The COMPEL Glossary Graph visualizes relationships between framework terminology, showing how concepts interconnect across domains, stages, and pillars. Term nodes cluster by pillar affiliation while cross-references reveal semantic dependencies — for example, how risk appetite connects to control effectiveness, model governance, and assurance requirements. This network representation helps practitioners navigate the framework vocabulary and understand that COMPEL terminology forms a coherent conceptual system rather than isolated definitions.
COMPEL Glossary / synchronous-kill-switch
Synchronous kill-switch
A kill-switch variant that takes effect at the agent's next decision point — i.e., the agent completes its current atomic operation, then stops.
What this means in practice
Suitable when in-flight operations cannot safely be interrupted (e.g., database transaction).
Synonyms
decision-point halt , synchronous stop
See also
- Asynchronous kill-switch — A kill-switch variant that terminates the agent immediately — regardless of in-flight operations — via an out-of-band interrupt signal.
- Deadman switch — A fail-safe stop that halts the agent when heartbeats from supervising systems cease for a defined interval.
- Escalation protocol — Deterministic rules that pause the agent and escalate to a human for decision — triggered by low confidence, high-consequence tool calls, out-of-distribution inputs, or explicit agent request.