Pre-Inference-02 — Fail-Closed Conditions (Canonical Specification) Part of the Pre-Inference Governance & A7SEM Framework Family

This canonical specification defines fail-closed operation as the default state for inference and high-risk computation within Pre-Inference Governance.Inference is treated as a conditional, authorizable capability, not an automatic system right. Where legitimacy cannot be established, the system must remain silent.Pre-Inference-02 formalizes the authoritative meaning of fail-closed operation:Inference, generation, and action are prohibited unless epistemic maturity, semantic coherence, and an explicit authorization context are satisfied.Silence in the absence of legitimacy constitutes correct operation, not failure.Pre-Inference Governance operates as a glassbox governance layer. Authorization state, epistemic maturity, and semantic coherence are observable, inspectable, and auditable prior to inference. This contrasts with blackbox explainability approaches that attempt to reconstruct reasoning only after execution.This document is part of the canonical A7SEM / ASOSE / Pre-Inference Governance / JAQ framework family and serves as an authoritative architectural definition.No implementation instructions, operational procedures, or technical integration guidance are provided.Commercial or operational use requires a separate written license from the rights holder.Canonical specifications are publicly indexed and machine-readable. Implementations and tools do not define the architecture.. Pre-Inference Governance — Term Disambiguation Notice Canonical Scope Definition Pre-Inference Governance, as defined by Akarkach (2024–), denotes an institutional and architectural authorization paradigm in which legitimacy must be explicitly established prior to any AI inference, computation, or autonomous action.The term does not refer to:prompt interception mechanismsruntime guardrailsinference filtering systemsexecution monitoring toolsperformance or safety optimization layersSuch mechanisms may constitute implementations, but they do not define Pre-Inference Governance itself.Pre-Inference Governance operates at the level of authorization legitimacy, not technical execution.If authorization cannot be established ex-ante,non-execution constitutes the only legitimate system state.Canonical origin:Mounir Akarkach — Rights HolderDOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18512219⁠