From 1e96d87f493723d443bd0797a71e6e5aba9bb74b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Christian Nennemann <christian@nennemann.de>
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 05:19:35 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] feat: introduce Wiggum Break as named circuit breaker
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Replaces generic "circuit breaker" with "Wiggum Break" — policy enforcement
halt condition named after Chief Wiggum (policy + Ralph Loop's dad).
Hard breaks (immediate halt) and soft breaks (finish then halt) with
wiggum.break event type. Updated both papers and shadow-detection skill.
---
 CLAUDE.md                        |  2 +-
 paper/archeflow.tex              | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++----------
 paper/taxonomy.tex               |  3 ++-
 skills/run/SKILL.md              |  1 +
 skills/shadow-detection/SKILL.md | 32 +++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 5 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index b6b84f6..3453e54 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ Explorer (research), Creator (design), Maker (implement), Guardian (security), S
 Three layers, one escalation protocol:
 - **Archetype shadows** — individual agent dysfunction
 - **System shadows** — orchestration-level issues (echo chamber, tunnel vision, scope creep)
-- **Policy boundaries** — operational limits (checkpoints, budgets, circuit breakers)
+- **Policy boundaries** — operational limits (checkpoints, budgets, Wiggum Breaks)
 
 ### Workflows
 | Risk Level | Workflow | Agents |
diff --git a/paper/archeflow.tex b/paper/archeflow.tex
index f129aea..aa5f1b6 100644
--- a/paper/archeflow.tex
+++ b/paper/archeflow.tex
@@ -395,17 +395,28 @@ Beyond individual archetype dysfunction, ArcheFlow monitors for
   proposal's file list.
 \end{description}
 
-\subsection{Policy Boundaries}
+\subsection{Policy Boundaries and the Wiggum Break}
 
-The third layer enforces operational limits:
-\begin{itemize}
-  \item \textbf{Budget enforcement}: per-run token limits with per-agent
-  tracking.
-  \item \textbf{Cycle limits}: maximum PDCA iterations (1/2/3 for
-  fast/standard/thorough).
-  \item \textbf{Checkpoint frequency}: mandatory progress saves to prevent
-  lost work on interruption.
-\end{itemize}
+The third layer enforces operational limits through budget gates, cycle
+limits, and checkpoint policies. When limits are exceeded, the system
+triggers a \emph{Wiggum Break}\footnote{Named after Chief Wiggum from
+\emph{The Simpsons}---a nod to both ``policy enforcement'' and the
+Ralph Loop plugin for Claude Code.}---a circuit breaker that halts
+execution, saves state, and reports to the user.
+
+Wiggum Breaks are classified as \emph{hard} (halt immediately) or
+\emph{soft} (finish current task, then halt):
+
+\begin{description}
+  \item[Hard breaks]: 3 consecutive agent failures, 3 consecutive shadow
+  detections in one run, test suite broken after merge, 2+ oscillating
+  findings.
+  \item[Soft breaks]: convergence score $< 0.5$ for 2 consecutive cycles,
+  findings unchanged between cycles, budget $> 95\%$ spent.
+\end{description}
+
+Each Wiggum Break emits a \texttt{wiggum.break} event capturing the
+trigger, run state, and unresolved findings for post-run analysis.
 
 \subsection{Connection to the Assistant Axis}
 
diff --git a/paper/taxonomy.tex b/paper/taxonomy.tex
index 4ed383d..becf746 100644
--- a/paper/taxonomy.tex
+++ b/paper/taxonomy.tex
@@ -661,7 +661,8 @@ this three-layer architecture, though without explicitly naming all methods:
   sprint mode with WIP-limited parallel dispatch (implicit Kanban).
   \item \textbf{Quality}: Shadow detection (behavioral FMEA for agent
   failure modes); effectiveness scoring (rudimentary SPC); Guardian
-  fast-path (TOC---don't waste the bottleneck on clean code).
+  fast-path (TOC---don't waste the bottleneck on clean code); ``Wiggum
+  Break'' circuit breakers (hard/soft halt conditions with event logging).
 \end{itemize}
 
 The gap is in explicit TOC application (identifying and optimizing around
diff --git a/skills/run/SKILL.md b/skills/run/SKILL.md
index e3b77b6..3e3c1f3 100644
--- a/skills/run/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/run/SKILL.md
@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ Emit events via `./lib/archeflow-event.sh <run_id> <type> <phase> <agent> '<json
 | Fix addressing review | `fix.applied` | source, finding, file, line |
 | End of PDCA cycle | `cycle.boundary` | cycle, max_cycles, exit_condition, convergence |
 | Shadow triggered | `shadow.detected` | archetype, shadow, trigger, action |
+| Policy halt | `wiggum.break` | trigger, run_state, unresolved_findings, hard/soft |
 | Run ends | `run.complete` | status, cycles, agents_total, fixes_total |
 
 Parent rules: `run.start` has `parent: []`. Agents parent to the event that triggered them. Phase transitions fan-in from all completing events. Parallel agents share the same parent.
diff --git a/skills/shadow-detection/SKILL.md b/skills/shadow-detection/SKILL.md
index 8d46df2..a189f41 100644
--- a/skills/shadow-detection/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/shadow-detection/SKILL.md
@@ -79,22 +79,32 @@ Every **45 minutes** or **3 completed tasks** (whichever first):
 | 95% budget spent | Complete current task, then STOP |
 | 100% budget | STOP immediately, commit WIP |
 
-### Circuit Breaker
+### Wiggum Break (Circuit Breaker)
 
-| Trigger | Action |
+Named after Chief Wiggum — policy enforcement AND the Ralph Loop's dad.
+When a Wiggum Break triggers, the system halts execution, saves state, and
+reports to the user. "Bake 'em away, toys."
+
+**Hard breaks** (halt immediately, commit WIP):
+
+| Trigger | Reason |
 |---------|--------|
-| 3 consecutive agent failures/timeouts | STOP. Infrastructure issue, not a code problem. |
-| 3 consecutive task failures in sprint | STOP. Something systemic is wrong. |
-| Same shadow detected 3+ times in one cycle | STOP. Task needs to be broken down or re-scoped. |
-| Test suite broken after merge | Auto-revert, STOP, report. |
+| 3 consecutive agent failures/timeouts | Infrastructure issue, not a code problem |
+| 3 consecutive task failures in sprint | Something systemic is wrong |
+| Same shadow detected 3+ times in one cycle | Task needs to be broken down or re-scoped |
+| Test suite broken after merge | Auto-revert, then halt |
+| 2+ oscillating findings (present→absent→present) | Fundamental tension in review criteria |
 
-### Diminishing Returns
+**Soft breaks** (finish current task, then halt):
 
-| Signal | Action |
+| Signal | Reason |
 |--------|--------|
-| Cycle N findings identical to cycle N-1 | STOP cycling. Present best result. |
-| Convergence score <0.5 for 2 consecutive cycles | STOP. "This needs a different approach." |
-| Reviewer finding count increases cycle over cycle | STOP. Implementation is diverging, not converging. |
+| Cycle N findings identical to cycle N-1 | No progress — present best result |
+| Convergence score <0.5 for 2 consecutive cycles | "This needs a different approach" |
+| Reviewer finding count increases cycle over cycle | Implementation is diverging, not converging |
+
+When a Wiggum Break fires, emit a `wiggum.break` event with trigger, run state, and unresolved findings.
+The event log makes it easy to audit why a run was halted and whether the break was warranted.
 
 ### Context Pollution