Case A: an agent must obtain an actual engineering result

These are constructed teaching cases with supplied contracts and stipulated observations, not reports of deployed-agent performance. The task is to change a test-system configuration, return its observed state in a usable report and preserve enough information to resume after interruption.

An ordinary handover reveals that a persuasive report contains a predicted state rather than one read from the target. The domain owner supplies the permissible change, interface contract and acceptance condition. SYSE.42 grounds target and argument values, executes the permitted operation and uses the actual return. A response for another target fails the use even when its format is valid.

A lost reply preserves the outstanding attempt. The agent uses the interface’s same-attempt recovery before replay; without a supported recovery observation, the effect remains unresolved. SYSE.43 retains the relevant source edition, observations and unresolved action, distinguishing a remembered successful state from current state.

If a source review and calculation can be separated usefully, SYSE.44 combines their returns with compatible premises. A changed source edition reopens only affected calculations. Agreement between agents that copied the same source is not independent confirmation. The same edition can also be interpreted differently, or “checking” can mean different next work. When the interaction exposes that uncertainty, use the collaborator explanation below to decide what to observe and which contribution to revise.