{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-invariants-preserve-contract-enforceability-across-agent-generations",
  "title": "What invariants preserve contract enforceability across agent generations?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** The contract must survive generational transitions, the enforcement basis can expire or be reclaimed, and peer recognition matters. * **Does not apply when:** Contracts are single-generation, the enforcement basis is per",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-invariants-preserve-contract-enforceability-across-agent-generations.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-invariants-preserve-contract-enforceability-across-agent-generations.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-invariants-preserve-contract-enforceability-across-agent-generations.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 919,
    "python_slice_tokens": 279,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **contract terms** (what was agreed) and **enforcement continuity** (successor generations can enforce the contract against the peer, and the peer can enforce it against the successor). Relying on terms creates the **Generational Enforcement Gap**: the terms survive but the enforcement basis (attestations, stakes, or authority) does no...",
    "what_was_observed": "In generational-agent architectures, failing to preserve enforcement continuity produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Attestation Expiry:** The contract's attestation was valid at signing, expired during a generation transition, and the peer refuses to honor it because the attestation is stale. 2. **Stake Reclamation:** The stake that backed the contract was reclaimed by the original generation's principal, and ...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** The contract must survive generational transitions, the enforcement basis can expire or be reclaimed, and peer recognition matters. * **Does not apply when:** Contracts are single-generation, the enforcement basis is permanent, or peer recognition is automatic.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Is a generation transition occurring?** If no, standard contract execution applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Has the enforcement basis been renewed?** If yes, continuity is preserved. If no, enforcement is at risk. 3. **Has the peer recognized the successor?** If yes, mutual enforcement is preserved. If no, the contract may be unenforceable. 4. **Conversel...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Attestation Expiry Prevention:** Renewal is scheduled and executed. 2. **Stake Reclamation Prevention:** Stake continuity is verified. 3. **Authority Chain Integrity:** Successor authority is linked to original."
  },
  "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": "89de481a9883f298d27494eb0ef9feec114d11657b64c68d48df524c1e30692e",
    "verified_classes": [
      "GenerationalEnforcementVerdict",
      "GenerationalContract",
      "GenerationalPolicy",
      "GenerationalManifest",
      "GenerationalEnforcementGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_contract"
    ],
    "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
  }
}