The eight stages, with typed flags

WP-2026-02, Honest before capable: typed failure and repair-first selection in dialogue architecture, version 1.1, 8 pages, CC BY 4.0. The positions paper of the series: the flag algebra, the decision theory of repair dominance, the build-order argument, and detection against resolution, with figures from the unlicensed register proxy withheld pending re-derivation on a licensed spoken corpus.

Download WP-2026-02 (PDF, 0.3 MB)

The engine is eight stages. Each has a typed signature, a stated set of failure modes, and a flag it raises when it cannot proceed. The central invariant is that a flag outranks a result at selection: if any stage flagged, the repair path runs and the answer is not produced.

This is why the repair path is built before the response path. A system that is honest before it is capable can be made capable. A system that is capable first tends to stay dishonest, because the incentive to keep the answer flowing never goes away.

Stage eight writes the derivation record: the identifiers, the flags, the selected intent and its selecting branch, the artefact hash, the round trip result and the licensed bridges. Article 12 record-keeping falls out of this natively rather than being retrofitted.

Anchors exist per stage, so an internal review document can cite a specific stage rather than the document as a whole.