# Schema Reference Loops Without Base Case

## Ontology Metadata

Code: ISS-0091
Version: ISS-0091@0.1.0
Ontology release: 0.1.0
Updated: 2026-05-10T00:00:00Z
Canonical URL: /workbench/issues/schema-reference-loops-without-base-case/

## Summary

A schema, field, type, object, or structured reference points through a loop without a base case that allows validation or interpretation to resolve.

## Category

- CAT-0130 — Loops & Resolution
  - URL: /workbench/categories/loops-and-resolution/
  - Summary: Problems where agents, workflows, reviews, approvals, policies, schemas, or routing paths loop, wait on themselves, fail to settle, or cannot identify a final state.

## Primary Pattern

- PAT-0250 — Circular Dependency
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/circular-dependency/
  - Summary: A structural condition where two or more elements depend on each other in a closed loop without an independent base condition or declared resolution mechanism.

## Declared Patterns

- PAT-0250 — Circular Dependency
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/circular-dependency/
  - Summary: A structural condition where two or more elements depend on each other in a closed loop without an independent base condition or declared resolution mechanism.
- PAT-0160 — Schema Breakage
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/schema-breakage/
  - Summary: A structural condition where an instance, graph, payload, or object violates the type, shape, or rule requirements of a declared schema.
- PAT-0200 — Reference Instability
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/reference-instability/
  - Summary: A structural condition where references, identifiers, links, or anchors change across equivalent evaluations without a declared cause.

## Derived Primary Lenses

- LEN-0150 — Conflict Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/conflict-lens/
  - Summary: Detects mutually incompatible constraints, claims, states, or declarations that cannot be simultaneously satisfied.
- LEN-0200 — Interface Contract Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/interface-contract-lens/
  - Summary: Compares declared interface structure to observed runtime structure to detect contract deviations.
- LEN-0210 — Invariant Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/invariant-lens/
  - Summary: Verifies that declared invariants are structurally enforceable and not contradicted by observed structure.
- LEN-0250 — Propagation Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/propagation-lens/
  - Summary: Traces how structural declarations, effects, or state changes propagate across boundaries or stages.
- LEN-0280 — Reference Stability Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/reference-stability-lens/
  - Summary: Evaluates whether structural references, identifiers, nodes, and edges remain consistent across execution cycles or comparable states.

## Derived Secondary Lenses

- LEN-0180 — Determinism Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/determinism-lens/
  - Summary: Evaluates whether identical structural inputs produce equivalent structural outputs across repeated executions.
- LEN-0230 — Normalization Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/normalization-lens/
  - Summary: Transforms structurally equivalent variants into a canonical form to prevent false divergence.

## Search Intents

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- recursive schema no base case
- AI schema reference loop
- structured output schema loops
- JSON schema circular reference
- schema cannot resolve reference