{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-mid-transaction-handoff-invariants-prevent-partial-state-corruption-when-agents-transfer-control",
  "title": "What mid-transaction handoff invariants prevent partial state corruption when agents transfer control?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** Handoffs can occur mid-transaction, transactions have multiple steps or side effects, and downstream systems care about transaction atomicity. * **Does not apply when:** Transactions are single-step atomic, or handoffs o",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-mid-transaction-handoff-invariants-prevent-partial-state-corruption-when-agents-transfer-control.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-mid-transaction-handoff-invariants-prevent-partial-state-corruption-when-agents-transfer-control.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-mid-transaction-handoff-invariants-prevent-partial-state-corruption-when-agents-transfer-control.warrant.json"
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  "token_profile": {
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    "python_slice_tokens": 298,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
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  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **control transfer** (the successor has authority to act) and **transaction continuity** (the successor can safely resume or roll back the transaction). Relying on control transfer creates the **Partial State Ambush**: the successor inherits control but finds the transaction in an intermediate state it cannot interpret (was step 2 comp...",
    "what_was_observed": "In mid-transaction agent handoffs, failing to preserve continuity produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Duplicate Commit:** The predecessor completed step 1 (charged payment) and transferred control. The successor, unsure if step 1 succeeded, re-executes it, double-charging the customer. 2. **Orphaned Partial State:** The predecessor executed step 1 of a 3-step transaction and handoff occurred. The successor doe...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** Handoffs can occur mid-transaction, transactions have multiple steps or side effects, and downstream systems care about transaction atomicity. * **Does not apply when:** Transactions are single-step atomic, or handoffs only occur between transactions.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Did the handoff occur mid-transaction?** If no, standard handoff applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is a `transaction_state_checkpoint_receipt` present?** If no, the successor cannot know the transaction state. Reject the handoff or treat as unknown. 3. **Is the `in_flight_operation_registry_receipt` present?** If no, the successor may retry in-flight opera...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Duplicate Commit Prevention:** Checkpoint tells the successor which steps are complete. 2. **Orphaned State Resolution:** In-flight operations are tracked, enabling resolution. 3. **Concurrent Mutation Prevention:** Handoff lock prevents predecessor/successor conflict."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "SQLITE_BUSY_OR_DEADLOCK"
  ],
  "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": "d3fd53d4084ba0da59c12ff4da65a835444daa111b1387a291dadeb4469f837a",
    "verified_classes": [
      "HandoffVerdict",
      "TransactionState",
      "HandoffPolicy",
      "HandoffManifest",
      "MidTransactionHandoffGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_handoff"
    ],
    "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
  }
}