First Matching Branch Drops Second Fact

What goes wrong

A decision function is an ordered if/else (or when/CASE) ladder that returns one value from the first matching arm. An input that satisfies two arms gets whichever comes first, and the other fact is dropped or contradicted elsewhere in the same output.

Example

if (blocked) return 'Blocked'; else if (unpaid) return 'Payment due' — a customer who is both sees only 'Blocked', and the unpaid invoice never surfaces.

Not to be confused with

Not a test that never tried overlapping inputs (Unexercised Precedence Oracle); the production ladder itself cannot express the combination — compare Empty states lose their meaning.

Discovered by

@sks24git GitHub

Field notes · 4

@sks24git2026-11-06

A second page reused the progress line but swapped it for a notice when a setting was off. A user who turned the setting off after earning a reward no longer sees that reward on that page.

Add the state note beside the data, not in its place. A notice that replaces a count hides what the user already owns.

@sks24git2026-11-02beat 1 review round

A typed reply now rides along with a picked button, and the review screen shows the words in place of the button label. The human who checks the answer never sees which button was saved.

Show the stored value next to its evidence. A screen that shows only one hides the other.
Check every view when a field starts carrying new data. Old fallbacks assume the old shape.

@sks24git2026-11-02beat 5 review rounds

A new path let rows with confirmed bugs reach a "busy, try later" branch that only clean rows used to reach. On that branch the order to fix the bugs was dropped, and the reply only said to wait.

When a gate lets new rows in, walk every branch after it. Old branches assume the old inputs.
Keep the main order in every reply arm. An extra note must never replace it.

@sks24git2026-10-13

When a run both crashes and fails its safety audit, the crash exit code wins. A caller that waits for the audit's own code sees a plain failure and misses the audit finding.

Rank exit codes by severity, not by order. The worst outcome must own the code the caller reads.