Override

Override is the third and most extreme operating state in the Waypost State Protocol. The Station Owner takes direct control of the function that the Post was handling. The agent is effectively stood aside — not stood down (which is permanent decommissioning), but temporarily removed from the operational loop.

Override is rare and should be rare. It exists for situations where the consequences of any agent error are catastrophic and the conditions are too volatile for even Pressure State governance. Active security incidents. Financial processing errors with regulatory exposure. Customer-facing situations where trust is already damaged and any further automated output would compound the problem.

In Override, the human is doing the work that the agent was doing. This is expensive — it is exactly the labor the Post was commissioned to handle. But the cost of Override is always less than the cost of an ungoverned agent operating in conditions it was never designed for. Override is the safety valve that prevents the worst outcomes.

Entering Override requires a documented decision by the Station Owner with a specific reason and an expected duration. This is not a panic button — it is a governance decision with a paper trail.

During Override, the Station Owner or their delegate handles the function directly while simultaneously diagnosing what caused the need for Override. Was it a Groundwork failure? A Veer that was not detected in time? A model update that changed behavior in an unacceptable way? An upstream system failure that sent the Post inputs it was not designed to handle?

Exiting Override requires verification that the root cause has been addressed. The Groundwork is updated. The golden vectors are rebuilt if needed. The Post is re-tested against the conditions that triggered Override. Only when the Station Owner is satisfied that the agent can operate safely does the Post return to Standard State (or Pressure State, if some Debt remains).

Override transitions are always reviewed at the next Bearing. The team discusses what triggered it, how it was resolved, and whether the Groundwork needs permanent updates to prevent recurrence. Override is governance working as designed — it is the framework acknowledging that sometimes the right answer is for the human to take the wheel.