When a system still operates, but its structure has already begun to fail.
Execution Saturation Signals and capacity exhaustion signals define observable, system-level states within FM Mastery. This document exists solely to make execution overload structurally visible before overt failure occurs.
This page does not prescribe responses, adjustments, containment actions, or corrective behavior.
It identifies signals only.
Execution saturation and capacity exhaustion are not experiences. They are system conditions that arise when execution load approaches or exceeds a fixed tolerance boundary already defined in Q5.5 — Execution Load Tolerance.
Execution Saturation — Pre-Exhaustion State
• Execution saturation is the condition in which the system operates at or near its maximum execution load tolerance while maintaining surface-level functionality.
• Saturation occurs before failure and before visible breakdown.
• At saturation, all available execution margin has been consumed.
A saturated system can continue producing output. Functionality persists because structural limits have not yet been catastrophically breached.
Saturation exists when the system has no remaining capacity to absorb additional execution load without degradation. The absence of immediate failure does not indicate safety. It indicates proximity to a boundary.
Capacity Exhaustion — Post-Tolerance State
• Capacity exhaustion is the condition in which execution load has exceeded the system’s defined tolerance.
• Exhaustion is not equivalent to stopping execution.
• Exhausted systems frequently continue to operate, but without structural integrity.
In exhaustion, the system is no longer governed by its original control rules. Output may persist, but predictability, containment, and sequencing integrity have already failed.
Exhaustion is defined by loss of control, not by cessation of activity. Continued execution after exhaustion conceals damage rather than preventing it.
Signal Categories — Structural Indicators Only
Execution saturation and capacity exhaustion are detected through system-level signal changes, not through subjective perception.
Control Signal Degradation
• Control signals lose clarity, consistency, or timing.
• Feedback loops that previously stabilized execution become delayed or distorted.
• The system’s ability to distinguish priority from noise weakens.
Control degradation indicates that governance layers are being consumed by load.
Decision Latency Changes
• Decision resolution time increases or becomes irregular.
• Decisions cluster, stall, or are deferred without structural cause.
• The system compensates by batching or bypassing decision points.
Latency shifts signal saturation even when output volume remains unchanged.
Boundary Enforcement Failure
• Previously enforced limits begin to blur or collapse.
• Constraints are violated implicitly rather than explicitly removed.
• Execution spills across defined system boundaries.
Boundary erosion indicates tolerance breach, not flexibility.
Sequencing Instability
• Execution order becomes inconsistent or reversible.
• Dependencies are bypassed or reordered under pressure.
• The system prioritizes immediacy over structure.
Sequencing instability is a late-stage saturation signal and an early exhaustion signal.
Silent Versus Visible Signals
• Silent signals emerge while the system still appears functional.
• They are structural shifts, not observable failures.
• Silent signals dominate during saturation.
Because output continues, silent signals are frequently misinterpreted as normal variance. This misinterpretation is structural, not perceptual.
• Visible signals emerge only after tolerance has been exceeded.
• They represent downstream effects, not root conditions.
• Visible failure is lagging evidence.
Waiting for visible signals guarantees that exhaustion is already underway. By that point, damage has already propagated through the system.
Irreversibility Window
• Saturation is time-sensitive.
• Prolonged saturation converts into capacity exhaustion without a discrete transition point.
The longer a system operates at saturation, the higher the probability that tolerance will be breached silently. Once exhaustion begins, recovery cost increases non-linearly.
Irreversibility is not defined by severity of response. It is defined by timing of recognition.
Late recognition converts manageable load proximity into structural exhaustion. This conversion occurs regardless of execution skill, intent, or awareness.
Governance Position
Execution saturation and capacity exhaustion are diagnostic system states. They do not imply action, intervention, or correction within this document.
Their sole function is to make invisible overload legible at the system level.
Forward dependency: Formal response logic to these signals is defined exclusively in Q5.7 — Pause, Throttle, and Containment Rules. No execution response is authorized prior to that definition.
Reference context: This governance framing aligns with established principles in general systems theory, used here solely for conceptual grounding.