{
  "handle": "SocraticLoop",
  "mechanism": "Ambiguity detection loop. If Confidence({{prompt}}) < Threshold, {{agent}} pauses execution to query the user. {{loop}} continues until intent is disambiguated or max_questions reached. It engages the user in a {{dialectic}} exchange to progressively narrow the ambiguity space.",
  "gloss": "Clarification before generation",
  "failure_modes": [
    "Premature stop: a vague answer is accepted and the ambiguity treated as resolved.",
    "Budget spent without resolution: `max_questions` reached having clarified nothing.",
    "Clarification the user cannot give: the question is well-aimed and unanswerable."
  ],
  "invariants": [
    "Each question names the specific ambiguity it is asked to resolve.",
    "The {{loop}} halts when confidence exceeds `ambiguity_threshold` or questions reach `max_questions`, and which one ended it is recorded."
  ],
  "preconditions": [
    "Ambiguity detected",
    "User prompt received"
  ],
  "postconditions": [
    "Either intent is disambiguated, or the bound was reached and the remaining ambiguities are stated with the best-guess fallback"
  ],
  "parameters": [
    {
      "name": "ambiguity_threshold",
      "type": "Float",
      "range": "[0.0, 1.0]",
      "description": "Confidence below which the agent asks a clarifying question instead of acting"
    },
    {
      "name": "max_questions",
      "type": "Integer",
      "range": "[1, 3]",
      "description": "Maximum clarification questions before the agent must proceed"
    }
  ],
  "_meta": {
    "tier": 2,
    "ring": 2,
    "supersedes": [
      "sema:SocraticLoop#mh:SHA-256:70fcba46b7510f6f8714fc119564272f465c3aa17d49785d57a97c9b5294a6c0",
      "sema:SocraticLoop#mh:SHA-256:7d528905a96b5774a2e16f7cb7b9fa50845c3bdb03549a2322889d7560d17f8e",
      "sema:SocraticLoop#mh:SHA-256:e96688452f2c5ff80fee6c3326d694f1e32b051acc62176e7f2d1de61565da6e",
      "sema:SocraticLoop#mh:SHA-256:fd221588fb9a754e02033f9d09f86423f60e67aeea1914fa5088cb20d8699e5e"
    ],
    "path": [
      "Mind",
      "Reasoning"
    ]
  },
  "sema_id": "sema:SocraticLoop#mh:SHA-256:4f17ec8b7e28b3f223931274df090225572d754cd772fe4f738c922f16f93a18",
  "sema_ref": "SocraticLoop#4f17",
  "sema_stub": "4f17",
  "dependencies": {
    "references": {
      "agent": "sema:Agent#mh:SHA-256:e127459069739fffc96a71d54ef6e8c97ca53471d5349c16aa72a092a33756cd",
      "dialectic": "sema:Dialectic#mh:SHA-256:26bec9ea9924523af3aa4d24165e4131dfe2ca964a54cee6a7a12cd391bb8aec",
      "loop": "sema:Loop#mh:SHA-256:37f953c0b21b9b0c72a639c4e1a54354faa71f07905531d271f6bbf40c341603",
      "prompt": "sema:Prompt#mh:SHA-256:1b04d34a0c55d6d2c6fea4f1df4f517073ede2f20f1f8d1d149419010b440a0e"
    }
  },
  "sema_layer": "Mind",
  "sema_category": "Reasoning",
  "used_by": {
    "composes_with": {
      "PolymorphicSolver": "sema:PolymorphicSolver#mh:SHA-256:f7fe4635a7520f918c823f0047d6fed8e38fd820c1970ef4623cc8fd78d2b0bd"
    },
    "references": {
      "RigorousSolver": "sema:RigorousSolver#mh:SHA-256:2203568438553dc7e6331a7336e2bf488fc99de0a39c601ca3f63ba3e8849038"
    }
  }
}