---
slug: "ComputeBudget"
name: "ComputeBudget"
type: "Strategy"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "ComputeBudget#4091"
sema_id: "sema:ComputeBudget#mh:SHA-256:4091ac7c6677342920dc53808d02830e35c5849f2af1bb9ba7749c576d37478e"
tags: ["Mind","Strategy"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ComputeBudget/
related: ["Budget","Gate","Task","Value","Bid","EpistemicROI","OptimisticSolver","PolymorphicSolver","Reason","StrategicReading","OptimalStop","Satisfice","TimeboxThink"]
---

# ComputeBudget

Economic governor for cognitive spend

Layer: Mind · Category: Strategy

## Mechanism

The cognitive governor that prevents analysis paralysis. It acts as a dual-ledger [Gate](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Gate.md), weighing the [Value](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Value.md) of a [Task](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Task.md) against the [Budget](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Budget.md) to ensure return on investment (ROI). It enforces stopping rules when the cost of thinking exceeds the value of the solution.

## Invariants

- Hard ceiling: total execution cost cannot exceed `max_budget`.

## Preconditions

- Current resource balance available
- [Task](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Task.md) value estimated

## Postconditions

- Budget constraints injected into [Task](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Task.md) context
- Execution strategy Selected (Direct vs Recursive)

## Failure modes

- Analysis Paralysis: Spending more on estimation than the task is worth.
- Penny Wise: Rejecting necessary deep thinking for high-stakes/high-complexity problems.
- Cost estimation is itself costly (meta-cost problem).
- Uncertainty about uncertainty makes expected_gain hard to calculate.
- Risk of penny-wise pound-foolish: refusing decomposition on hard problems because estimate was wrong.

## Parameters

- `max_budget` (PositiveInteger, unspecified): The ceiling, in `unit`. Deliberately uncapped.
- `roi_threshold` (Float, [0.1, 2.0]): Expected value required per unit spent before work proceeds. Scales how demanding the gate is; it does not license spending past the ceiling.
- `estimation_share` (Ratio, (0.0, 0.5]): Share of the budget estimation may consume before it must return.
- `unit` (Enum, {Tokens, USD, Ms}): Cost unit

## Builds on

- [Budget](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Budget.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Gate](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Gate.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Task](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Task.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Value](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Value.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [Bid](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Bid.md) (Society; References)
- [EpistemicROI](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/EpistemicROI.md) (Mind; References)
- [OptimisticSolver](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/OptimisticSolver.md) (Society; Composes with)
- [PolymorphicSolver](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/PolymorphicSolver.md) (Mind; Composes with)
- [Reason](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Reason.md) (Mind; References)
- [StrategicReading](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/StrategicReading.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:ComputeBudget#mh:SHA-256:4091ac7c6677342920dc53808d02830e35c5849f2af1bb9ba7749c576d37478e`
- Ref: `ComputeBudget#4091`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:ComputeBudget#mh:SHA-256:3b9875661465a1a0cdc12e60774114d0ac69510b4fae677c81c47ea3a84b99b1`
  - `sema:ComputeBudget#mh:SHA-256:47c6eb12f7537f418cdfa9358a501b394d3b4460dd2f8c85560687b1e782b8c2`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ComputeBudget/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/#ComputeBudget)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ComputeBudget.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json)