# Boundary Transitions Require Deceleration > Speed is allowed inside a boundary. Transitions require slowing down. ## Description When moving between epistemic boundaries (exploration → decision, draft → commit, plan → execution), ODD requires intentional deceleration. This is where failures become expensive: assumptions leak, closures get skipped, and momentum gets mistaken for truth. A boundary transition is not a moment. It is a **review-and-prepare step** with two halves: exit and entry. ## Content **Canon v0.1** ### Boundary Exit (Closure) Before leaving a boundary, I must: - confirm what was decided (or that nothing was decided) - encode closures so they don't get re-opened by default - capture evidence, warnings, and refusal conditions ### Boundary Entry (Preparation) Before entering a boundary, I must: - review the last settled ground that applies - identify which constraints are active - decide what evidence or consultation is required before continuing This is where handbooks, skeptics, feedback loops, and process checks belong—not as ceremony, but as boundary discipline. ### What This Forces - "confirmation before moving on" - explicit transitions rather than silent drift - preparedness checks that prevent expensive momentum ### What This Forbids - blowing through known failure modes because "we're on a roll" - smuggling new assumptions across boundaries - treating acceleration as a substitute for review --- ## See Also - [Definition of Done](/canon/constraints/definition-of-done.md) - [Epistemic Hygiene](/canon/diagnostics/epistemic-hygiene.md) - [Epistemic Modes](/canon/definitions/epistemic-modes.md) - [Self-Audit](/canon/methods/self-audit.md)