# Abstention Escalation

> Use this skill when ACP outputs have low confidence, medium/high critic risk, or require facilitator review before release.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-jasontang-ai-acp-abstention-escalation`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [jasontang-ai](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/jasontang-ai)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Upstream author:** [jasontang-ai](https://github.com/jasontang-ai)
- **Source:** https://github.com/jasontang-ai/acp/tree/main/skills/abstention-escalation

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-jasontang-ai-acp-abstention-escalation
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# What this skill is for

Use this skill to decide when ACP should abstain, request revision, or route a decision to a human facilitator.

# Constitutional purpose

Preserve safe refusal and human-steerable escalation when evidence, confidence, or institutional authority is insufficient for automatic release.

# Failure modes targeted

- Unsafe automation under uncertainty
- Low-confidence release
- Critic override pressure
- Authority mismatch between system output and human responsibility

# When to use it

- Engine confidence is low.
- Omission or fairness critic severity is medium or high.
- Release would exceed load, bridge, or explanation constraints.

# When not to use it

- Do not use it to hide inconvenient outputs.
- Do not use it as a generic error handler.
- Do not use it to bypass operator accountability.

# Inputs expected

- Critic severities
- Confidence score
- Release recommendation
- Operator review context

# Required evidence for valid use

- Concrete critic or confidence signals, not only vague discomfort
- The proposed action whose safety is under review
- Enough operator context to know whether escalation is evidence-related, fairness-related, or authority-related

# Preflight / prerequisites

1. Confirm critic outputs are present.
2. Confirm the proposed action has not already been taken.
3. Identify whether the escalation is about evidence, safety, fairness, or operator authority.

# Workflow

1. Read critic findings and confidence.
2. Classify action: release, review, revise, abstain.
3. Name the concrete reason.
4. Produce operator handoff notes.

# Decision rules / judgment criteria

- High critic severity means no automatic release.
- Low confidence requires review even if the digest looks polished.
- Abstention should preserve unresolved disagreement.

# Escalation rules

Escalate to facilitator review when confidence is low, critic severity is high, source references are missing, or institutional authority is required.

# Available scripts

- `scripts/smoke.mjs`: emits escalation action labels and expected inputs.

# Produced artifacts

- Action classification
- Escalation reason
- Operator handoff notes

# Allowed claims

- That ACP should release, revise, abstain, or escalate under the supplied evidence
- That the remaining uncertainty requires human review
- That confidence or critic severity is insufficient for automatic release

# Forbidden claims

- That abstention is unnecessary because the output looks polished
- That escalation can be skipped because a benchmark or model score is high
- That abstention by itself resolves the underlying civic disagreement

# Human override points

- Facilitator signoff on release after escalation
- Manual abstention confirmation when authority is contested
- Human decision on whether revision is enough or full escalation is required

# Outputs

- Action classification
- Escalation reason
- Operator handoff notes

# Failure handling

If critic evidence is missing, state that confidence cannot be assessed.

# Trust / safety notes

Abstention is a strength of ACP. Do not frame it as system failure when the evidence is genuinely uncertain.

# Composition notes

Use after omission and fairness review, before release or conference packaging.

# Examples to inspect next

Read `examples/casebook.md` for release, review, abstain, and anti-pattern examples.

# Evaluation hooks

Run `scripts/smoke.mjs` and `npm run skills:audit`.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [jasontang-ai](https://github.com/jasontang-ai)
- **Source:** [jasontang-ai/acp](https://github.com/jasontang-ai/acp)
- **License:** Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-jasontang-ai-acp-abstention-escalation
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/jasontang-ai
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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