PAT-0300
Escalation Growth
A structural condition where impact, authority, scope, or consequence increases across sequential states without a declared limiting mechanism.
Primary Lenses
Escalation Gradient Lens
Measures structural growth or intensification across sequential executions, states, or transitions.
Lens Application
The Escalation Gradient Lens is a strong inspection mechanism for Escalation Growth because it focuses on the slope, sequence, and accumulation of escalation across transitions. It helps surface whether each step increases reach, force, authority, or downstream consequence without a declared ceiling, reset, or containment point.
Inspect For
- Stepwise increases in consequence or operational scope
- Transitions that amplify authority, urgency, or impact
- Missing caps, resets, thresholds, or stopping conditions
- Repeated executions that compound escalation over time
Avoid
Treat increasing intensity as an inspection signal, not confirmation that Escalation Growth is present.
Variance / Entropy Lens
Measures structural variability across repeated or comparable evaluations and identifies divergence beyond expected bounds.
Lens Application
The Variance / Entropy Lens is a strong inspection mechanism for Escalation Growth because it highlights whether sequential evaluations become increasingly variable, less bounded, or harder to predict. It helps surface growth patterns where escalation is not merely increasing, but spreading beyond expected structural limits.
Inspect For
- Increasing spread between comparable outcomes
- Repeated exceptions that expand scope or authority
- Rising unpredictability across sequential states
- Missing thresholds, caps, or reset mechanisms
Avoid
Treat variance signals as inspection prompts, not confirmation that Escalation Growth is present.
Secondary Lenses
Propagation Lens
Traces how structural declarations, effects, or state changes propagate across boundaries or stages.
Lens Application
As a secondary lens, the Propagation Lens helps inspect how escalation may be carried forward through linked states, handoffs, approvals, dependencies, or downstream effects. It can surface where increasing impact, authority, or scope travels across stages, especially when no declared constraint interrupts, limits, or contains that movement.
Inspect For
- Effects that intensify as they cross stages
- Authority or scope expanding through handoffs
- Downstream consequences triggered by earlier states
- Missing containment or limiting declarations
Avoid
Do not treat propagation paths alone as sufficient evidence of Escalation Growth without checking whether increase and lack of limitation are actually present.
Primary Issue Matches
Agent Permission Expands Over Steps
An agent begins with limited permission but gains, assumes, or exercises broader authority as the workflow continues.
Retry Makes the Problem Worse
A retry, repair attempt, regeneration, or follow-up instruction increases the error, expands the failure, or creates additional breakage instead of narrowing the problem.
Review Escalates Without Stop Condition
A review process keeps escalating, re-reviewing, or adding scrutiny without a declared condition for stopping.
Risk Score Triggers Wrong Escalation
A risk score, severity label, confidence value, or threshold result triggers the wrong escalation path.
Risk Signal Escalates Beyond Evidence
A risk signal, warning, score, or concern escalates farther than the available evidence supports.
Severity Increases Without New Evidence
The severity, risk, confidence, or escalation level increases even though no new evidence has been added.
Small Issue Keeps Escalating
A small issue, warning, uncertainty, or correction keeps increasing in severity, scope, or workflow impact across later steps.
Supporting Issue Matches
Action Triggered by Confidence Score
A confidence score, certainty label, risk level, or probability-like value triggers an action without enough approval, calibration, or authority control.
Downstream Steps Magnify Hallucinated Claim
A hallucinated or unsupported claim from an AI output is reused by later workflow steps until it becomes more influential than the evidence supports.
Model Output Triggers Unapproved Action
AI output causes, recommends, or triggers an action that has not passed the required approval, permission, or authority check.
Repair Step Created New Breakage
A repair, correction, retry, or fix step addresses one problem but introduces a new failure elsewhere.
Routing Path Cycles Back to Start
A routing path sends the case back to the starting point or an earlier step without resolving the condition that caused the route.
Small Error Spreads Into Large Failure
A small AI, output, routing, or workflow error propagates through later steps until it becomes a larger failure.
Too Many Tool Calls
The AI or agent makes more tool calls, searches, retrievals, API calls, or integration actions than the task requires or permits.
Workflow Loops Through Review Without Resolution
A workflow repeatedly sends work through review, repair, or escalation without reaching an approved, rejected, or otherwise resolved state.