Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Define non-overlapping agent scopes — scope collisions…
Design cognitive agents with non-overlapping scopes by defining exactly which situations, resources, or decisions each agent claims authority over, treating scope collisions as architecture problems requiring boundary redefinition rather than willpower failures.
Assign exactly one agent as accountable for each decision…
When designing RACI-style accountability for cognitive agents, assign exactly one agent as 'accountable' (final decision authority) for each contested decision or resource, allowing other agents to be consulted or informed but not to hold veto power.
Agent priority orderings must be context-specific — which…
Build priority orderings that are context-specific rather than global, defining which agent takes precedence during specific time blocks, capacity states, or situational contexts rather than attempting universal rankings.
Map agent dependencies and arrange in topological order…
Define cognitive sequences by mapping dependencies between agents (which outputs serve as inputs to which other agents), then arrange agents in topological order so no agent executes before its required inputs are available.
Specify the information contract at every agent handoff…
At each handoff point between sequential agents, specify the exact information contract (what specific output the next agent needs from the current agent) to make dependencies explicit and auditable.
Parallelize independent agents, serialize only true…
Run independent agents (those with no input dependencies on each other) in parallel to compress total execution time, and serialize only those agents where one genuinely requires the other's output.
Pre-define allocation rules for contested time blocks…
Before any contested time block arrives, define the allocation rule (priority ordering, rotation schedule, or time-slice) that resolves contention in advance rather than negotiating access when the block arrives.
Never add agents to sequential tasks — only distribute…
Never add agents to sequential reasoning tasks—distribute additional agents only to genuinely parallel workstreams where coordination overhead is measurably less than throughput gain.
Assess agent ecosystem health by checking three pair-level…
When performing ecosystem health assessments, examine agent pairs for three specific failure modes: conflicting outputs, throughput mismatches between producer and consumer, and resource competition for the same limited capacity.
Review new agents 7-14 days after deployment — remove…
Schedule agent addition reviews 7-14 days after deployment to verify whether actual coordination cost matches pre-addition estimates, removing the agent if cost exceeds estimate by more than 50%.
Before retiring an agent, map its three dependency types
Before retiring any agent, map all dependencies by identifying what consumes its output, what constraints it enforces, and what failures it masks—then explicitly reroute, replace, or accept each dependency gap.
Remove agents gradually — reduce frequency before…
When removing an agent, execute graduated shutdown by reducing frequency or scope before full elimination, monitoring for hidden dependencies during the transition period.
Four questions for 30-minute coordination reviews
During 30-minute coordination reviews, answer four diagnostic questions with evidence: which agents produced output, did outputs reach intended consumers, what was the coordination-to-work time ratio, and where did agents actively interfere.