Address the root cause of rework-causing hedging: the architect was
put in a logical bind where it couldn't express justified uncertainty
('the pieces exist but the shape isn't clear yet'). The only options
were 'decide now' (premature) or 'deferred(scope)' (false — the
information isn't missing, it's un-synthesized). The agent picked
deferred(scope) with a circular blocking condition (OQ-64 blocked on
OQ-55, OQ-55 needs OQ-64) because there was no honest way to say 'I
can see the pieces but I can't see the shape.'
Changes to the architect role spec:
- Add deferred(unclear) state: the pieces exist but the composition
isn't clear; resolution requires investigation (work through
examples, POC), not waiting. Has an investigation target and an
impacts field.
- Add 'Impacts' field to the OQ format: what does this block
downstream? Be specific ('blocks the first hub deployment because
the hub dials workers' not 'blocks the hub crate'). The triage
signal that makes deferral urgency visible — the field that would
have made the AlknetClient circular hedge visible.
- Add circular-reasoning guard to self-review: 'check that your
blocking condition isn't a prerequisite of the thing you're
deferring.'
- Trim anti-patterns #9-#11 (hedging synonyms catalog, ~40 lines):
detection belongs in the reviewer, not the architect's self-review.
The architect is too close to its own reasoning to see its own
circular hedges.
- Trim door-types section (30→10 lines): keep the one-paragraph
summary, cut the elaboration.
Changes to the architecture-reviewer role spec:
- Add Decision Quality (F) category: false-deferral check
distinguishing three cases — (1) hedging on a resolved decision, (2)
false deferral / circular hedge (the blocking condition is a
prerequisite of the thing being deferred), (3) legitimate deferral.
- Add Impacts Field Coverage (G) category: check that unresolved OQs
have specific impacts fields.
- Note: the Decision Quality category is often the highest-value
check on poorly-defined projects — the architect cannot self-review
it (circular reasoning is invisible from inside the circle).
Retrofit existing OQs:
- Add Impacts field to all 16 unresolved OQs (10 deferred, 6 open).
- Update OQ-63 (TlsError shape) to reflect ADR-087's client-side
addition — the error type now covers both server and client
variants.
- Move OQ-65 (WebSocket carrying channels) to alknet-http theme
(done in prior commit; this commit adds its impacts field).
- Verified: no circular reasoning found in existing deferrals. The
AlknetClient hedge (OQ-64) was the circular one; it's already
resolved by ADR-087.
- Add Safe Exit section to architect spec: when a decision genuinely can't
be made, mark OQ as deferred(scope) with concrete blocking condition,
create blocker task, move on
- Add anti-patterns #10-#11 covering hedging synonyms (feature extension,
additive, not a v1 blocker, for now, resolved with escape hatch)
- Add hedging audit to architect self-review checklist
- Clean hedging language from resolved OQs (OQ-04, OQ-13, OQ-14, OQ-16)
- Reclassify OQ-32 and OQ-41 as deferred(scope) with blocking conditions
- Add deferred(scope) status to OQ format in sdd_process.md
ADR-009, open-questions.md, and the architect agent spec all had the same
conflation: 'two-way door' was phrased as 'can be decided during
implementation,' which reads as 'defer the decision.' That's not what it
means. A two-way door is a decision you make now and can revert later if
wrong — it's about reversal cost, not urgency.
ADR-009: add §'What this framework is NOT' — explicitly separates door
type (reversal cost) from deferral (scope management). State that
architecture decisions are the architect's regardless of door type.
Reword the two-way-door process from 'can be decided during
implementation' to 'pick the simplest option that works, implement it,
revert if needed.'
open-questions.md: reword the header to clarify door type describes
reversal cost, not urgency. Add 'Door type is separate from whether a
decision is made.'
architect.md: add Key Principle #8 (decisions are made, not deferred),
a new 'Door Types and Decision Urgency' section, and two new anti-patterns
(#8: door type as deferral, #9: hedging language in resolved decisions).
Address security review findings by adding explicit constraints to specs
and implementation specialist role:
Architectural constraints (spec updates):
- metadata does not propagate through OperationEnv::invoke() — fresh
HashMap for nested calls, closes the back-door leak channel where a
handler that puts a secret in metadata would leak it to children and
across from_call to remote nodes (ADR-014)
- Config reload must be authenticated/local-only — malicious reload =
root-equivalent privilege grant (config.md)
- from_call trust is transitive — scoped env bounds reachability, not
what the remote op does (operation-registry.md)
- Token entropy ≥128 bits — prefix is lookup aid not secret, offline
hash verification requires high-entropy tokens (auth.md)
Implementation constraints (auth.md security constraints section + role spec):
- OsRng for cryptographic nonces (AES-GCM IV reuse is catastrophic)
- CachedKey derives Zeroize/ZeroizeOnDrop (no secrets in freed heap)
- No unwrap()/expect() outside tests (poisoned lock recovery, not crash)
- Implementation specialist role spec updated with all four constraints