Glossary
Agent ArchitectureEmerging
Blocker Flag
A signal raised by an agent when it encounters ambiguity or a constraint it cannot resolve, triggering escalation to a human.
Definition
A Blocker Flag is a signal that an agent raises when it encounters a problem it cannot resolve on its own, triggering escalation to a human operator. Rather than looping indefinitely or producing low-quality output, the agent halts and explicitly communicates that it is stuck.
Common reasons an agent raises a Blocker Flag include:
- Ambiguous Spec — the specification does not provide enough detail for the agent to choose between valid implementation approaches.
- Missing Context — the agent needs information that is not available in its Context Packet or the Context Index.
- Novel Problem — the task requires reasoning or domain knowledge outside the agent's demonstrated capabilities.
- Constraint Conflict — two or more rules in the System Constitution contradict each other for the given scenario.
- Budget Exhaustion — the agent has exceeded its allocated token budget for the task.
When an agent raises a Blocker Flag, the work escalates to an Agent Operator who executes a Rescue Mission. The time between a Blocker Flag being raised and the agent resuming work is tracked as Mean Time to Unblock (MTTU), a key operational metric.