Glossary
Refusal
A typed "no" from any rung. It still writes a proof record and costs 40% of one governed action.
Read the termGlossary · Term 10 of 39
Fail toward a human
Fail toward a human is elan1's rule for uncertainty: when anything is unclear or unavailable, such as a missing rule, an unreachable approver or a low-confidence answer, the write stops and a person is asked. The system never fails toward an action. A stop is recorded in a proof record like any other outcome.
In one sentence: When anything is unclear or unavailable, elan1 stops and asks a person.
01In more detail
What it means in practice
If elan1 is down, allows stop and changes wait for a person. If the runtime fails, writes stop. If nobody answers an approval before it expires, expiry means refusal.
Stopping allows is the safe direction. A delayed change costs time; a wrong change committed to the books costs far more.
02Where this shows up in elan1
The failure rules of elan1 Govern and elan1 Run, and approval expiry on rung 6.
04Questions
Fail toward a human: common questions
The write waits. If nobody answers an approval before it expires, expiry means refusal: the write does not happen, and a person can raise it again. elan1 never treats silence as a yes.
Yes. A stop, a refusal or an expired approval writes a proof record like any other outcome, and each is metered as a refusal, at 0.4 of a governed action. The pause itself becomes evidence that the system failed toward a human.
Defined in the elan1 glossary · Last reviewed 10 Oct 2026. Definitions change only with a dated note.
// SEE IT
See the term in a governed action.
The walkthrough follows one write from intent to proof record, using the words in this glossary.