Quick reference

# Factory failure diagnostic

A factory fails when its fast feedback rewards output while its delayed feedback hides damage.

## Ask four questions

1. Reward: What observable signal tells the agent it succeeded?
2. Blind spot: What important quality is absent from that signal?
3. Delay: When will the missing quality become costly?
4. Steering: Where can a human cheaply catch it before code volume multiplies?

Canonical pattern
Tests pass now → design debt is invisible → future changes spread → diagnosis and repair erase the throughput gain.

## Use automation confidently when

The task is bounded, the verifier closely matches the real outcome, failure is reversible, and the diff is cheap to inspect.

## Increase human steering when

The change establishes patterns, crosses subsystem boundaries, has delayed failure modes, or produces a large diff before anything can be exercised.