Mode Manager

Claim Type: mechanism_hypothesis
Scope: Mode management and transitions
Depends On: ARC-005, ARC-003
Status: legacy
Claim ID: MECH-008

Source: docs/processed/legacy_tree/mode_manager.md

Mode Manager — Architectural Specification (Draft)

Status: Draft / architectural control document
Scope: Functional mode management and transitions (not anatomy-specific)
Intended location: docs/architecture/mode_manager.md

Purpose

The Mode Manager formalises how REE operates in discrete cognitive modes, how those modes differ in control-plane parameterisation, and how transitions between modes occur.

This document does not introduce new cognitive content systems.
It specifies how existing systems (E1, E2, E3, control plane) are reconfigured across modes.

Status note: MECH‑008 is now treated as legacy. The active control‑plane mechanism for mode commitment is captured in MECH‑046/MECH‑047/MECH‑048 (AA → PCM with stability overlays). This draft taxonomy remains as historical reference for mode descriptions and transition vocabulary.

Update: Fast Priors and Pre‑Commitment

Mode management is decomposed into two control‑plane functions:

  • Amygdala Analogue (AA): fast salience classification that proposes a distribution over modes (see MECH‑046 in control_plane.md).
  • Pre‑Commitment Mode Manager (PCM): commits to a mode with hysteresis and switching costs, constraining E3 trajectory search before deep evaluation (MECH‑047 below).

AA proposes; PCM commits.

Emergent Cognitive Modes (MECH-020)

Status: legacy (superseded by MECH‑019 / MECH‑039 in control_plane.md)

Different cognitive modes (reactive, deliberative, habitual, reflective) emerge from how the control plane biases:

  • which prediction horizons dominate,
  • which errors are allowed to matter,
  • which bindings become rigid or remain fluid,
  • and which trajectories are allowed to accumulate learning.

From the outside, this can look like “choice.” From the inside, it is better understood as continuous shaping of a landscape in which some paths stabilise and others decay.

Source: docs/thoughts/2026-02-08_control_plane_modes_responsibility_flow.md

See modes_of_cognition.md for the control-plane regime taxonomy (ARC-016, MECH-025..MECH-028).

Core assumptions

  1. Cognition operates in semi-discrete modes, not a single continuous regime.
  2. Modes are persistent, with hysteresis and refractory periods.
  3. Fast mode priors bias regime selection before deep trajectory evaluation.
  4. Control-plane modulation parameterises modes; it does not encode content.
  5. Transitions are gated, multi-signal decisions.

Pre‑Commitment Mode Manager (MECH-047)

Claim Type: mechanism_hypothesis
Scope: Mode commitment with hysteresis and switching costs
Depends On: ARC-005, MECH-046
Status: provisional
Claim ID: MECH-047

The pre‑commitment mode manager (PCM) stabilises a committed mode using hysteresis and switching costs. It consumes AA mode priors, energy/viability state, and transition cost signals, then commits or maintains a regime that shapes E3 trajectory search before deep evaluation. PCM prevents oscillatory thrashing by requiring sustained salience or confidence to switch.

Primitive modes (v1)

M1 — Goal / Action Mode

Focused, task-positive, exploitative behaviour.

Control profile

  • Commitment (K3): High
  • Precision (K2): High
  • Exploration (K4): Low
  • Plasticity (K1): Moderate
  • Attention (K6): Narrow

M2 — Default Mode / Generative Mode

Internally oriented modelling and integration.

Control profile

  • Commitment (K3): Low
  • Precision (K2): Low
  • Exploration (K4): Moderate
  • Attention (K6): Broad

M3 — Play / Exploration Mode

Active sampling with reduced penalty.

Control profile

  • Commitment (K3): Low–Moderate
  • Precision (K2): Moderate
  • Exploration (K4): High
  • Plasticity (K1): High

M4 — Sleep / Offline Modes

Action suppressed; replay and consolidation dominant.

M5 — Vigilance / Orienting (Transient)

Short-lived interrupt state.

Transition triggers

  • Resource / homeostatic
  • Trajectory coherence
  • Aversive / interruptive
  • Completion / closure
  • Contextual / social

Constraints

  • Hysteresis
  • Refractory periods
  • Feasibility gating
  • Safety overrides

Illustrative math sketch (non‑binding)

This is a minimal formal sketch of the AA → PCM interface. It is optional and can be implemented with discrete clocks, spiking phase windows, or conventional schedulers.

Mode priors from AA:

[ q^{AA}_t(m) = \mathrm{softmax}\left(\frac{\ell_t(m)}{\tau_t}\right) ]

Entropy temperature modulated by μ/κ overlays (MECH‑048):

[ \tau_t = \tau_0 \exp(\alpha_\kappa \kappa_t - \alpha_\mu \mu_t) ]

Switching inertia (commitment stability):

[ I_{t+1} = \lambda I_t + \eta_\mu \mu_t - \eta_\kappa \kappa_t ]

PCM commits when a candidate mode exceeds the current mode by a threshold that includes inertia and transition costs.

Relationship to E-levels

  • E1: dominant in M2, M4
  • E2: dominant in M1, M3
  • E3: active in M1, M3
  • Control plane: owns modes and transitions

Open areas

  • Attention/gain axis formalisation
  • Availability gating

  • Safety constraints

Open Questions

None noted in preserved sources.

  • MECH-008
  • MECH-020
  • MECH-046
  • MECH-047
  • MECH-048

References / Source Fragments

  • docs/processed/legacy_tree/mode_manager.md
  • docs/thoughts/2026-02-08_control_plane_modes_responsibility_flow.md
  • docs/thoughts/2026-02-11_amygdala.md
  • docs/thoughts/2026-02-11_some_control_plane_maths_hypotheses.md

REE is developed by Daniel Golden (Latent Fields). Apache 2.0.