Measuring Coherence Exhaustion: Operational Detection of Scaling Limits in Complex Systems

Complex systems degrade at scale when constraint burden exceeds available control capacity. Prior work introduced the Constraint-based Epistemology of Scaling (CES), defining coherence budget exhaustion as the transition where constraint geometry dominates system behavior. Practical deployment, however, requires operational detection methods capable of identifying approaching exhaustion before collapse occurs. This work introduces measurable diagnostics for coherence exhaustion using residual correlation growth, cascade propagation analysis, and decay of control effectiveness. These methods distinguish geometry-driven degradation from independent noise and enable early detection of systemic scaling limits across computing, networked, biological, and organizational systems. By operationalizing CES detection, this paper establishes practical tools for monitoring and managing scalability limits before catastrophic system failure emerges.