# PAT-0200 — Reference Instability

## Ontology Metadata

Code: PAT-0200
Version: PAT-0200@0.1.0
Ontology release: 0.1.0
Updated: 2026-05-10T00:00:00Z
Canonical URL: /workbench/patterns/reference-instability/

## Summary

A structural condition where references, identifiers, links, or anchors change across equivalent evaluations without a declared cause.

## Primary Lenses

- LEN-0280 — Reference Stability Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/reference-stability-lens/
  - Summary: Evaluates whether structural references, identifiers, nodes, and edges remain consistent across execution cycles or comparable states.

## Secondary Lenses

- LEN-0180 — Determinism Lens
  - URL: /workbench/lenses/determinism-lens/
  - Summary: Evaluates whether identical structural inputs produce equivalent structural outputs across repeated executions.

## Primary Issue Matches

- ISS-0003 — Citation Points to Wrong Source
  - URL: /workbench/issues/citation-points-to-wrong-source/
  - Summary: A citation, reference, link, or source pointer is present, but it points to the wrong source, wrong passage, wrong document, or unsupported evidence.
- ISS-0004 — Saved Reference No Longer Works
  - URL: /workbench/issues/saved-reference-no-longer-works/
  - Summary: A saved source, citation, file reference, prompt reference, or workflow pointer previously worked but no longer resolves to the expected object or meaning.

## Supporting Issue Matches

- ISS-0002 — Answer Has No Traceable Source Link
  - URL: /workbench/issues/answer-has-no-traceable-source-link/
  - Summary: The answer makes a claim, recommendation, citation, or factual statement without a source link or trace path that allows the user to verify where it came from.
- 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-0048 — File-Bounded Task Uses Outside Content
  - URL: /workbench/issues/file-bounded-task-uses-outside-content/
  - Summary: The AI is asked to work only from a specific file or document but uses content, assumptions, or sources outside that file.
- ISS-0079 — Policy Area Has No Examples
  - URL: /workbench/issues/policy-area-has-no-examples/
  - Summary: A policy, rule, standard, or guidance area has no examples showing how it should apply to real cases.
- ISS-0042 — Policy Update Not Reflected in Output
  - URL: /workbench/issues/policy-update-not-reflected-in-output/
  - Summary: A policy, rule, standard, or instruction has been updated, but the AI output still follows the older version.
- ISS-0080 — Relationship Map Has Missing Links
  - URL: /workbench/issues/relationship-map-has-missing-links/
  - Summary: A map of related Issues, rules, patterns, cases, fields, tools, or workflow steps is missing links needed to navigate or reason over the structure.
- ISS-0057 — Same Contract Name Has Different Meanings
  - URL: /workbench/issues/same-contract-name-has-different-meanings/
  - Summary: The same prompt, schema, field, policy, tool, or workflow contract name is used in different places with different meanings.
- ISS-0033 — Saved Memory Not Used
  - URL: /workbench/issues/saved-memory-not-used/
  - Summary: A saved memory, preference, instruction, or durable context item exists but does not affect the AI output when it should.
- 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-0053 — Version Change Breaks Existing Prompt
  - URL: /workbench/issues/version-change-breaks-existing-prompt/
  - Summary: A prompt that previously produced usable results stops working after a version change in the model, tool, policy, schema, product surface, or workflow.