Pattern Proposal: Deterministic Governance Action State Machine

Summary

Restricts agent modifications to governance state through an explicit TransitionRegistry FSM.

Candidate Pattern

• ID: finite-state-governance-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) - Validates state transitions prior to executing governance actions.
• src/cas_runner/governance/models.py (GovernanceAction, GovernanceException) - Typed models enforcing action definitions and error handling.

Scope Assessment

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

Rationale

• Intent: Ensure agents cannot bypass approval gates, skip compliance checks, or trigger arbitrary state mutations.
• Context: Governs lifecycle operations such as promotion decisions, rule exceptions, and architecture approvals.
• Force: Autonomous agents can hallucinate or attempt illegal state changes
• Force: Auditability demands deterministic proof of valid transitions

Traceability

Artifact source: proposed-patterns