Anti-patterns: what can go wrong
Context Phase can fail in predictable ways. Knowing these patterns in advance allows the team to detect them early and correct course before the damage compounds. The methodology section already describes the conceptual-level anti-patterns (the Context-Prompt, Implicit Rules, the Creative Agent, Agents Without Borders, the Orphaned Skill). This section covers the operational anti-patterns that emerge during the execution of the framework process.
1
Over-Context
›2
The Silent Agent
›3
Aspirational Context
›4
The Broken Chain
›5
Frozen Context
›Quick reference
| Anti-pattern | Symptom | Root cause | Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over-Context | Rigid, mechanical output | Rules/Skills too prescriptive | Use Levels 1-2 for low-impact decisions |
| Silent Agent | Phantom features, Context Drift | Missing or weak gap protocol | Level 5 gap protocol Rule in every Agent |
| Aspirational Context | Elegant but inviable outputs | Constraints from Solution Brief ignored | Copy constraints literally into Rules |
| Broken Chain | Error amplification | QA skipped at chain links | QA validates every output before it moves |
| Frozen Context | Growing disconnect from reality | No update process | Decision Log + mandatory context updates |