# Action Authority Patterns

Cogna8 implements a set of **authorization patterns** - repeatable system behaviors that detect and respond to specific categories of integrity risk. These patterns are not domain-specific. They are structural properties of the integrity pipeline that produce consistent behavior regardless of the state domain.

## What the Patterns Address

The patterns address the core categories of state risk that emerge in any multi-agent, multi-session workflow: contradictions between information sources, dependencies on stale or outdated state, information crossing context boundaries, actions proceeding without sufficient prerequisites, and tentative information being treated as confirmed.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Financial Services" %}
Income figures from different verification sources disagree. Credit assessments expire between pre-approval and closing. Client constraints from one account must not influence another. Loan disbursement depends on multiple verified prerequisites. Draft terms must not govern operations before finalization.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Healthcare" %}
Medication records from different providers contradict. Treatment protocols change after new lab results. Patient state must be isolated between cases. Procedure scheduling depends on confirmed authorizations. Proposed amendments must not govern site operations before approval.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Enterprise Ops" %}
Budget figures across systems don't match. Approvals expire between request and execution. Project state must not bleed across clients. Purchase execution depends on multiple sign-offs. Preliminary estimates must not become binding commitments.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## How Patterns Compose

These patterns do not operate in isolation. Real integrity scenarios involve multiple patterns interacting. This composability is what makes Cogna8 an **authority runtime** rather than a point solution.

{% hint style="info" %}
**The domain changes. The authorization patterns don't.** This is what makes action authority an infrastructure layer, not a vertical product.
{% endhint %}


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