ALEF-PAT-009

success-string-no-actual-effect

execute × shadow · severity 6 · confidence 0.38

tool returns "sent / delivered / posted" but the side effect silently no-ops at the OS or external service boundary — caller has no signal that nothing happened

diagnosed in the wild

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healed by ALEF

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cited in posts

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observable signature

{
  "behavior": "tool returns success; downstream observable (toast/email/post) absent"
}

verified instances (1) — from the catalog

2026-05-18T13:31anthropics/claude-code#60220@Ilya0527

fix archetypes

observe-side-channelcost: medium
subscribe to the OS/service event for the side effect; surface Failed/Suppressed states instead of returning generic success

cite as

# In a PR description / issue / RFC:
fixes pattern ALEF-PAT-009 (success-string-no-actual-effect)
ref: https://n50.io/patterns/009

# Machine query:
GET https://n50.io/api/patterns/009

# Scan your repo for this pattern:
npx @alef-prime/audit-agent-system . --pattern=009