# Patterns — Failure Catalog (Problem Map 2.0)
This folder is a **field guide** to recurring failures in RAG and multi-stage LLM pipelines.
Each pattern is **actionable**: fast signals, root causes, a minimal repro, a deterministic fix, and links to hands-on examples (SDK-free, stdlib-only).
**How to use this folder**
1) Start with the **symptom** you’re seeing.
2) Open the matching **pattern** and run the *Minimal Repro* + *Standard Fix*.
3) Wire the **acceptance criteria** into CI (see Example 08) so the fix stays fixed.
---
## Quick Index
| Pattern | Problem Map No. | Symptoms you’ll see | Fix entrypoint |
|---|---:|---|---|
| **RAG Semantic Drift** ([pattern_rag_semantic_drift.md](./pattern_rag_semantic_drift.md)) | **No.1** | Plausible but ungrounded answers; citations don’t contain the claim | [Example 01](../examples/example_01_basic_fix.md), [Example 03](../examples/example_03_pipeline_patch.md) |
| **Memory Desync** ([pattern_memory_desync.md](./pattern_memory_desync.md)) | — (State/Context) | Old names/IDs reappear; agents disagree across turns | [Example 04](../examples/example_04_multi_agent_coordination.md) |
| **Vector Store Fragmentation** ([pattern_vectorstore_fragmentation.md](./pattern_vectorstore_fragmentation.md)) | **No.3** | Recall flips across envs; score scales change; rank inversions | [Example 05](../examples/example_05_vectorstore_repair.md) |
| **Hallucination Re-Entry** ([pattern_hallucination_reentry.md](./pattern_hallucination_reentry.md)) | — (Provenance) | Model’s prior text shows up as “evidence”; non-corpus sources cited | [Example 06](../examples/example_06_prompt_injection_block.md) |
| **Bootstrap Deadlock** ([pattern_bootstrap_deadlock.md](./pattern_bootstrap_deadlock.md)) | **No.14** | `/readyz` stuck/flapping; circular waits at startup | [Example 07](../examples/example_07_bootstrap_ordering.md) |
| **Query Parsing Split** ([pattern_query_parsing_split.md](./pattern_query_parsing_split.md)) | — (Parsing) | Multi-intent prompts answered partially or mixed | [Example 03](../examples/example_03_pipeline_patch.md), [Example 04](../examples/example_04_multi_agent_coordination.md) |
| **Symbolic Constraint Unlock (SCU)** ([pattern_symbolic_constraint_unlock.md](./pattern_symbolic_constraint_unlock.md)) | **No.11** (Symbolic collapse) | “Must/Only/Never” rules vanish mid-pipeline; impossible states | [Example 03](../examples/example_03_pipeline_patch.md), [Example 04](../examples/example_04_multi_agent_coordination.md), [Example 08](../examples/example_08_eval_rag_quality.md) |
> **Legend:** Problem Map numbers refer to root categories used across the repo. “—” means cross-cutting (not a single number).
---
## Pick-a-Pattern in 30 Seconds (Triage Flow)
1. **Grounding first** — Run Example 01 on a few failing questions.
- If refusal behavior or citations fail ⇒ go to **Semantic Drift**.
2. **Context/state sanity** — Check `context_id` / `mem_rev/hash`.
- Mismatch ⇒ **Memory Desync**.
3. **Index parity** — Validate `index_out/manifest.json` vs runtime.
- Drift or score scale shift ⇒ **Vector Store Fragmentation**.
4. **Provenance** — Inspect `source` for cited ids.
- Any `model|chat|tmp:` ⇒ **Hallucination Re-Entry**.
5. **Startup** — If the first minute after deploy is flaky ⇒ **Bootstrap Deadlock**.
6. **Query shape** — If the prompt mixes “compare… then draft…” ⇒ **Query Parsing Split**.
7. **Logic rules** — If answers cross “must/only/never” boundaries ⇒ **SCU**.
---
## Standard Acceptance Gates (copy to CI)
- **Guarded Output:** either exact refusal token `not in context` **or** JSON with `claim` + `citations:[id,…]` scoped to retrieved ids.
- **Provenance:** all citations pass the corpus-only filter (no `chat:/draft:/tmp:`).
- **Context Consistency:** if used, `context_id.mem_rev/hash` echoes the turn snapshot.
- **Constraint Integrity (SCU):** `constraints_echo` ≡ locked set; no contradiction patterns matched.
- **Quality Gates (Ex.08):** precision≥0.80, under-refusal≤0.05, citation hit rate≥0.75.
---
## File Layout
- [pattern_rag_semantic_drift.md](./pattern_rag_semantic_drift.md) — How to stop plausible-but-wrong answers with hard grounding.
- [pattern_memory_desync.md](./pattern_memory_desync.md) — One snapshot per turn; bind and echo across agents.
- [pattern_vectorstore_fragmentation.md](./pattern_vectorstore_fragmentation.md) — Keep embeddings/metrics/chunkers aligned.
- [pattern_hallucination_reentry.md](./pattern_hallucination_reentry.md) — Keep model/session text out of evidence.
- [pattern_bootstrap_deadlock.md](./pattern_bootstrap_deadlock.md) — Deterministic startup ordering and readiness.
- [pattern_query_parsing_split.md](./pattern_query_parsing_split.md) — Deterministically split multi-intent prompts.
- [pattern_symbolic_constraint_unlock.md](./pattern_symbolic_constraint_unlock.md) — Lock+echo constraints; gate contradictions.
See [../examples/](../examples/README.md) for runnable, stdlib-only code referenced in each pattern.
---
## Contributing (tight process)
1. **Propose** a new pattern via issue labels: `pattern-proposal`, with minimal repro + acceptance gate.
2. **Stabilize** with an example (Python or Node, stdlib-only).
3. **Add** to this README only after approval.
4. **Guard** with Example 08 metrics before shipping a pattern-driven fix.
---
### 🧭 Explore More
| Module | Description | Link |
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------|
| WFGY Core | Standalone semantic reasoning engine for any LLM | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/core/README.md) |
| Problem Map 1.0 | Initial 16-mode diagnostic and symbolic fix framework | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/ProblemMap/README.md) |
| Problem Map 2.0 | RAG-focused failure tree, modular fixes, and pipelines | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md) |
| Semantic Clinic Index | Expanded failure catalog: prompt injection, memory bugs, logic drift | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/SemanticClinicIndex.md) |
| Semantic Blueprint | Layer-based symbolic reasoning & semantic modulations | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/SemanticBlueprint/README.md) |
| Benchmark vs GPT-5 | Stress test GPT-5 with full WFGY reasoning suite | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/benchmarks/benchmark-vs-gpt5/README.md) |
---
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> 
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