060-task-escalation-protocol

060-task-escalation-protocol is a cursor rule for Cursor from savagelysubtle/BIG-BRAIN-Memory-Bank. It costs 0 tokens per session (2,050 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A set of rules for recognising when a coding task has become more complex or risky than first expected. It covers changes in scope, dependencies, security, performance, compatibility, and required expertise.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to assess whether new components, external services, security concerns, performance effects, or backward-compatibility risks require escalation.
Why use it?
It helps identify when a task needs a more advanced process or additional review. This reduces the chance of treating a system-wide or risky change like a small edit.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Written for Cursor: installed under .cursor/.

Good fit Use it to assess whether new components, external services, security concerns, performance…

Compare 6 cursor rules from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/savagelysubtle/big-brain-memory-bank/060-task-escalation-protocol
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/savagelysubtle/BIG-BRAIN-Memory-Bank

Made for: Cursor.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for 060-task-escalation-protocol

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/savagelysubtle/big-brain-memory-bank/060-task-escalation-protocol.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/rules/savagelysubtle/big-brain-memory-bank/060-task-escalation-protocol)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/savagelysubtle/big-brain-memory-bank/060-task-escalation-protocol"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/savagelysubtle/big-brain-memory-bank/060-task-escalation-protocol.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 0 Nothing until a file matches its globs; then the whole rule loads.
When invoked 2,050 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00000 $0.02050
Opus 5 $0.00000 $0.01025
Sonnet 5 $0.00000 $0.00410
Haiku 4.5 $0.00000 $0.00205

Measured 6d ago against content hash 4f6b72474ff2, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-06, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

060-task-escalation-protocol scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 6d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.cursor/rules/BIG_BRAIN/Core/Foundation/060-task-escalation-protocol.mdc · 279 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 279 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.


description: WHEN task complexity increases ENSURE appropriate escalation to higher complexity framework globs: ["/*.md", "/*.mdc"] alwaysApply: true

TL;DR: The Task Escalation Protocol provides a structured process for recognizing, assessing, and managing tasks that grow beyond their initial complexity level.

1.0.0

**Scope Expansion Triggers**
- Task affects more components than initially identified
- Implementation requires changes to core architecture
- Additional stakeholders or systems are impacted
- Task split reveals interdependencies across systems

**Risk Elevation Triggers**
- Previously unidentified security implications emerge
- Implementation affects critical system performance
- Task touches sensitive data or user-facing operations
- Changes potentially break backward compatibility

**Dependency Triggers**
- New external dependencies discovered during implementation
- Tasks reveals cascading dependencies across components
- Timing dependencies with other work become evident
- Environmental dependencies not initially identified

**Technical Complexity Triggers**
- Implementation requires specialized knowledge beyond initial assessment
- Solution requires novel approaches not used previously
- Edge cases multiply beyond initial estimates
- Performance or scale considerations escalate

Any of these triggers should prompt an escalation assessment.
```
## Complexity Escalation Assessment

### Current Complexity: Level [X]

### Escalation Triggers Observed
- [Trigger 1]
- [Trigger 2]
- [Trigger 3]

### Impact Analysis
- **Scope Impact**: [Description]
- **Risk Impact**: [Description]
- **Dependency Impact**: [Description]
- **Technical Impact**: [Description]

### Reassessed Complexity Factors
- **Scope**: Level [1-4] - [Justification]
- **Risk**: Level [1-4] - [Justification]
- **Dependencies**: Level [1-4] - [Justification]
- **Technical Difficulty**: Level [1-4] - [Justification]

### Recommended Complexity Level: [Y]

### Escalation Rationale
[Explanation of why escalation is necessary]
```

The highest level among the reassessed factors determines the new complexity level.
1. **Pause Implementation**
   - Halt active implementation work
   - Complete any work-in-progress to stable point
   - Document current state and progress

2. **Update Task Framework**
   - Elevate to appropriate complexity level framework
   - Apply additional process requirements
   - Set up enhanced tracking if needed

Read the full file on GitHub · 279 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 6d ago First seen · 279 lines · 0 tokens per session scan A 4f6b72474ff2

Subscribe to this mod's changes

060-task-escalation-protocol is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository savagelysubtle/BIG-BRAIN-Memory-Bank (5 stars, last pushed 1y ago), licensed MIT. It costs nothing until one of its globs matches a file; then it loads 2,050 tokens. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.