Pattern Proposal: Finite State Governance Action Engine

Summary

Enforces permissible agent-driven governance actions through a centralized transition registry before actions mutate repository state.

Candidate Pattern

• ID: finite-state-governance-action-engine
• Classification: intelligence
• Maturity: established
• Type: implemented

Observed Signals

No specific signals listed.

Evidence

Supporting Evidence

• src/cas_runner/governance/governance_action_engine.py (TransitionRegistry, GovernanceActionEngine) - Encapsulates transition validation against registered rules.
• src/cas_runner/governance/models.py (GovernanceAction, GovernanceException) - Provides data models and exception definitions for controlled governance transitions.

Scope Assessment

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

Rationale

• Intent: Prevent LLM or autonomous agents from executing invalid governance lifecycle changes or arbitrary status mutations.
• Context: Mediates state mutations for governance actions and capability promotions across lifecycle stages.
• Force: Agents generating JSON actions can fabricate invalid status names or illegal transitions.
• Force: Manual validation per action type leads to scattered and fragile control flow.

Traceability

Artifact source: proposed-patterns