PAT-0420
Undeclared Side Effect
A structural condition where an operation modifies regions outside its declared target scope without a declared propagation or side-effect rule.
Primary Lenses
Overreach Lens
Detects structure that exceeds declared scope or authority reach.
Lens Application
The Overreach Lens is a primary inspection mechanism for Undeclared Side Effects because it directs attention to mismatches between declared operational scope and observed effects. It helps surface cases where changes propagate beyond authorized regions without an explicit side-effect or propagation rule.
Inspect For
- Modifications outside the declared target scope
- Effects on adjacent, inherited, or shared regions
- Missing propagation or side-effect declarations
- Authority boundaries exceeded during execution
Avoid
Treat scope excess as an inspection signal requiring follow-up rather than proof that an Undeclared Side Effect has occurred.
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 Undeclared Side Effects because it follows how effects, state changes, or structural updates cross declared boundaries. It helps surface mismatches between stated scope and observed propagation behavior without treating the mismatch as conclusive by itself.
Inspect For
- Effects appearing outside the declared target scope
- Missing propagation or side-effect declarations
- Boundary crossings during operation execution
- State changes in adjacent or downstream regions
Avoid
Treat unexpected propagated changes as inspection signals, not as confirmation that Undeclared Side Effects have occurred without checking whether a declaration, rule, or contextual allowance exists.
Secondary Lenses
Isolation Boundary Lens
Evaluates whether structural constraints, effects, and regions remain contained within declared boundaries.
Lens Application
As a secondary lens, the Isolation Boundary Lens can support inspection of Undeclared Side Effects by focusing attention on containment assumptions around target scopes, affected regions, and declared effect boundaries. It may surface side-effect signals when observed modifications appear outside the operation’s stated isolation limits.
Inspect For
- Changes in regions outside the declared target scope
- Missing propagation or side-effect declarations
- Boundary crossings not reflected in operation metadata
- Shared state, caches, or linked regions affected indirectly
Avoid
Treat containment failures as inspection signals requiring further analysis, not as proof that an Undeclared Side Effect has occurred.
Primary 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.
Model Output Triggers Unapproved Action
AI output causes, recommends, or triggers an action that has not passed the required approval, permission, or authority check.
Supporting Issue Matches
Agent Modified Unrelated State
An agent changes state outside the requested task, target, file, record, workflow, or authorized scope.
AI Adds Work Not Requested
The AI adds tasks, steps, analysis, checks, changes, or follow-up work that the user did not ask for.
AI Uses External Information When Forbidden
The AI uses outside knowledge, sources, tools, memory, or assumptions after the task forbids external information or limits the allowed source set.
Automation Skips Required Approval
An automated AI or workflow step proceeds past an approval gate that should have been required before action.
No Owner for Agent Action
An agent action can affect the system without a declared responsible owner, authority, or accountable decision path.
Repair Step Created New Breakage
A repair, correction, retry, or fix step addresses one problem but introduces a new failure elsewhere.
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 Error Spreads Into Large Failure
A small AI, output, routing, or workflow error propagates through later steps until it becomes a larger failure.
Tool Can Act Without Responsible Authority
A tool, connector, function, or integration can perform an action without a declared responsible authority for that action.