Cascade Engine

Cascade Engine — Cross-Domain Event Propagation

Events in one domain deterministically propagate to others.

Overview

The Cascade Engine subscribes to all domain event streams, matches declarative rules, and invokes target handlers in the appropriate domain mode. Propagation is depth-limited to prevent infinite loops.

Modules:

• src/core/modes/cascade.py — engine
• src/core/modes/cascade_rules.py — rule definitions

Rules

Rule ID	Name	Source	Trigger	Target	Handler	Effect
CASCADE-R01	contradiction_triggers_review	IntelOps	claim_contradiction	FranOps	FRAN-F03	Canon enforcement check
CASCADE-R02	supersede_triggers_canon_update	IntelOps	claim_superseded	FranOps	FRAN-F09	Canon supersede workflow
CASCADE-R03	retcon_flags_episodes	FranOps	retcon_executed	ReflectionOps	RE-F01	Affected episodes flagged
CASCADE-R04	retcon_invalidates_claims	FranOps	retcon_cascade	IntelOps	INTEL-F12	Confidence recalc on dependents
CASCADE-R05	freeze_stales_claims	ReflectionOps	episodes_frozen	IntelOps	INTEL-F11	Half-life check on related claims
CASCADE-R06	killswitch_freezes_all	ReflectionOps	killswitch_activated (red)	ReflectionOps	RE-F06	All domains freeze
CASCADE-R07	red_drift_triggers_severity	Any (*)	Any (*) with red severity	ReflectionOps	RE-F08	Centralized severity scoring
CASCADE-R08	sealed_episode_triggers_authority	ReflectionOps	episode_sealed	AuthorityOps	AUTH-F01	Sealed episode triggers authority evaluation
CASCADE-R09	authority_block_triggers_enforce	AuthorityOps	authority_block	FranOps	FRAN-F03	Authority block triggers canon enforcement
CASCADE-R10	authority_escalate_triggers_episode	AuthorityOps	authority_escalate	ReflectionOps	RE-F01	Escalation creates review episode
CASCADE-R11	authority_mismatch_triggers_delegation	IntelOps	authority_mismatch	AuthorityOps	AUTH-F12	Mismatch triggers delegation check
CASCADE-R12	stale_assumptions_trigger_recalc	AuthorityOps	assumptions_stale	IntelOps	INTEL-F12	Stale assumptions trigger confidence recalc
CASCADE-R13	killswitch_propagates_to_authority	AuthorityOps	killswitch_active	ReflectionOps	RE-F06	Kill-switch propagates to ReOps freeze

How It Works

engine = CascadeEngine()
engine.register_domain(intel)
engine.register_domain(fran)
engine.register_domain(reops)
engine.register_domain(authops)

result = engine.propagate(
    source_domain="franops",
    event={"subtype": "retcon_executed", ...},
    context=ctx,
    max_depth=3,
)

1. Engine receives an event with source_domain and subtype
2. get_rules_for_event() matches rules by domain, subtype, and severity filter
3. For each matching rule, the target handler is invoked
4. Handler output events are recursively cascaded (depth decremented)
5. max_depth=0 halts propagation

Rule Matching

A rule matches when ALL conditions are true:

• source_domain matches (or rule uses * wildcard)
• source_subtype matches (or rule uses * wildcard)
• severity_filter matches (or rule has no filter)

CascadeResult

@dataclass
class CascadeResult:
    triggered_rules: List[str]   # Rule IDs that fired
    results: List[FunctionResult] # Handler outputs
    errors: List[str]            # Any failures

Depth Limiting

Default max_depth=3. Each recursive call decrements by 1. At depth 0, no further propagation occurs. This prevents circular cascades (e.g., R06 killswitch -> RE-F06 -> killswitch event -> R06 again).

Cross-Domain Flow Diagram

See Diagram 24 — Domain Modes & Cascade for the full visual.

IntelOps      ──[contradiction]──────> FranOps (R01)
IntelOps      ──[supersede]──────────> FranOps (R02)
FranOps       ──[retcon]─────────────> ReflectionOps (R03)
FranOps       ──[retcon cascade]─────> IntelOps (R04)
ReOps         ──[freeze]─────────────> IntelOps (R05)
ReOps         ──[killswitch]─────────> ReOps (R06)
Any           ──[red drift]──────────> ReOps (R07)
ReOps         ──[episode sealed]─────> AuthorityOps (R08)
AuthorityOps  ──[authority block]────> FranOps (R09)
AuthorityOps  ──[escalate]───────────> ReOps (R10)
IntelOps      ──[authority mismatch]─> AuthorityOps (R11)
AuthorityOps  ──[stale assumptions]──> IntelOps (R12)
AuthorityOps  ──[killswitch active]──> ReOps (R13)

Related Pages

• IntelOps — claim lifecycle domain
• FranOps — canon enforcement domain
• ReflectionOps — gate enforcement domain
• AuthorityOps — authority enforcement domain
• Event Contracts — routing table
• Drift to Patch — drift lifecycle