Pattern Proposal: Explicit Governance Transition Registry

Summary

GovernanceActionEngine uses a TransitionRegistry to enforce allowed governed state transitions.

Candidate Pattern

• ID: explicit-governance-transition-registry
• Classification: governance
• Maturity: strategic_direction
• Type: emerging

Observed Signals

No specific signals listed.

Evidence

Supporting Evidence

• src/cas_runner/governance/governance_action_engine.py (TransitionRegistry, GovernanceActionEngine) - Shows a registry-based state transition mechanism tied to a governance action engine.
• src/cas_runner/governance/models.py (GovernanceAction) - Defines the action type that can be transitioned or evaluated.

Scope Assessment

• Evidence Strength: medium
• Confidence: medium
• Applies to: ideas-to-life-cas

Rationale

• Intent: Prevent arbitrary state changes by encoding which transitions are valid for governance actions.
• Context: Found in the governance package alongside GovernanceAction and related governance models.
• Force: Governance state must remain auditable.
• Force: Invalid transitions should be rejected rather than repaired ad hoc.
• Force: Explicit rules are easier to test than implicit behavioural assumptions.

Traceability

Artifact source: proposed-patterns