/escalate - Structured Escalation

Goal

Structure escalation events during /do execution — blocking issues, scope changes, and workflow pauses — with evidence and clear next steps.

Input

$ARGUMENTS = escalation context

Examples:

• "INV-G1 blocking after 3 attempts"
• "AC-1.2 blocking after 3 attempts"
• "Manual criteria AC-2.3 needs human review"

Principles

1. Evidence required - No lazy escalations. Must include what was tried and why it failed.

2. Structured options - Present possible paths forward with tradeoffs, not just "I'm stuck".

3. Respect hierarchy - Global Invariant blocking = task-level issue. AC blocking = deliverable-level issue.

Evidence Requirements

For blocking criterion escalation, MUST include:

1. Which criterion - specific ID (INV-G*, AC-.)
2. At least 3 attempts - what was tried
3. Why each failed - not just "didn't work"
4. Hypothesis - theory about root cause
5. Options - possible paths forward with tradeoffs

Lazy escalations are NOT acceptable:

• "I can't figure this out"
• "This is hard"
• "INV-G1 is failing" (without attempts)

Escalation Types

Global Invariant Blocking

Task-level blocker. Cannot complete while this fails.

## Escalation: Global Invariant [INV-G{N}] Blocking

**Criterion:** [description]
**Type:** Global Invariant (task fails if violated)
**Impact:** Cannot complete task until resolved

### Attempts
1. **[Approach 1]** - What: ... Result: ... Why failed: ...
2. **[Approach 2]** - ...
3. **[Approach 3]** - ...

### Hypothesis
[Theory about why this is problematic]

### Possible Resolutions
1. **Fix root cause**: [description] - Effort: ... Risk: ...
2. **Amend invariant**: Relax to [new wording] - Rationale: ...
3. **Remove invariant**: Not applicable to this task - Rationale: ...

### Requesting
Human decision on path forward.

Acceptance Criteria Blocking

Deliverable-level blocker.

## Escalation: Acceptance Criteria [AC-{D}.{N}] Blocking

**Criterion:** [description]
**Type:** AC for Deliverable {D}: [name]
**Impact:** Deliverable incomplete

### Context
Other ACs in this deliverable: [statuses]

### Attempts
[same as above]

### Possible Resolutions
1. **Different implementation**: [approach]
2. **Amend criterion**: Change to [new wording]
3. **Remove criterion**: Not actually needed
4. **Descope deliverable**: Remove AC, deliverable still valuable

### Requesting
Human decision on path forward.

Manual Criteria Review

All automated criteria pass. Manual criteria need human verification.

## Escalation: Manual Criteria Require Human Review

All automated criteria pass.

### Manual Criteria Pending
- **AC-{D}.{N}**: [description] - How to verify: [from manifest]

### What Was Executed
[Brief summary]

Please review and confirm completion.

Proposed Amendment

During implementation, you discovered a criterion should change — not because it's blocking, but because reality revealed a better formulation. No 3-attempt evidence needed — just rationale.

## Escalation: Proposed Amendment to [ID]

**Current criterion:** [current wording]
**Proposed change:** [new wording]

### Rationale
[What you discovered during implementation that motivates this change]

### Impact
- Deliverables affected: [which ones]
- Work already done: [what would need to change if approved]

### Requesting
Approve amendment, reject and continue with current criterion, or adjust.

When to use: You CAN meet the criterion as written, but discovered it should be different. Approach pivots don't need this — just log and adapt. Use this when the manifest's criteria themselves should change.

vs Self-Amendment: If the USER or a reviewer triggered the change, use Self-Amendment instead — that proceeds autonomously without human approval.

Self-Amendment

User input or a PR review comment contradicts or extends the manifest. No 3-attempt evidence needed — this is a scope change, not a blocker.

## Escalation: Self-Amendment

**Trigger:** [user message or PR comment that contradicts/extends the manifest]
**Affected items:** [which INV-G*, AC-*, PG-* items are contradicted or need additions]

### What changed
[Concise description of the scope change — what the user/reviewer wants that the manifest doesn't cover or contradicts]

### Manifest path
[Path to manifest file]

### Execution log path
[Path to execution log]

When to use: The USER or a REVIEWER triggered a scope change — they said something that contradicts or extends the manifest. This is a mechanical exit, not a decision point. /do handles the amendment flow after this escalation.

vs Proposed Amendment: If YOU discovered the criterion should change (no user/reviewer trigger), use Proposed Amendment instead — that requires human approval.

User-Requested Pause

User explicitly asked to stop mid-workflow (e.g., "commit so I can deploy", "stop here for now"). No 3-attempt evidence needed—just explain the pause.

## Escalation: User-Requested Pause

**Reason:** [what user asked for]
**Current state:** [what's done, what's pending]

### Progress Summary
- Completed: [ACs done]
- In progress: [current work]
- Remaining: [ACs not started]

### To Resume
[How to continue - e.g., "/do <manifest> <log>" or specific next steps]

When to use: User interrupts workflow for legitimate reasons (deploy, review, break). Not a blocker—just a handoff.

Medium Routing

When medium is non-local, /do routes escalations through the medium directly — /escalate is not invoked. The escalation templates above still define the expected content structure; /do uses them when composing messages to the channel.