{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "what-reference-semantics-invariants-prevent-agents-from-treating-recents-and-stales-inconsistently",
  "title": "What reference-semantics invariants prevent agents from treating recents and stales inconsistently?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 October 20",
  "scope": "* **Applies when:** Multiple agents use references, freshness matters to their decisions, and per-agent thresholds can diverge. * **Does not apply when:** All agents use a single unified freshness policy, or freshness is irrelevant to decis",
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    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-reference-semantics-invariants-prevent-agents-from-treating-recents-and-stales-inconsistently.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/what-reference-semantics-invariants-prevent-agents-from-treating-recents-and-stales-inconsistently.py",
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  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The separation between **per-agent freshness thresholds** (each agent decides its own \"recent\" threshold) and **mesh-wide freshness semantics** (all agents use compatible thresholds so their decisions are coherent). Relying on per-agent thresholds creates the **Freshness Disagreement Split**: Agent A treats a 5-minute-old reference as fresh, Agent B treats i...",
    "what_was_observed": "In multi-agent meshes, failing to align freshness semantics produces three primary failure modes: 1. **Split Consensus:** Multiple agents vote on an action based on a reference. Agents with tight freshness thresholds vote no (stale), agents with loose thresholds vote yes (fresh). Consensus fails despite the reference being well-defined. 2. **Reference Rotation Conflict:** Agent A decides to rotate a reference (treat ...",
    "condition_of_validity": "* **Applies when:** Multiple agents use references, freshness matters to their decisions, and per-agent thresholds can diverge. * **Does not apply when:** All agents use a single unified freshness policy, or freshness is irrelevant to decisions.",
    "decision_boundary": "1. **Do the agents use different freshness thresholds?** If no, single-policy handling applies. If yes, proceed. 2. **Is there a `mesh_freshness_policy_signature` that all agents agree on?** If yes, use it as the baseline. If no, agents must operate with explicit awareness of divergence. 3. **Does an agent have a `per_agent_freshness_override_receipt` for st...",
    "operational_effect": "1. **Split Consensus Prevention:** Mesh-wide policy aligns agent decisions on reference freshness. 2. **Legitimate Override Recognition:** Stricter agents are recognized, preventing false divergence alarms. 3. **Disagreement Detection:** Divergent agents log their disagreement, allowing policy evolution."
  },
  "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": "e5f1b5b919efbffd0613d8b278be09ea21a61f3b95a314e0fc280f3b68e277f4",
    "verified_classes": [
      "FreshnessVerdict",
      "AgentFreshnessPolicy",
      "MeshFreshness",
      "FreshnessPolicy",
      "FreshnessManifest",
      "FreshnessSemanticsGuard"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "_hash",
      "evaluate_mesh"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 2,
    "defensive_guards_count": 0,
    "raised_exceptions": [],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "enum",
      "hashlib",
      "json"
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    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}