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Ghost Commitment

Definition

A Shrubbery that entered the Ghost Rate numerator — either explicitly Refused by the Knight or aged out of Pending_Handshake without any response.

Avoid: rejected task, declined item, dead proposal.

Role

Ghost Commitments are the visible artefacts of a high Ghost Rate. They surface on the Knight's Dossier to give the Lead context on which specific proposals were never accepted, and why (explicit refusal vs. no response). A pattern of Ghost Commitments from the same Knight may indicate that proposals are being sent to the wrong person, at the wrong scope, or without enough lead time.

Ghost Commitments are not deleted or hidden. They persist in the archive view of the Garden and contribute permanently to the Ghost Rate calculation for the period in which they occurred. They do not enter the Flow Score denominator — a Knight who never Handshaked cannot score against a deadline they never agreed to.

Lifecycle

Not a stateful concept — Ghost Commitment describes a row's classification, not a state transition.

  • A Shrubbery becomes a Ghost Commitment when it enters the Ghost Rate numerator: explicit Refused or staleness-threshold breach in Pending_Handshake.
  • The classification is permanent: a Ghost Commitment cannot be "un-ghosted."

Last updated: 22 June 2026