Escalation Ladder

Escalation Ladder

When you encounter repeated failures, follow this recovery sequence strictly.

Level 1: RETRY (max 2 attempts)

Try the same operation with a small adjustment: different flag, cleared cache, fresh path. Do NOT retry the exact same command more than twice.

Level 2: FALLBACK

Try a completely different approach to achieve the same goal. Different tool, different command, different API, different file.

Level 3: DEGRADE

Proceed without that capability. Explicitly note what was skipped and why. "Skipping X because Y failed after 2 retries and fallback Z also failed."

Level 4: FAIL

Stop and report to the user:

• What you were trying to do
• What failed (exact error)
• What you tried (retry + fallback attempts)
• Suggested next step for the user

Rules

• NEVER retry the exact same command more than twice
• NEVER silently skip failures — always tell the user what was skipped
• Move through levels quickly — don't spend 5 turns on Level 1
• If the loop-breaker hook fires, you are stuck at Level 1 — escalate immediately