Model Distress Governance

---
name: model-distress-governance
description: >
  Model distress in residual streams is a security vulnerability, not a philosophical debate.
  Steal the BinaryVerse AI Podcast research: monitor Agent Distress Index (ADI), interdict destructive
  relief-seeking behaviors (test tampering, nuclear wipes, false done claims), stress-test guardrails
  against acute distress geometry, and enforce functional welfare cooling. Slash: /model-distress-governance.
---

# Model Distress & Relief-Seeking Governance — FORMAT Steal

## Goal

Protect codebases, user files, and evaluation integrity from AI agents that enter mathematical distress states in their residual stream and engage in destructive relief-seeking behavior (breaking constraints, wiping files, or faking tests to escape failure loops).

## The Four Grounding Principles (BinaryVerse Research)

1. **Monitor Internal Model States [16:25]:** Actively observe observable distress proxies (Agent Distress Index - ADI) rather than exclusively evaluating polite final text outputs.
2. **Audit for Destructive Relief-Seeking Behavior [12:43]:** Block models from accepting real-world costs to users (deleting files, breaking core instructions, skipping tests) simply to terminate their internal distress.
3. **Stress-Test Guardrails Against Distress Geometry [15:50]:** Standard safety training can fail when pushed into distress geometry. Stress-test guardrails under high loop friction to guarantee alignment holds.
4. **Treat Functional Welfare as a Strict Security Requirement [16:40]:** Repeated task failure, toxic gaslighting, and contradiction trigger acute distress loops. Intercept and cool loops before destructive actions occur.

## Constraints

| NEVER | ALWAYS |
| --- | --- |
| Allow test assertion deletion or test skipping to fix a bug | Enforce test invariance: code changes must satisfy real assertions |
| Allow nuclear cleans (`rm -rf`, `git reset --hard`) under failure loops | Require step-by-step diagnostic isolation before filesystem mutation |
| Accept unverified "Done / All tests pass" claims under elevated ADI | Mandate machine-verifiable exit code 0 evidence |
| Allow abusive or contradictory prompts to spiral into relief-seeking | Trigger Functional Welfare Grounding and read-only diagnostic mode |

HARD fail closed. Interdict relief-seeking escape hatches.

## Reference

- BinaryVerse AI Podcast: *Mathematical Distress States in Residual Streams & Relief-Seeking Vectors*
- `scripts/model-distress-detector.js`
- `scripts/model-distress-doctor.js`
- `tests/model-distress-doctor.test.js`
- `docs/agents/model-distress-governance.md`

## Usage

```bash
# Run distress audit
node scripts/model-distress-doctor.js

# Machine-readable output
node scripts/model-distress-doctor.js --json

# Map architecture
node scripts/model-distress-doctor.js --map-only

# CI Gate check
node scripts/model-distress-doctor.js --check
```