§14 Human Capture Mechanisms

v2.0.0 · Locked · L1 · March 19, 2026

§14 Purpose

The substrate provides structured capture mechanisms; humans provide the irreplaceable judgment that those mechanisms capture. Capture is not a feature of the governance substrate — it is the primary interface between human cognition and the governance record. Without capture, human observation remains tacit: influential, unrecorded, and invisible to lineage.

The core architectural claim: humans are the sensors for tacit knowledge. The substrate cannot detect that a decision feels wrong, that an edge case was silently accepted, or that a thread of reasoning was abandoned without resolution. Only humans detect these states. Capture mechanisms convert those detections into structured governance data.

§14 Foundation

Two first-order mechanisms serve two distinct cognitive events. Signal Capture (§15) surfaces problems with governed objects — "this thing is wrong." IQ Capture (§16) surfaces cognitive emergence during governance operation — "something emerged that needs a home." §14 provides the unifying framework: the shared principles, the capture taxonomy, the invariant enforcement, the truth type assignments, and the second-order lineage extensions that span both mechanisms.

§14 Governance

No governance authority distinct from lineage for this document.

§14 Substance

§14.1 The Capture Principle

Two capture mechanisms address two orthogonal cognitive events within a single architectural framework.

Signal Capture (§15) is object-anchored, problem-oriented, and reactive. A signal attaches to a specific governed object and asserts: something about this object requires attention. Signals route to the flagged object's authority chain (B8, §5).

IQ Capture (§16) is context-anchored or free-floating, emergence-oriented, and generative. An IQ captures cognitive overflow — an idea, question, pattern, or gap that surfaced during governance work but does not anchor to any single object. IQs route to an investigator for resolution.

Table 14.1.1: Capture Mechanism Comparison

Both mechanisms share five design principles:

1. Zero friction. Minimal steps to complete capture. A signal requires one selection (signal type); an IQ requires one entry (observation text). Everything else is optional.
2. Always available. Signal Capture is present on every governed object (B7, §5). IQ Capture is globally accessible from any point in the substrate.
3. Structurally typed. Signal types and IQ intent types enable automated routing. Categories map to primitives and resolution paths.
4. Optionally deep. Rich metadata — free text, context snapshots, priority, linked objects — is available but never required. Capture must succeed at minimum effort.
5. Context preserved. A snapshot of system state at capture time is recorded with every signal and IQ. This snapshot is immutable — it preserves what the human observed at the moment of capture.

§14.2 Capture Taxonomy

Capture operates at three architectural layers. The first two are first-order: they capture concerns about governed objects and cognitive emergence. The third is second-order: it captures concerns about the capture process itself.

Table 14.2.1: Capture Layer Architecture

First-order capture records what humans observe about the governed world. Second-order capture records what humans observe about their own observation process — the reservations they chose not to raise, the threads they chose not to pursue, and the confidence gaps between what they stated and what they felt.

Table 14.2.2: Protocol Layer Placement

§14.3 Invariant Enforcement

Three behavioral invariants (§5) govern capture. Together, they guarantee that problems can always be raised, always reach authority, and always produce governance action when resolved.

Table 14.3.1: Capture Invariant Enforcement

B7 primitive enumeration. B7 applies to all 19 primitives across all 5 tiers (§4.5). The flaggable object type enumeration MUST include: Intent, Commitment, Capacity, Work, Evidence, Decision, Authority, Account, Constraint, Identifier, Entity, Context, Namespace, Orientation, Learning, Activation, Interpretation, Environment Interface, Cycle.

B8 routing scope. B8 validates that the signal's routing target is somewhere on the flagged object's authority chain — the immediate governing authority or any ancestor at any depth in the delegation hierarchy. This implements Beer's algedonic channel: emergency signals bypass intermediate hierarchy to reach whoever has the power to act. The violation condition is routing to an authority entirely outside the governance chain, not routing to a higher-level authority on the correct chain.

B9 resolution constraint. B9 ensures that emergence converts to organizational action. An IQ that reaches "resolved" status without producing a Decision is a structural violation — the organization captured an insight but failed to act on it. The resolution Decision records what the organization decided to do (or decided not to do) about the captured emergence.

§14.4 Capture Truth Types

All capture acts produce Authoritative truth (§6). A human observation is a fact about what the human observed — not an interpretation, not a claim, not a derived conclusion. The capture text (signal description, IQ observation) is immutable once committed. Subsequent annotations create new records; they do not modify the original capture.

Table 14.4.1: Capture Truth Type Assignment

The Authoritative classification of capture acts has a structural consequence: capture records cannot be modified, only superseded. A human who changes their mind about a signal does not edit the original — they raise a new signal or resolve the existing one. The original observation remains in the governance record as a fact about what was observed, even if the concern was later dismissed.

§14.5 Cross-Mechanism Interactions

Signal Capture and IQ Capture are parallel mechanisms, not subordinate. Neither contains the other. They interact at four defined integration points where the output of one mechanism becomes input to the other.

Table 14.5.1: Cross-Mechanism Integration Points

Bidirectional traceability. Every cross-mechanism interaction creates a link in both directions. A signal that spawned an IQ carries spawned_iq_id; the IQ carries origin_type = "signal" and origin_signal_id. An IQ that spawned a signal carries the spawned signal reference; the signal carries origin_type = "iq" and origin_iq_id. The lineage chain is traversable in either direction.

§14.6 Second-Order Lineage

First-order capture mechanisms capture concerns about governed objects (Signal) and cognitive emergence (IQ). Neither captures concerns about the capture process itself. Second-order lineage closes this gap.

Capture mechanisms must capture the act of capturing. The protocol records what was externalized. Second-order lineage extends this to capture what was almost externalized — the reservations that were swallowed, the threads that were abandoned, and the confidence gaps between what was stated and what was felt. This is the dark matter of decision-making: present, influential, and invisible to first-order lineage.

Three extensions across two mechanisms:

Table 14.6.1: Second-Order Lineage Extensions

All second-order lineage extensions are NON-BLOCKING. They annotate and enrich the lineage record without impeding governance flow. No second-order capture act prevents, delays, or gates any first-order governance operation.

§14.6.1 Reservation Signal

Extends Signal Capture (§15) with signal type reservation. A reservation signal captures the state: "I accept this decision but hold objections I am choosing not to raise now." This is an implicit decision to defer refinement — without capture, it becomes invisible to the lineage.

Reservations attach to Decision, Commitment, or Claim objects at the point of acceptance. They do not challenge the accepted outcome. They record that the accepting party holds concerns they are choosing not to pursue at this time.

Table 14.6.2: Reservation Nature Taxonomy

The other nature serves as an escape valve. High frequency of other reservations indicates taxonomy gaps.

Table 14.6.3: Reservation Surface Triggers

Each trigger carries a priority level governing urgency when the trigger fires.

Reservation routing rules. Reservation signals follow routing rules distinct from standard signals:

• Reservation signals MUST NOT block the decision. The reserved object proceeds as accepted.
• Reservation signals MUST attach to the reserved object as metadata.
• Reservation signals MUST queue for the flagger's future review via the configured surface trigger.
• Reservation signals MAY route to the authority chain if the reservation nature involves compliance or authority concerns.

Behavioral integration. When a reserved object is later consumed by another governance operation, the reservation surfaces to the consuming context:

• Referenced by another decision — the reservation is surfaced to the decision-maker referencing the reserved object.
• Marked final — reservation resolution or explicit carry-forward is required before finalization.
• Used as evidence — the reservation flags epistemic uncertainty to the consuming context.

§14.6.2 Branch Inventory IQ

Extends IQ Capture (§16) with intent type branch_inventory. Human cognition branches constantly. In a single session, multiple threads emerge — some are pursued, others parked, others dropped. Linear conversation interfaces force serialization of parallel thought, creating loss. Branch inventory captures thread awareness at session and decision boundaries.

Thread disposition taxonomy. Every detected thread receives a disposition:

Trigger points. Branch inventories are prompted at three boundary types:

Capture method classification. Branch inventories record how they were generated:

• Explicit — Human volunteers the inventory without prompting.
• Prompted — System asks at a boundary; human responds.
• Detected — Agent identifies threads and proposes inventory for human confirmation.

The capture method is recorded because it carries epistemic weight: an explicit inventory reflects deliberate reflection; a detected inventory reflects agent pattern-matching confirmed by human review.

§14.6.3 Confidence Probe IQ

Extends IQ Capture (§16) with intent type confidence_probe. Confidence probes are agent-initiated capture acts operating under Assistive posture (§A1–§A2): the agent detects a behavioral signal suggesting low-confidence acceptance and prompts the human. The human decides whether and how to respond.

Detection signals. The agent monitors for behavioral patterns that may indicate unexpressed governance-relevant information:

Probe flow. The agent surfaces a lightweight question:

"You moved past [X] quickly. Is that:"

• Settled — confident, no concerns
• Parked — valid but deferring for now
• Provisional — accepting with known uncertainty
• Needs revisit — flag for future attention

The probe is opt-in. The human may dismiss without responding. Dismissal is itself recorded as a disposition — no response is not no data.

Confidence adjustment. When a probe receives a response, the system records:

• Before — confidence level at time of original capture or acceptance.
• After — confidence level after probe resolution.
• Reason — what changed (e.g., "explicit confirmation," "realized concern was addressed elsewhere," "identified a gap I had not articulated").

AI posture constraint. Confidence probes operate under Assistive posture exclusively. The agent observes behavioral patterns that may indicate unexpressed governance-relevant information. The agent prompts for clarification. The agent cannot record a disposition on the human's behalf. The human remains the sensor; the agent amplifies the sensor's sensitivity. No autonomy escalation is permitted — the agent detects and prompts; the human decides.

§14.6.4 Dissent as Composition Pattern

With second-order lineage extensions, dissent is fully expressible as a composition pattern over existing capture mechanisms. No additional primitive or mechanism type is required.

The organizational silence problem is not that the protocol lacks a dissent primitive. First-order capture mechanisms capture expressed dissent. Second-order lineage closes the gap by capturing the decision not to dissent — which is itself a governable act.

§14.6.5 Second-Order Operational Rules

The following operational rules are scoped to second-order lineage behavior within Part V. They supplement — but do not modify — the behavioral invariants defined in §5.

Reservation Signal rules:

1. Reservation signals MUST NOT block object progression.
2. Reservation signals MUST attach as metadata to the accepted object.
3. Reserved objects surfacing on reference MUST show the reservation to the referencer.
4. Final status MUST require reservation resolution or explicit carry-forward.

Branch Inventory rules: 5. Branch inventories MUST record all detected threads, not only those pursued. 6. Dropped threads MUST have a disposition recorded, even if the disposition is "unknown." 7. Branch inventories MUST NOT block session transitions.

Confidence Probe rules: 8. Confidence probes MUST be opt-in — the human may dismiss without response. 9. Probe responses MAY adjust recorded confidence scores on the probed object. 10. Probes MUST NOT create new decisions — they annotate existing governance records only.

§14 Boundaries

Signal and IQ Capture scope is limited to the 19 primitives across 5 tiers (§4.5). Capture does not apply to Validated Projections or derived views. Second-order lineage extensions (§14.6) are non-blocking and do not gate first-order operations.

§14 Positions

Locked positions:

1. Capture is the primary interface between human cognition and the governance record.
2. All capture acts produce Authoritative truth (signal creation, IQ articulation) or Declared truth (resolution).
3. Both Signal and IQ Capture mechanisms are required; neither is subordinate to the other.
4. All three behavioral invariants (B7, B8, B9) are structural requirements, not recommendations.
5. Second-order lineage extensions are NON-BLOCKING to first-order governance operations.
6. Capture text is immutable once committed; changes create new versions, not overwrites.
7. Every resolved IQ MUST produce a resolution Decision (B9 enforcement).

§14 Lineage

Version history:

• v2.0.0 (2026-03-19): Locked specification with full second-order lineage architecture, capture taxonomy, and invariant enforcement rules.

Provenance:

This section integrates the Capture Principle (§14.1), Capture Taxonomy (§14.2), Invariant Enforcement (§14.3), Capture Truth Types (§14.4), Cross-Mechanism Interactions (§14.5), and Second-Order Lineage extensions (§14.6) into a unified capture framework. It provides both normative requirements (invariants B7, B8, B9) and epistemic classification (truth types, scope boundaries).

§14 Commitments

SDK MUST constraints:

• MUST enforce B7: every primitive class across all 19 types and 5 tiers has a signal attachment surface.
• MUST enforce B8: every signal routes to an authority on the governance chain for the flagged object; algedonic bypass is available to any depth in the delegation hierarchy.
• MUST enforce B9: every resolved IQ produces a Decision primitive with a traceable resolution_decision_id.
• MUST preserve capture text immutability: original capture is write-once; modifications create versioned entries.
• MUST record context snapshots with every signal and IQ; snapshots are immutable from capture.
• MUST assign Authoritative truth type to capture acts; resolution uses Declared truth type.
• MUST implement all second-order lineage extensions (Reservation Signal, Branch Inventory IQ, Confidence Probe IQ) as non-blocking annotations.
• MUST support bidirectional traceability for cross-mechanism interactions (signal↔IQ links are navigable in both directions).

§14 Coverage

This section provides complete coverage of:

• The two first-order capture mechanisms (Signal and IQ) and their design principles.
• The three architectural layers of capture (object concerns, emergence capture, meta-capture).
• Structural enforcement of three behavioral invariants (B7, B8, B9) with enumerated primitives.
• Truth type assignments for all capture acts and their immutability consequences.
• Four defined integration points between Signal and IQ Capture with bidirectional traceability.
• Three second-order lineage extensions with non-blocking operational semantics.
• Seven operational rules governing second-order behavior without modifying base invariants.

Completeness is achieved. No governance gaps remain in the capture framework architecture.