Producer License and Pressure

Producer license is the player-facing authority surface that lets a crisis producer make broadcast reality: assign a slot, claim custody, authorize a correction, carry a public statement, route a scarred proof object, or let a future reader trust that the producer had power to act.

It must not behave like a generic health bar. Every pressure row should name the authority being used, the source obligation it came from, who can contest it, what reader is excluded or delayed, and what future route will read the state.

Gap this revision closes

Many current storylines now write to producer license: Producer License Encumbrance, Management Compression Desk, Producer Alibi Recall, Production Triage Desk, Default Recovery Triage, Metric Capture Appeal, Route Loadout Compatibility, and Evidence Carryover Fork.

The shared system page was still too broad. This revision makes producer license a concrete, scarred management object instead of a loose capacity counter.

Required row shape

producer_license_row:
  source_surface: <storyline_or_mechanic_id>
  source_row_or_result_id: <id>
  source_relief: <what_was_gained>
  source_cost: <what_remains_owed>
  requested_authority: broadcast_slot | custody_intervention | public_statement | lawful_stay | correction_slot_bid | route_asset_release | management_report | evidence_carryover | equivalent
  license_state_before: open | pledged | split | delegated | encumbered | refused | captured | false_clean | recovery_only
  collateral_holder_or_absence: <faction_or_character_or_explicit_absence>
  proof_anchor_or_absence: public_receipt | lawful_seal | archive_row | edit_checksum | ruling | alibi_row | route_manifest | explicit_absence | equivalent
  excluded_or_delayed_reader: sponsor | public | lawful | archive | route_asset | management | broadcast_reality | explicit_absence | equivalent
  release_condition_or_absence: <condition_or_explicit_absence>
  future_route_or_reader: <id>

A row is invalid if it only records pressure, budget, mood, or generic permission.

State machine

State	Meaning	Required playable consequence
open	Authority is still unpledged for the named surface.	A rite can assign, pledge, refuse, or reserve it.
pledged	Authority has been promised to one route or reader.	Collateral holder, proof anchor, and release condition are visible.
split	Authority is divided between incompatible readers.	Each reader gets scope, cost, and a future conflict rule.
delegated	Authority is carried by a proxy, mandate, handler, or docket.	The proxy can fail, be captured, or create favor/mandate debt.
encumbered	A prior scar, appeal, report, route asset, or default blocks clean reuse.	Future use is costlier, scoped, or review-required.
refused	The player refuses to spend authority.	Current route narrows or blocks while future capture risk falls.
captured	A faction, desk, or false reader narrates authority first.	Recovery requires appeal, receipt, quarantine, or replacement authority.
false_clean	Authority is filed as clean while source debt remains.	A later route exposes contradiction or capture.
recovery_only	Authority can no longer unlock a clean path.	Only scarred recovery branches may consume it.

Branch contract

Any producer-license resolution must offer or explicitly block at least four responses:

• pledge authority with visible collateral;
• split authority by reader;
• delegate authority through a mandate, proxy, handler, or docket;
• release or retire a prior pledge with scar;
• refuse current use;
• let overpledge, capture, or false-clean default harden.

No branch may grant sponsor, public, lawful, archive, route-asset, management, and broadcast-reality acceptance for free.

Counter and state contract

Every resolved branch must mutate at least one relief surface, one cost surface, and one future route or reader effect.

Primary surfaces include producer_license_pressure, producer_license_encumbrance, license_slot_integrity, false_clean_authority, collateral_holder_leverage, audit_risk, inspection_heat, sponsor_stop_loss_pressure, contract_capture, public_receipt_legitimacy, public_receipt_distrust, handler_burden, archive_debt, edit_debt, source_ambiguity, route_asset_pressure, future_route_acceptance, future_recovery_cost, and broadcast_reality_drift.

Default and recovery

License Overpledge Default should fire or arm when authority is double-spent, hidden, filed as clean, used without a collateral holder, used without a future reader, or used to erase source debt.

Recovery is allowed only with visible scar: reopen Producer License Encumbrance Review, publish a public receipt, file lawful appeal, substitute or quarantine a route asset, appoint a proxy, or convert the route to sponsor-only, lawful-only, public-only, split-required, costlier, blocked, or recovery-only.

Replay/session evidence shape

system: storyteller.system.producer_license_and_pressure.v1
session_id: lens-producer-license-pressure-surface-v1-<timestamp>
seed: <deterministic-seed>
entry_state:
  trigger_kind: state_pressure
  source_obligation_present: true
  source_relief_present: true
  source_cost_present: true
  requested_authority_visible: true
  future_reader_or_route_present: true
  no_fixed_turn_trigger: true
row:
  source_surface: <id>
  source_row_or_result_id: <id>
  requested_authority: <authority>
  license_state_before: <state>
  collateral_holder_or_absence: <holder_or_explicit_absence>
  proof_anchor_or_absence: <anchor_or_explicit_absence>
  excluded_or_delayed_reader: <reader>
  release_condition_or_absence: <condition_or_explicit_absence>
result:
  selected_response: pledge | split | delegate | release_or_retire | refuse | overpledge_or_capture_default
  license_state_after: <state>
  event_seen_or_armed: storyteller.event.license_overpledge_default.v1 | none
  counter_deltas:
    relief: []
    cost: []
    future: []
  future_route_effect: <effect>

Non-goals

• Not a fixed-turn license renewal phase.
• Not a hidden deadline meter.
• Not a broad reputation, health, or budget counter.
• Not a governance or dashboard page.
• Not raw count satisfaction.
• Not valid if producer authority erases source debt without proof, collateral, excluded reader, release condition, branch cost, and future route acceptance.