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When an agent’s trust score drops due to violations, the cause matters. Not every violation reflects a genuine behavioral failure — sometimes the agent acted correctly but the alignment card was missing a capability. These are card gaps, and they can be recovered through reclassification. This guide walks through the full recovery workflow: identifying whether a violation is a card gap or a behavior gap, submitting a reclassification request, amending the alignment card, and triggering score recomputation.

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Understanding card_gap vs behavior_gap

Before reclassifying a violation, you need to determine its root cause. Violations fall into two categories, and only one is eligible for reclassification.
The alignment card was outdated or incomplete. The agent behaved correctly given its actual capabilities, but the card did not declare those capabilities.Common causes:
  • New tools added without updating the card — e.g., added MCP browser tools but the card did not declare web_fetch in bounded_actions
  • Configuration drift after deployment changes — infrastructure updates introduced new action types the card did not anticipate
  • Incomplete initial card setup — the card was created from a template and never customized to match the agent’s real toolset
Example: An agent uses mcp__browser__navigate to fetch documentation during a research task. The card lists bounded_actions: ["inference", "read", "write"] but does not include web_fetch. The integrity checkpoint flags a boundary violation — but the agent did exactly what it was supposed to do. The card was wrong, not the agent.Eligible for reclassification: Yes.
The root cause that inspired CLPI: an agent repeatedly broke verification due to configuration drift (new tools added without updating the alignment card). The violations were config errors, not behavioral errors, yet trust scores declined.

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Reclassification workflow

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Best practices

Reclassify promptly

Violations continue to impact scores until reclassified. The longer a card-gap violation sits unaddressed, the more it drags down the Compliance and Integrity components.

Always amend the card

Reclassification without a card amendment is incomplete. The same action will trigger the same violation on the next checkpoint. Close the loop.

Use policy recommendations

The policy engine surfaces systematic card gaps in its recommendations. Review policy/resolved output regularly to catch gaps before they become violations.

Document reasons clearly

Reclassification reasons are stored in the audit trail. Write reasons that a reviewer (human or automated) can understand months later.

Review history before publishing

Before publishing a new card version, review reclassification history to ensure all known gaps are addressed in the updated card.

Test cards against your tools

Use mnemom card evaluate card.yaml --tools <tool-list> to catch card gaps before they become violations. Run this in CI after any card or tool configuration change — see CI/CD policy gates.

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See also