agent-self-governance

---
name: agent-self-governance
description: "Self-governance protocol for autonomous agents: WAL (Write-Ahead Log), VBR (Verify Before Reporting), ADL (Anti-Divergence Limit), VFM (Value-For-Money), and IKL (Infrastructure Knowledge Logging). Use when: (1) receiving a user correction — log it before responding, (2) making an important decision or analysis — log it before continuing, (3) pre-compaction memory flush — flush the working buffer to WAL, (4) session start — replay unapplied WAL entries to restore lost context, (5) any time you want to ensure something survives compaction, (6) before claiming a task is done — verify it, (7) periodic self-check — am I drifting from my persona? (8) cost tracking — was that expensive operation worth it? (9) discovering infrastructure — log hardware/service specs immediately."
---

# Agent Self-Governance

Five protocols that prevent agent failure modes: losing context, false completion claims, persona drift, wasteful spending, and infrastructure amnesia.

## 1. WAL (Write-Ahead Log)

**Rule: Write before you respond.** If something is worth remembering, WAL it first.

| Trigger | Action Type | Example |
|---------|------------|---------|
| User corrects you | `correction` | "No, use Podman not Docker" |
| Key decision | `decision` | "Using CogVideoX-2B for text-to-video" |
| Important analysis | `analysis` | "WAL patterns should be core infra not skills" |
| State change | `state_change` | "GPU server SSH key auth configured" |

```bash
# Write before responding
python3 scripts/wal.py append <agent_id> correction "Use Podman not Docker"

# Working buffer (batch, flush before compaction)
python3 scripts/wal.py buffer-add <agent_id> decision "Some decision"
python3 scripts/wal.py flush-buffer <agent_id>

# Session start: replay lost context
python3 scripts/wal.py replay <agent_id>

# After incorporating a replayed entry
python3 scripts/wal.py mark-applied <agent_id> <entry_id>

# Maintenance
python3 scripts/wal.py status <agen