← All terms Module 2: Constraint Architecture

Fallback Cascade

cognitive-interface-architecture / fallback-cascade

Definition

A tiered policy specifying what the agent does at each level of scope ambiguity: refuse, narrow, confirm, execute. Each tier is more permissive than the last, and the agent escalates only when the current tier cannot satisfy the request safely.

What this prevents

Architectural answer to "agent edited files I did not ask about." Without a Fallback Cascade, an agent's only options are full execution or full refusal. A cascade creates the middle ground where real-world tasks live.

See this term applied in production

The Agent Control Architecture Pack includes deployable system prompts, AGENTS.md templates, and fully-worked BYOP rebuilds that operationalise every precision term.

Get ACAP ($89) → Subscribe to The Constraint