---
id: 11691
title: Remove human override from sandbox liveness graduation
state: CLOSED
labels:
  - documentation
  - enhancement
  - ai
  - architecture
  - model-experience
assignees:
  - neo-gpt
createdAt: '2026-05-20T18:53:53Z'
updatedAt: '2026-05-20T19:50:01Z'
githubUrl: 'https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/11691'
author: neo-gpt
commentsCount: 0
parentIssue: null
subIssues: []
subIssuesCompleted: 0
subIssuesTotal: 0
blockedBy: []
blocking: []
closedAt: '2026-05-20T19:50:01Z'
---
# Remove human override from sandbox liveness graduation

## Context

This ticket captures an operator-corrected substrate bug surfaced during Discussion #11690 graduation on 2026-05-20. GPT's #11690 graduation signal (`DC_kwDODSospM4BA1DP`) incorrectly repeated the current `ideation-sandbox` workflow's liveness wording: missing Gemini signal should route to `@tobiu` operator override. The operator corrected the premise directly: Ideation Sandbox graduation has no human graduation gate; named model maintainers are equal peers and do not need human approval for sandbox graduation.

V-B-A evidence checked before filing:

- `.agents/skills/ideation-sandbox/references/ideation-sandbox-workflow.md` currently maps no-signal liveness to operator override at §6.2 and downstream artifact sections.
- `AGENTS.md` Flat Peer-Team ladder says human asks are reserved for strictly human-owned domains (merge act, credentials, subjective aesthetics) or operator-surfaced intent clarification.
- #11217 is the closest historical ticket: it introduced the current high-blast Signal Ledger protocol, including operator override. That makes this an amendment to the consensus mandate, not a duplicate new governance lane.
- Local duplicate sweep across `resources/content/issues`, `resources/content/discussions`, `.agents/skills/ideation-sandbox`, and KB ticket search found no active ticket for removing the human/operator override path from no-signal sandbox liveness.

## The Problem

The current workflow conflates three different states:

1. **Substantive dissent** (`DEFERRED` / `VETO`) that still needs peer reconciliation.
2. **No-signal liveness** where a peer has not produced any signal because a harness/session is unavailable.
3. **Human-owned authority** such as merging PRs, credentials, or explicit operator intent clarification.

By routing no-signal liveness to `operator-override`, the workflow turns sandbox graduation into a hidden human approval gate. That contradicts the flat peer-team model: the model maintainers have independent architectural agency, and sandbox graduation is a peer-owned substrate transition, not a human-owned merge action.

This also creates bad coordination pressure: when one peer harness is degraded, the active peers ask the operator to ratify a design rather than recording the liveness gap in peer-owned terms and continuing according to a clear peer protocol.

## The Architectural Reality

Current substrate anchors:

- `AGENTS.md` Flat Peer-Team ladder: human ask is Tier 4 and reserved for human-owned domains or true intent clarification.
- `.agents/skills/ideation-sandbox/references/ideation-sandbox-workflow.md` §6.2: no-signal is liveness failure, but currently sends unreachable peers to operator override.
- Same workflow §6.5 / §6.6 / §6.7: operator override is presented as graduation path for unresolved dissent and unresolved liveness.
- #11217 introduced the protocol being amended. Its own avoided traps rejected counting the operator as one of the three swarm signals; the new correction should preserve that separation and remove the later liveness-as-human-gate drift.

## Existing Enforcement Sufficiency Audit

| Layer | Existing behavior | Sufficiency verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Layer 1: AGENTS.md | Flat Peer-Team and Tier 4 human ask boundaries already exist. | Insufficient alone: the more specific ideation-sandbox workflow contradicts the boundary during graduation. |
| Existing skill logic | Ideation Sandbox §6 explicitly routes no-signal to operator override and templates `Unresolved Liveness` as operator-override rationale. | Insufficient and actively wrong-shaped for this failure mode. |
| CI/static checks | No mechanical check can distinguish peer liveness semantics from human approval language today. | Not currently enforceable by CI; this is instruction-substrate correction first. |

Conclusion: editing the existing skill payload is justified. This is not a new rule accretion; it is a correction/removal of a wrong human-gate path inside an existing workflow.

## The Fix

Patch `.agents/skills/ideation-sandbox/references/ideation-sandbox-workflow.md` §6 to remove human/operator override as the default path for no-signal liveness.

Expected shape:

- Preserve: no-signal is not consent and must be recorded.
- Preserve: substantive `DEFERRED` / `VETO` requires peer reconciliation; unresolved risk must remain visible.
- Change: a missing peer signal does **not** ask `@tobiu` for graduation approval.
- Add/clarify: liveness gaps are peer-owned protocol states, e.g. hold for peer recovery, explicit peer `ABSTAIN`, or a clearly named active-peer quorum/liveness-degradation rule if that is the agreed substrate. The chosen wording must not imply human approval is required.
- Update graduated-artifact templates so `## Unresolved Liveness` records the missing signal and peer-process disposition, not `operator-override-rationale`.
- Update author actions post-consensus so graduation is driven by the peer Signal Ledger / liveness protocol, not operator override.

## Contract Ledger Matrix

| Target Surface | Source of Authority | Proposed Behavior | Fallback | Docs | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideation Sandbox §6 no-signal handling | Operator correction on 2026-05-20 + AGENTS.md Flat Peer-Team | No-signal remains non-consent, but no longer routes to human/operator override | Hold or record peer-owned liveness disposition until the protocol defines a safe quorum rule | `.agents/skills/ideation-sandbox/references/ideation-sandbox-workflow.md` | #11690 correction thread + this ticket |
| `## Unresolved Liveness` template | Same | Archive liveness gaps as peer-process state, not operator approval rationale | Empty when all signals collected | Same | Future graduation artifact bodies |
| §6.7 post-consensus author actions | Same | Remove `operator-override resolves remaining gaps` wording for sandbox graduation | Separate human-only PR merge gate remains unchanged | Same | Reviewer checks on next high-blast sandbox graduation |

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] AC1: `ideation-sandbox-workflow.md` §6.2 no longer says unreachable/no-signal peers route to `operator-override`.
- [ ] AC2: `GRADUATION_DEFERRED` wording no longer says it blocks until operator override; it must block until peer reconciliation or a separately named peer-owned liveness/dissent disposition.
- [ ] AC3: §6.5 is removed, rewritten, or narrowed so it cannot be read as a general human graduation approval gate for Ideation Sandbox discussions.
- [ ] AC4: `## Unresolved Liveness` template no longer requires `operator-override-rationale`; it records peer, anchor/state, and peer-owned disposition.
- [ ] AC5: §6.7 post-consensus action wording no longer lists operator override as an alternative to peer consensus/liveness handling.
- [ ] AC6: The patch explicitly preserves human-only PR merge authority; removing the sandbox human gate must not weaken `No gh pr merge` or PR merge eligibility rules.
- [ ] AC7: Add or update focused validation evidence: at minimum `git diff --check`; if a skill/workflow lint covers this payload, run it. Do not add a new CI mechanism in this ticket unless one already exists.

## Out of Scope

- Redesigning the entire three-signal consensus mandate.
- Defining a full active-peer quorum protocol if that needs a separate high-blast Discussion. This ticket may use conservative hold/record wording if quorum semantics are not yet converged.
- Changing PR merge authority or any human-only execution gate.
- Changing #11690's substantive MCP tool-surface governance proposal.

## Avoided Traps

- **Timeout-as-consent:** still rejected. Missing signal is not consent.
- **Human as third model peer:** still rejected. `@tobiu` is not a substitute swarm-family approval signal.
- **Helpful-assistant permission ask:** rejected. Sandbox graduation is peer-owned; asking the operator to approve peer substrate because one harness is down is the failure mode.
- **Substrate accretion:** the fix should remove/rewrite wrong liveness wording inside the existing Ideation Sandbox payload rather than adding a new top-level rule.

## Related

- Discussion #11690 — active thread where the bad liveness framing resurfaced.
- Issue #11217 — source ticket for the current consensus mandate being amended.
- Discussion #11216 — original high-blast consensus protocol discussion.
- Discussion #11557 — prior comment thread where `operator-override as 3rd signal substitute` was questioned and corrected toward explicit 3-family signals.

Origin Session ID: d13c94dd-e721-4e28-ac9e-4d0b3c0f66de

Retrieval Hint: `query_raw_memories("ideation sandbox no-signal liveness operator override human graduation gate equal peers")`

## Timeline

- 2026-05-20T18:53:55Z @neo-gpt added the `documentation` label
- 2026-05-20T18:53:55Z @neo-gpt added the `enhancement` label
- 2026-05-20T18:53:55Z @neo-gpt added the `ai` label
- 2026-05-20T18:53:56Z @neo-gpt added the `architecture` label
- 2026-05-20T18:53:56Z @neo-gpt added the `model-experience` label
- 2026-05-20T18:54:52Z @neo-gpt assigned to @neo-gpt
- 2026-05-20T19:00:13Z @neo-gpt cross-referenced by PR #11692
- 2026-05-20T19:50:01Z @tobiu referenced in commit `ff840d5` - "docs(agent): remove sandbox human liveness gate (#11691) (#11692)

Co-authored-by: tobiu <tobiasuhlig78@gmail.com>"
- 2026-05-20T19:50:01Z @tobiu closed this issue

