openprose__prose/packages/std/patterns/README.md

std/patterns

Reusable OpenProse patterns (kind: pattern) for coordination, flow, review, synthesis, and measurement. Patterns are instantiated at compile time by a contract that binds their slots and expanded into nodes; they are not run directly.

Instantiation

A contract instantiates a pattern with a structured YAML entry that binds its slots; Forme expands the instance into the resolved graph at compile time:

- name: reviewed-output
  pattern: std/patterns/worker-critic
  with:
    worker: writer
    critic: reviewer
  config:
    max_rounds: 3

• pattern: names a file in this directory without the .prose.md suffix
• with: binds slots to functions, responsibilities, or nested pattern instances
• config: sets operational parameters such as limits, thresholds, and modes
• Pattern files define ### Slots, ### Config, ### Invariants, ### Requires, ### Maintains, and ### Delegation
• ### Delegation describes the pattern algorithm in fenced prose; the VM executes it only after a contract instantiates the pattern and binds its slots.

Quality Loops

Pattern	Slots	Use when you need to...
worker-critic	worker, critic	Produce work, evaluate it, and retry until accepted or the round budget is exhausted
refine	refiner, evaluator	Improve an existing result toward a score threshold
ratchet	advancer, certifier	Make incremental progress while preserving every certified step
retry-with-learning	target	Retry the same target contract with accumulated failure history

Parallel and Selection

Pattern	Slots	Use when you need to...
fan-out	delegates	Run independent delegates in parallel and keep every raw result
map-reduce	mapper, reducer	Process chunks independently, then merge every mapper result
race	candidates	Try multiple candidates in parallel and accept the first suitable result
fallback-chain	chain	Try preferred delegates sequentially, advancing only after failure
pipeline	stages	Transform work through ordered stages with clean stage boundaries
guard	guard, target	Check a precondition before running an expensive or sensitive target

Debate and Oversight

Pattern	Slots	Use when you need to...
proposer-adversary	proposer, adversary	Generate a proposal and independently stress-test it
dialectic	thesis, antithesis	Preserve an exchange between opposing positions without forcing resolution
ensemble-synthesizer	ensemble_member, synthesizer	Collect independent attempts and synthesize across disagreement
oversight	actor, observer, arbiter	Separate action, observation, and decision across independent slots

Measurement and Probe

Pattern	Slots	Use when you need to measure...
blind-review	reviewer, comparator	Cross-tier comprehension divergence in material or instructions
stochastic-probe	probe, analyst	Variance across repeated runs with identical inputs
assumption-miner	miner, comparator	Hidden assumptions and unstated dependencies
coherence-probe	reader, sync_analyst	Drift between two corpora that should describe the same system
contrastive-probe	measurement, ranker	Which of two candidates scores better on another measurement pattern

Choosing Similar Patterns

If you are choosing between...	Prefer this when...
fan-out and map-reduce	Use fan-out when the caller needs every raw result; use map-reduce when one merged artifact is required
race and fallback-chain	Use race when parallelism is worth the cost; use fallback-chain when later candidates should run only after earlier ones fail
retry-with-learning and fallback-chain	Use retry-with-learning for the same contract with better context; use fallback-chain for different contracts in preference order
retry-with-learning and refine	Use retry-with-learning for broken or absent results; use refine for usable results that need quality improvement
worker-critic and refine	Use worker-critic when the critic makes an accept/reject judgment; use refine when a continuous score guides improvement