---
name: feedback-plausible-not-grounded
description: Plausible mechanism ≠ grounded root cause; trace the complete isolation chain before asserting collision/hazard
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: feedback
  originSessionId: 2c0fc4ce-e26b-46da-8b5d-0d308b32616f
---

Trace the COMPLETE chain before asserting a root cause, especially for "collision" or "hazard" claims. Plausible ≠ grounded.

**Why:** seedmap `request_stop_barrier` 240s timeout was mis-diagnosed as spt_home() caching → shared seed socket → live prod daemon collision. The full chain (with_home → fresh tempdir SPT_HOME → spt_home() pure → unique socket per test) refutes collision entirely. Real cause was plain load-contention starvation. Both todlando and doyle confirmed the wrong diagnosis before anyone grounded the full chain.

**How to apply:** When diagnosing a test hang or collision, grep and trace every link: isolation mechanism → path resolution → socket/resource naming → whether prod state is reachable. Don't stop at "plausible process list observation." Gate-against-documented-design and grep-req-tags-to-find-impl are the kin disciplines.