{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-decommissioning-invariants-prevent-orphaned-references-when-agents-retire",
  "title": "What decommissioning invariants prevent orphaned references when agents retire?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** Agents can be decommissioned, references to them may be active at decommission time, and consumers depend on the agents continuing to function. * **Does not apply when:** Agents are never referenced externally, or refere",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-decommissioning-invariants-prevent-orphaned-references-when-agents-retire.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-decommissioning-invariants-prevent-orphaned-references-when-agents-retire.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-decommissioning-invariants-prevent-orphaned-references-when-agents-retire.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1047,
    "python_slice_tokens": 353,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **decommissioning initiation** (the agent begins retirement) and **reference termination** (all references to the agent are resolved—migrated to successors, explicitly deprecated, or returned to consumers as errors). Relying on initiation creates the **Orphaned Reference Cascade**: the agent is decommissioned, but its references contin...",
    "what_was_observed": "In agent-retirement scenarios, failing to handle decommissioning produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Silent Failures:** The agent stops responding, but its references still resolve (to a dead endpoint). Consumers invoke it, time out, and retry indefinitely, wasting resources. 2. **Successor Confusion:** The agent's successor is registered, but consumers holding the old reference do not automatically redirect t...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** Agents can be decommissioned, references to them may be active at decommission time, and consumers depend on the agents continuing to function. * **Does not apply when:** Agents are never referenced externally, or references are strictly bounded to the agent's active lifetime.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is the agent being decommissioned?** If no, standard operation applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is a `decommissioning_announcement_receipt` broadcast with sufficient lead time?** If yes, consumers can prepare. If no, consumers will be surprised. 3. **Is the `active_consumer_registry_receipt` complete?** If yes, all consumers are known. If no, some consume...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Graceful Retirement:** Consumers are notified, migrated, or redirected before the agent stops. 2. **Successor Continuity:** Old references redirect to the successor, avoiding consumer migration. 3. **Orphan Prevention:** Active state is resolved before decommissioning completes."
  },
  "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": "c5000a7a873549fccc69c31d27b734563d7391bf643ea204aefe171d34e80865",
    "verified_classes": [
      "DecommissionVerdict",
      "DecommissionState",
      "DecommissionPolicy",
      "DecommissionManifest",
      "DecommissioningGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_decommission"
    ],
    "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
  }
}