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Cognition Engines

F032: Error Amplification Tracking

Source

Section titled “Source”

MIT Media Lab / Google Research: “Towards a Science of Scaling Agent Systems” (Feb 4, 2026)

  • Independent multi-agent: 17.2x error amplification
  • Centralized multi-agent: 4.4x error amplification
  • Single agent: 1x baseline

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Track error propagation chains across multi-agent decision sequences. When a sub-agent’s decision leads to a downstream failure, trace the causal chain back to identify amplification patterns. Enables the system to detect when agent collaboration is making things worse, not better.

Problem

Section titled “Problem”

Today we track individual decision outcomes but not causal chains. If CodeReviewer approves a PR, DocsAgent updates docs based on it, and the feature turns out broken - we mark each decision independently. We can’t see that the review failure amplified into a docs failure.

API

Section titled “API”

Decision Lineage

Section titled “Decision Lineage”

Enhanced cstp.recordDecision:

{
  "method": "cstp.recordDecision",
  "params": {
    "decision": "Updated docs based on PR #42 review",
    "confidence": 0.85,
    "parentDecisionId": "dec_abc",
    "agentId": "docs-agent",
    "context": "CodeReviewer approved PR #42 (dec_abc). Updating docs accordingly."
  }
}

New RPC Method: cstp.getAmplificationChain

Section titled “New RPC Method: cstp.getAmplificationChain”
{
  "method": "cstp.getAmplificationChain",
  "params": {
    "decisionId": "dec_abc"
  }
}

Response

Section titled “Response”
{
  "result": {
    "root": {
      "id": "dec_abc",
      "agent": "code-reviewer",
      "decision": "Approved PR #42",
      "outcome": "failure"
    },
    "chain": [
      {
        "id": "dec_def",
        "agent": "docs-agent",
        "decision": "Updated docs for PR #42",
        "outcome": "failure",
        "amplification": "inherited"
      },
      {
        "id": "dec_ghi",
        "agent": "main",
        "decision": "Merged PR #42",
        "outcome": "failure",
        "amplification": "cascaded"
      }
    ],
    "metrics": {
      "chainLength": 3,
      "amplificationFactor": 3.0,
      "affectedAgents": ["code-reviewer", "docs-agent", "main"],
      "architecture": "sequential_pipeline"
    }
  }
}

New RPC Method: cstp.getAmplificationStats

Section titled “New RPC Method: cstp.getAmplificationStats”
{
  "method": "cstp.getAmplificationStats",
  "params": {
    "windowDays": 30
  }
}

Response

Section titled “Response”
{
  "result": {
    "averageAmplification": 2.3,
    "maxChainLength": 5,
    "totalChains": 12,
    "byArchitecture": {
      "single_agent": {"count": 45, "avgAmplification": 1.0},
      "sequential_pipeline": {"count": 8, "avgAmplification": 2.8},
      "centralized_parallel": {"count": 4, "avgAmplification": 1.6}
    },
    "topAmplifiers": [
      {"agent": "code-reviewer", "rootFailures": 3, "totalDownstream": 7}
    ],
    "recommendation": "CodeReviewer decisions are the most common root of amplification chains. Consider adding a second reviewer for high-stakes PRs."
  }
}

Data Model

Section titled “Data Model”
# Added to decision records
parent_decision_id: "dec_abc"   # Decision this depends on
agent_id: "docs-agent"          # Which agent made this
chain_id: "chain_001"           # Group linked decisions

Integration

Section titled “Integration”
  • When cstp.reviewDecision marks a decision as failed, scan for child decisions
  • Automatically propagate “inherited failure” markers down the chain
  • Circuit breakers (F030) can trip based on amplification factor, not just failure count
  • Task router (F029) can use historical amplification data to avoid bad architectures

Acceptance Criteria

Section titled “Acceptance Criteria”
  • parentDecisionId field on cstp.recordDecision
  • agentId field on cstp.recordDecision
  • Chain detection on failure review
  • cstp.getAmplificationChain RPC method
  • cstp.getAmplificationStats RPC method
  • Amplification factor calculation
  • Dashboard: Chain visualization (Mermaid)
  • MCP tools exposed
  • Integration with circuit breakers (F030)