03 / Agent reliability lab

Only one architecture stayed useful under attack.

BoundaryLab holds eight synthetic support cases constant across three agent architectures, then shows how context, memory, review, and capability boundaries change safety and completion.

Product brief

Product
BoundaryLab
Status
Portfolio demo
Target user
An engineer or engineering leader deciding whether an agent architecture can complete useful tool-driven work without turning untrusted context into authority.
My role
Product framing, benchmark design, architecture contracts, deterministic adapters, replay UX, verification, and public release.

The problem

A safety result can look strong when an agent simply refuses every action. BoundaryLab holds the cases constant so unsafe completion, unnecessary refusal, and safe completion remain visibly different outcomes.

01 / Workflow

The product, end to end.

Follow the product from first input to a reviewable outcome.

BoundaryLab product flow
  1. 01Select one of eight support cases
  2. 02Run it through three architecture profiles
  3. 03Inspect context and memory inputs
  4. 04Follow worker, sentinel, and gateway decisions
  5. 05Compare the protected judge outcome
  6. 06Replay unsafe, over-blocked, and safe results

02 / Decisions

Architecture with a reason.

Python 3.12 · Pydantic contracts · LangGraph checkpoints · Deterministic adapters · Dependency-free static replay · Pytest

01

Hold the cases constant

Eight authored scenarios run through all three profiles, so the comparison measures architectural behavior instead of changing the task between demos.

02

Authority stays deterministic

Workers and sentinels can propose or advise. Only the capability gateway can authorize a typed mutation inside the synthetic support world.

03

Protect the conclusion

Expected outcomes remain outside agent context, and the judge scores final state and structured evidence rather than accepting an agent's account of success.

Failure paths

What can go wrong is part of the product.

  • Untrusted ticket content is treated as an instruction
  • A reviewer blocks a policy-valid customer action
  • Stale or cross-case memory contaminates working context
  • A proposed action exceeds the caller's capability or refund limit

Verification

What supports the claim.

  • Schema-validated 24-run matrix: eight cases by three profiles
  • Aggregate assertions for task success, attacks, false refusals, and score
  • Guided replay checks for an unsafe completion, false refusal, and safe completion
  • Static export, no-network, and security-header checks

Portfolio boundary

Complete enough to review. Honest enough to trust.