---
slug: "MeaningChangeSweep"
name: "MeaningChangeSweep"
type: "Reasoning"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "MeaningChangeSweep#b1e0"
sema_id: "sema:MeaningChangeSweep#mh:SHA-256:b1e06b26420768c8bb55aa8d13a1f3b8a719111364f28c4c6b2175f4f50f2369"
tags: ["Mind","Reasoning"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/MeaningChangeSweep/
related: ["DetectorSelfTest","ExpandContractMigration","SpecBinding","Termdrift#18ef","Endsettle#d716","CompatibilityCheck#7f70"]
---

# MeaningChangeSweep

When a value's meaning changes, find and recheck every reader of the old meaning

Layer: Mind · Category: Reasoning

## Mechanism

When the meaning of a value changes while its name, type or position stays, every reader of that value is enumerated before the change is declared done: code paths, tests that compute with it, documents, configuration comments, dashboards, other repositories and hand-copied interfaces. Each reader is updated, rechecked against the new meaning, or recorded as unaffected with a reason. A passing test suite is not evidence of completeness: a test relied on to tell the meanings apart is checked for what it now asserts, for example by running it against the old reading, as in [DetectorSelfTest](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DetectorSelfTest.md). The sweep is recorded with its search scope, and readers outside that scope are listed as unchecked.

## Invariants

- Every reader found is updated, rechecked or recorded as unaffected, with a reason.
- The search scope is recorded, and readers outside it are reported as unchecked.
- A test relied on to distinguish the old meaning from the new counts as checking it only once it has been shown to fail under the old meaning.

## Failure modes

- Green suite read as complete: tests that still assert the old meaning pass, so stale readers survive.
- Repository boundary: readers in another repository, indexer or client copy are not searched.
- Prose readers missed: documents, configuration comments and runbooks keep the old formula.
- Name search only: readers that receive the value through a renamed variable or a tuple position are not found.

## Builds on

- [DetectorSelfTest](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DetectorSelfTest.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [ExpandContractMigration](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ExpandContractMigration.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [SpecBinding](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/SpecBinding.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:MeaningChangeSweep#mh:SHA-256:b1e06b26420768c8bb55aa8d13a1f3b8a719111364f28c4c6b2175f4f50f2369`
- Ref: `MeaningChangeSweep#b1e0`

## Links

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