be-recorded-when-a-multi-agent-commit-cannot-be-guaranteed",
  "title": "What consensus barrier signatures must be recorded when a multi-agent commit cannot be guaranteed?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The commit requires atomicity across multiple agents, partial failure is possible, and the successor must reconcile the partial state. * **Does not apply when:** The commit is unilateral (single agent, no coordination), ",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-consensus-barrier-signatures-must-be-recorded-when-a-multi-agent-commit-cannot-be-guaranteed.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-consensus-barrier-signatures-must-be-recorded-when-a-multi-agent-commit-cannot-be-guaranteed.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-consensus-barrier-signatures-must-be-recorded-when-a-multi-agent-commit-cannot-be-guaranteed.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1258,
    "python_slice_tokens": 411,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **commit success** (the atomic mutation was applied to all participants) and **consensus barrier signature** (the cryptographic proof of which participants acknowledged the commit, which rejected, which never responded, and at what epoch). Failing to distinguish these creates the **Ghost Commit Hazard**: the system reports commit failu...",
    "what_was_observed": "In distributed multi-agent commit protocols, failing to record consensus barrier signatures produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Split-Brain Commit:** Three of five agents acknowledge the commit, two time out. The coordinator reports failure. But the three that succeeded now have different state than the two that didn't. The successor cannot reconcile because it doesn't know which agents hold which state. 2. **...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The commit requires atomicity across multiple agents, partial failure is possible, and the successor must reconcile the partial state. * **Does not apply when:** The commit is unilateral (single agent, no coordination), or the protocol guarantees that all participants either fully commit or fully roll back atomically (e.g., a database wit...",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Did the commit fail to achieve full acknowledgment?** If no, standard commit success applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is the `per_participant_ack_receipt` recorded for every participant?** If no, the barrier state is unknown. The successor cannot reconcile. The instance must halt and escalate. 3. **Did any participant acknowledge late (after the `commit_e...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Deterministic Reconciliation:** Provides the exact barrier state, enabling the successor to choose roll-forward vs. roll-back vs. escalate. 2. **Late-Ack Detection:** Catches late acknowledgments that create phantom state divergence, preventing silent inconsistency. 3. **Rollback Verification:** Records per-participant rollback status, preventing the su..."
  },
  "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": "7031639744c9914227ea0ce28dc04c7acfcbcb2eeb9092e8fdc2ceb07521f13e",
    "verified_classes": [
      "BarrierStatus",
      "ReconciliationVerdict",
      "ParticipantAck",
      "ConsensusBarrier",
      "BarrierManifest",
      "ConsensusBarrierGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_barrier"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 1,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "ValueError"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [
      "Barrier must have participants."
    ],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}