PAT-0360
Propagation Amplification
A structural condition where an effect, declaration, authority, constraint, or state increases in scope or intensity as it propagates beyond declared bounds.
Primary Lenses
Propagation Lens
Traces how structural declarations, effects, or state changes propagate across boundaries or stages.
Lens Application
The Propagation Lens is a primary inspection mechanism for Propagation Amplification because it follows how a declaration, effect, or state change travels through systems, roles, stages, or contexts. It helps surface points where propagation increases scope, force, or consequence beyond the original boundary.
Inspect For
- Effects extending beyond their declared scope
- Constraints intensifying across handoffs or stages
- Authority expanding through downstream interpretation
- State changes affecting unintended contexts
Avoid
Treat expanded propagation as an inspection signal to examine, not as confirmation that Propagation Amplification has occurred.
Escalation Gradient Lens
Measures structural growth or intensification across sequential executions, states, or transitions.
Lens Application
The Escalation Gradient Lens is a primary inspection mechanism for Propagation Amplification because it surfaces the gradient of amplification as an effect moves through sequential states, executions, or handoffs. It supports inspection of where each propagation step expands reach, increases force, or strengthens downstream consequences beyond the original declaration.
Inspect For
- Scope widening at each propagation step
- Increasing constraint, authority, or effect intensity
- Downstream states exceeding declared bounds
- Sequential handoffs that compound impact
Avoid
Treat amplification signals as structural indicators for inspection, not as confirmation that Propagation Amplification has been established.
Secondary Lenses
Variance / Entropy Lens
Measures structural variability across repeated or comparable evaluations and identifies divergence beyond expected bounds.
Lens Application
As a secondary lens, the Variance / Entropy Lens supports inspection of Propagation Amplification by comparing repeated or comparable propagation events for increasing divergence. It can highlight whether a declaration, constraint, authority, or state becomes less stable, more variable, or more intense as it travels across contexts.
Inspect For
- Increasing variability across downstream interpretations
- Scope or intensity changes between comparable propagation paths
- Divergence from expected limits or declared bounds
- Repeated outcomes becoming less predictable over distance
Avoid
Treat variance as a signal for further inspection rather than evidence that Propagation Amplification has occurred.
Primary Issue Matches
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.
Early Model Output Gets Overweighted Downstream
An early AI output receives too much authority in later workflow steps, decisions, reviews, or generated artifacts.
Local Exception Grows Into Policy
A local exception, special case, or one-off allowance begins to function like a general policy.
Local Rule Spreads to Broader Cases
A rule intended for one local case, file, context, user, workflow, or exception begins affecting broader cases.
Policy Exception Spreads Too Far
A narrow policy exception, allowance, or special case spreads beyond its intended scope and begins governing broader cases.
Repair Step Created New Breakage
A repair, correction, retry, or fix step addresses one problem but introduces a new failure elsewhere.
Small Change Produces Large Downstream Effects
A small prompt, schema, policy, output, or workflow change creates unexpectedly large effects in downstream steps.
Small Error Spreads Into Large Failure
A small AI, output, routing, or workflow error propagates through later steps until it becomes a larger failure.
Supporting Issue Matches
Action Changed Something Else Too
An AI or agent action makes the requested change but also changes another object, field, file, state, rule, or workflow element that was not supposed to change.
Context Leaks Between Tasks
Context, assumptions, constraints, examples, files, or decisions from one task affect another task where they should not apply.
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 Outcome Changes Unrelated Environment
A review result, approval, rejection, or classification changes state outside the environment, case, file, or workflow it was meant to govern.
Small Issue Keeps Escalating
A small issue, warning, uncertainty, or correction keeps increasing in severity, scope, or workflow impact across later steps.