| Useful whole versus justified whole | A coupled arrangement can be a useful unit of analysis without being one admitted U.System, performer, Agent, or capability holder. |
| Actual versus prospective | Actual Work permits obtaining performer and support claims; a present WorkPlan permits only current claims about plan content and a proposed configuration. |
| Compact result versus exact ownership | A reader needs one short result, while System identity, Work, capability, representation, evidence, architecture, and choice remain independently governed. |
| Perfect-run success versus recoverability | Success in one live configuration does not establish recovery after interruption, handoff, staleness, or degraded support. |
| Transferable skeleton versus domain mechanism | Many domains share the configuration-and-probe move, but their checkpoints, cues, thresholds, safety conditions, and recovery mechanisms differ. |
| Recognition versus assurance | One credible failure can open the pattern; consequential use may require much stronger evidence, authority, and stop rules. |
| State availability versus state correctness | A carrier may be present while its value is stale, inconsistent, uninterpretable, inaccessible, or unsafe to use. |