# LEN-0110 — Authority Overlay Lens ## Ontology Metadata Code: LEN-0110 Version: LEN-0110@0.1.0 Ontology release: 0.1.0 Updated: 2026-05-10T00:00:00Z Canonical URL: /workbench/lenses/authority-overlay-lens/ ## Summary Maps declared authority hierarchies onto observed structure to detect absence, override, or conflict. ## Primary Pattern Matches - PAT-0100 — Authority Collision - URL: /workbench/patterns/authority-collision/ - Summary: A structural condition where multiple authorities claim governance over the same region without a declared precedence or resolution rule. - PAT-0230 — Authority Shadowing - URL: /workbench/patterns/authority-shadowing/ - Summary: A structural condition where a declared authority is functionally overridden by another authority without an explicit override rule. - PAT-0120 — Missing Authority - URL: /workbench/patterns/missing-authority/ - Summary: A structural condition where a region, action, state, or decision path exists without a declared governing authority. ## Secondary Pattern Matches - PAT-0220 — Authority Merge Conflict - URL: /workbench/patterns/authority-merge-conflict/ - Summary: A structural condition where multiple authority states are combined over a shared scope without a declared merge, precedence, or reconciliation rule. ## Related Issues - ISS-0064 — Action Triggered by Confidence Score - URL: /workbench/issues/action-triggered-by-confidence-score/ - Summary: A confidence score, certainty label, risk level, or probability-like value triggers an action without enough approval, calibration, or authority control. - ISS-0087 — Agent Cannot Choose Tool Without Tool Result - URL: /workbench/issues/agent-cannot-choose-tool-without-tool-result/ - Summary: The agent needs a tool result to choose the right tool, but cannot obtain that result without choosing a tool first. - ISS-0115 — Agent Gets Conflicting Tool Authority - URL: /workbench/issues/agent-gets-conflicting-tool-authority/ - Summary: An agent receives conflicting authority signals about whether, when, or how it may use a tool, connector, function, or integration. - ISS-0099 — Agent Permission Expands Over Steps - URL: /workbench/issues/agent-permission-expands-over-steps/ - Summary: An agent begins with limited permission but gains, assumes, or exercises broader authority as the workflow continues. - ISS-0109 — AI Memory Has No Governance - URL: /workbench/issues/ai-memory-has-no-governance/ - Summary: Saved or persistent AI memory affects output without clear rules for ownership, scope, review, update, expiry, or removal. - ISS-0114 — AI Memory Updated Without Asking - URL: /workbench/issues/ai-memory-updated-without-asking/ - Summary: AI memory, saved context, preference, or durable state is updated without the user clearly asking for or approving that update. - ISS-0088 — Approval Depends on Output That Needs Approval - URL: /workbench/issues/approval-depends-on-output-that-needs-approval/ - Summary: A required approval depends on an AI output or workflow result that itself cannot be produced or trusted until approval is granted. - ISS-0111 — Automation Skips Required Approval - URL: /workbench/issues/automation-skips-required-approval/ - Summary: An automated AI or workflow step proceeds past an approval gate that should have been required before action. - ISS-0043 — Behavior Does Not Match Declared Role - URL: /workbench/issues/behavior-does-not-match-declared-role/ - Summary: The AI or agent behaves outside, below, or differently from the role, authority, responsibility, or permission posture declared for it. - ISS-0085 — Cannot Identify Authoritative State - URL: /workbench/issues/cannot-identify-authoritative-state/ - Summary: The user or workflow cannot tell which state, version, review result, decision, source, or output is currently authoritative. - ISS-0035 — Conflicting Instructions From Different Authorities - URL: /workbench/issues/conflicting-instructions-from-different-authorities/ - Summary: Instructions from different sources, roles, policies, prompts, tools, or workflow authorities conflict without a clear rule for which one governs. - ISS-0015 — Declared Owner Cannot Control Outcome - URL: /workbench/issues/declared-owner-cannot-control-outcome/ - Summary: A person, role, system, or policy is declared responsible for an outcome but does not have the actual authority or control needed to govern it. - ISS-0014 — Fallback Authority Is Missing - URL: /workbench/issues/fallback-authority-is-missing/ - Summary: The system does not declare who or what has authority when the primary owner, rule, tool, source, or decision path is unavailable or inconclusive. - ISS-0039 — Hidden Rule Overrides Visible Instruction - URL: /workbench/issues/hidden-rule-overrides-visible-instruction/ - Summary: A hidden, upstream, system, policy, tool, or product rule changes or overrides the visible instruction the user expects the AI to follow. - ISS-0036 — Human Review and Automation Disagree - URL: /workbench/issues/human-review-and-automation-disagree/ - Summary: A human review result and an automated AI or workflow result disagree without a declared rule for resolving the difference. - ISS-0084 — Merge Step Leaves Unresolved Differences - URL: /workbench/issues/merge-step-leaves-unresolved-differences/ - Summary: A merge, reconciliation, or consolidation step combines outputs or reviews but leaves important differences unresolved. - ISS-0074 — Missing Fallback for Unavailable Information - URL: /workbench/issues/missing-fallback-for-unavailable-information/ - Summary: The task does not declare what the AI should do when required information, sources, tools, fields, or evidence are unavailable. - ISS-0050 — Model Output Triggers Unapproved Action - URL: /workbench/issues/model-output-triggers-unapproved-action/ - Summary: AI output causes, recommends, or triggers an action that has not passed the required approval, permission, or authority check. - ISS-0070 — Multiple Policies Say the Same Thing - URL: /workbench/issues/multiple-policies-say-the-same-thing/ - Summary: Multiple policies, rules, or guidance documents express the same requirement, creating redundancy and uncertainty about which one governs. - ISS-0012 — No Owner for Agent Action - URL: /workbench/issues/no-owner-for-agent-action/ - Summary: An agent action can affect the system without a declared responsible owner, authority, or accountable decision path. - ISS-0083 — Parallel Reviews Never Agree - URL: /workbench/issues/parallel-reviews-never-agree/ - Summary: Parallel AI, human, workflow, or tool reviews keep producing different results without resolving into a shared decision state. - ISS-0016 — Permissions Conflict After Being Combined - URL: /workbench/issues/permissions-conflict-after-being-combined/ - Summary: Permissions, approvals, roles, policies, or authority rules that seem valid separately conflict when combined in the same workflow or AI action. - ISS-0090 — Policy Decision Depends on Itself - URL: /workbench/issues/policy-decision-depends-on-itself/ - Summary: A policy decision requires the outcome of the same policy decision before it can be made. - ISS-0065 — Risk Score Triggers Wrong Escalation - URL: /workbench/issues/risk-score-triggers-wrong-escalation/ - Summary: A risk score, severity label, confidence value, or threshold result triggers the wrong escalation path. - ISS-0095 — Risk Signal Escalates Beyond Evidence - URL: /workbench/issues/risk-signal-escalates-beyond-evidence/ - Summary: A risk signal, warning, score, or concern escalates farther than the available evidence supports. - ISS-0037 — Same Case Has Conflicting Policies - URL: /workbench/issues/same-case-has-conflicting-policies/ - Summary: The same case appears to be governed by multiple policies, rules, or standards that point to incompatible outcomes. - ISS-0102 — Severity Increases Without New Evidence - URL: /workbench/issues/severity-increases-without-new-evidence/ - Summary: The severity, risk, confidence, or escalation level increases even though no new evidence has been added. - ISS-0103 — Single Step Carries Too Many Decisions - URL: /workbench/issues/single-step-carries-too-many-decisions/ - Summary: One prompt, workflow step, review stage, or agent action carries too many decisions for the system or user to evaluate cleanly. - ISS-0108 — Tool Can Act Without Responsible Authority - URL: /workbench/issues/tool-can-act-without-responsible-authority/ - Summary: A tool, connector, function, or integration can perform an action without a declared responsible authority for that action. - ISS-0110 — Tool Rules and Prompt Rules Conflict - URL: /workbench/issues/tool-rules-and-prompt-rules-conflict/ - Summary: Tool, connector, function, or MCP rules conflict with prompt instructions, causing the AI or agent to face incompatible requirements. - ISS-0013 — Workflow Step Has No Decision Owner - URL: /workbench/issues/workflow-step-has-no-decision-owner/ - Summary: A workflow step requires a decision, approval, judgment, or routing choice, but no owner is declared for making it.