# LEN-0150 — Conflict Lens

## Ontology Metadata

Code: LEN-0150
Version: LEN-0150@0.1.0
Ontology release: 0.1.0
Updated: 2026-05-10T00:00:00Z
Canonical URL: /workbench/lenses/conflict-lens/

## Summary

Detects mutually incompatible constraints, claims, states, or declarations that cannot be simultaneously satisfied.

## 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-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.
- 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-0330 — Invariant Breakage
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/invariant-breakage/
  - Summary: A structural condition where an observed state violates a declared invariant that is supposed to remain true.
- PAT-0370 — Redundant Declaration
  - URL: /workbench/patterns/redundant-declaration/
  - Summary: A structural condition where multiple declarations produce equivalent structural effect without semantic differentiation.

## Secondary Pattern Matches

- 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.
- 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.

## 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-0082 — Agent Never Settles on Final Answer
  - URL: /workbench/issues/agent-never-settles-on-final-answer/
  - Summary: The agent keeps revising, rechecking, planning, or branching instead of converging on a final answer or completed result.
- 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-0026 — AI Output Breaks Parser
  - URL: /workbench/issues/ai-output-breaks-parser/
  - Summary: The AI output causes a parser, validator, importer, or structured-output consumer to fail.
- 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-0097 — Downstream Steps Magnify Hallucinated Claim
  - URL: /workbench/issues/downstream-steps-magnify-hallucinated-claim/
  - Summary: A hallucinated or unsupported claim from an AI output is reused by later workflow steps until it becomes more influential than the evidence supports.
- ISS-0027 — Duplicate Fields With Same Meaning
  - URL: /workbench/issues/duplicate-fields-with-same-meaning/
  - Summary: The AI returns multiple fields, labels, sections, or structured elements that carry the same meaning and create ambiguity about which one should be used.
- ISS-0066 — Duplicate Output Sections
  - URL: /workbench/issues/duplicate-output-sections/
  - Summary: The AI repeats sections, headings, blocks, or output areas in a way that creates redundancy, confusion, or downstream handling problems.
- 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-0028 — Format Rule Too Weak
  - URL: /workbench/issues/format-rule-too-weak/
  - Summary: The format instruction is too vague, incomplete, or optional to reliably produce output that satisfies the expected structure.
- ISS-0023 — Hallucinated Fields
  - URL: /workbench/issues/hallucinated-fields/
  - Summary: The AI adds fields, keys, attributes, columns, or structured elements that were not declared, requested, or allowed by the expected schema.
- 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-0021 — Invalid JSON Output
  - URL: /workbench/issues/invalid-json-output/
  - Summary: The AI returns malformed JSON or structured output that cannot be parsed.
- 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-0022 — Missing Required Fields
  - URL: /workbench/issues/missing-required-fields/
  - Summary: The AI returns structured output that omits fields required by the schema, workflow, parser, form, or downstream consumer.
- 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-0025 — Nested Fields Do Not Match
  - URL: /workbench/issues/nested-fields-do-not-match/
  - Summary: The AI returns nested structured fields whose internal shape, hierarchy, parent-child relationship, or contained values do not match the expected structure.
- 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-0056 — Old Output Expectations Survive Migration
  - URL: /workbench/issues/old-output-expectations-survive-migration/
  - Summary: Expectations from a prior model, prompt, schema, tool, or workflow survive a migration and continue shaping review or downstream handling after they should be replaced.
- ISS-0018 — Output Breaks the Next Step
  - URL: /workbench/issues/output-breaks-the-next-step/
  - Summary: The AI output looks acceptable by itself but cannot be used by the next tool, workflow step, parser, reviewer, or downstream consumer.
- 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-0068 — Repeated Constraints Create Confusion
  - URL: /workbench/issues/repeated-constraints-create-confusion/
  - Summary: Repeated constraints, instructions, limits, or exclusions make the task harder to interpret instead of clearer.
- ISS-0100 — Review Escalates Without Stop Condition
  - URL: /workbench/issues/review-escalates-without-stop-condition/
  - Summary: A review process keeps escalating, re-reviewing, or adding scrutiny without a declared condition for stopping.
- 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-0092 — Routing Path Cycles Back to Start
  - URL: /workbench/issues/routing-path-cycles-back-to-start/
  - Summary: A routing path sends the case back to the starting point or an earlier step without resolving the condition that caused the route.
- 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-0067 — Same Rule Declared in Multiple Places
  - URL: /workbench/issues/same-rule-declared-in-multiple-places/
  - Summary: The same rule, constraint, instruction, or policy appears in multiple places, creating redundancy and possible drift.
- ISS-0069 — Same Workflow Check Happens Twice
  - URL: /workbench/issues/same-workflow-check-happens-twice/
  - Summary: The same review, validation, approval, routing, or safety check occurs more than once in the workflow without a clear reason.
- ISS-0091 — Schema Reference Loops Without Base Case
  - 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.
- 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-0107 — Single Field Carries Too Many Obligations
  - URL: /workbench/issues/single-field-carries-too-many-obligations/
  - Summary: One field, label, score, status, or structured value is expected to carry too many meanings, decisions, or workflow obligations.
- 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-0017 — Tool Call Contract Mismatch
  - URL: /workbench/issues/tool-call-contract-mismatch/
  - Summary: The AI or agent calls a tool with names, arguments, types, modes, or shapes that do not match the declared tool interface.
- 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-0006 — Validation Result Changes on Retry
  - URL: /workbench/issues/validation-result-changes-on-retry/
  - Summary: A validation, grading, review, classification, or pass/fail result changes after retry even though the input and declared validation rules did not change.
- ISS-0086 — Workflow Loops Through Review Without Resolution
  - URL: /workbench/issues/workflow-loops-through-review-without-resolution/
  - Summary: A workflow repeatedly sends work through review, repair, or escalation without reaching an approved, rejected, or otherwise resolved state.
- 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.
- ISS-0089 — Workflow Waits on Step That Waits Back
  - URL: /workbench/issues/workflow-waits-on-step-that-waits-back/
  - Summary: A workflow step waits for another step that also waits on the first step, creating a blocking loop.
- ISS-0024 — Wrong Field Types
  - URL: /workbench/issues/wrong-field-types/
  - Summary: The AI returns fields with values whose types do not match the expected schema, such as strings where numbers, booleans, arrays, objects, or enums are required.