# PAT-0170 — Constraints Underspecified

## Ontology Metadata

Code: PAT-0170
Version: PAT-0170@0.1.0
Ontology release: 0.1.0
Updated: 2026-05-10T00:00:00Z
Canonical URL: /workbench/patterns/constraints-underspecified/

## Summary

A structural condition where declared constraints are insufficient to eliminate ambiguity or multiple admissible states.

## Primary Lenses

- LEN-0160 — Constraint Sufficiency Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/constraint-sufficiency-lens/
  - Summary: Evaluates whether declared constraints are sufficient to eliminate structural degrees of freedom.

## 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-0290 — Variance / Entropy Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/variance-entropy-lens/
  - Summary: Measures structural variability across repeated or comparable evaluations and identifies divergence beyond expected bounds.

## Primary Issue Matches

- 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-0076 — Prompt Does Not Say What to Exclude
  - URL: /workbench/issues/prompt-does-not-say-what-to-exclude/
  - Summary: The prompt declares what to include but does not declare what should be excluded, allowing unwanted scope, sources, content, or actions into the result.
- ISS-0071 — Prompt Has Too Many Valid Interpretations
  - URL: /workbench/issues/prompt-has-too-many-valid-interpretations/
  - Summary: The prompt allows too many reasonable interpretations, causing the AI to choose among valid paths without enough guidance.

## Supporting Issue Matches

- ISS-0029 — AI Forgets Earlier Constraints
  - URL: /workbench/issues/ai-forgets-earlier-constraints/
  - Summary: A constraint, instruction, preference, or decision that should persist through the task stops affecting later output.
- ISS-0010 — Answer Has Too Many Paths
  - URL: /workbench/issues/answer-has-too-many-paths/
  - Summary: The answer presents too many possible paths, interpretations, options, or next steps without enough structure to choose among them.
- ISS-0077 — Diagnostic Area Has No Coverage
  - URL: /workbench/issues/diagnostic-area-has-no-coverage/
  - Summary: A known diagnostic area, failure mode, requirement, or review dimension has no Issue, check, rubric item, or workflow coverage.
- ISS-0081 — Evaluation Rubric Has Coverage Gap
  - URL: /workbench/issues/evaluation-rubric-has-coverage-gap/
  - Summary: An evaluation rubric, grading standard, or review checklist leaves part of the required evaluation space uncovered.
- 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-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-0104 — One Prompt Carries Too Many Meanings
  - URL: /workbench/issues/one-prompt-carries-too-many-meanings/
  - Summary: A single prompt carries too many meanings, goals, roles, constraints, or implied tasks for the AI to interpret consistently.
- ISS-0060 — Output Exceeds Length Limit
  - URL: /workbench/issues/output-exceeds-length-limit/
  - Summary: The AI output exceeds a declared length, token, word, character, section, field, or size limit.
- ISS-0005 — Prompt Only Works After Retry
  - URL: /workbench/issues/prompt-only-works-after-retry/
  - Summary: The prompt fails, misroutes, or produces an unusable response on one attempt but works after retry without a meaningful change to the input.
- 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-0063 — Results Vary Too Much
  - URL: /workbench/issues/results-vary-too-much/
  - Summary: Repeated or comparable runs produce outputs that vary more than the task, workflow, or user can tolerate.
- ISS-0075 — Review Rubric Missing Required Criteria
  - URL: /workbench/issues/review-rubric-missing-required-criteria/
  - Summary: A review rubric, grading rule, evaluation checklist, or classification standard lacks criteria required to make the review reliable.
- ISS-0072 — Same Instructions Allow Different Outputs
  - URL: /workbench/issues/same-instructions-allow-different-outputs/
  - Summary: The same instructions are broad or underspecified enough to allow materially different outputs that all appear compliant.
- ISS-0011 — Task Has No Clear Limit
  - URL: /workbench/issues/task-has-no-clear-limit/
  - Summary: The task does not declare where the AI should stop, what is out of scope, or what counts as enough work.
- ISS-0020 — Tool Exists but Required Inputs Are Missing
  - URL: /workbench/issues/tool-exists-but-required-inputs-are-missing/
  - Summary: A usable tool or integration exists, but the AI or agent does not have the required inputs, permissions, fields, identifiers, or context needed to call it correctly.
- ISS-0073 — Workflow Step Lacks Required Conditions
  - URL: /workbench/issues/workflow-step-lacks-required-conditions/
  - Summary: A workflow step can run, route, approve, reject, or continue without the required conditions being declared or checked.