Degraded modes

Degraded modes describe behavior when an external dependency is unavailable or a sub-scan fails.

Principles

1. Local-first — license grace period and snapshot TTL cache
2. Fail-safe — progressive degradation, not abrupt lockout for paying customers
3. Transparency — UI banner + migration.degraded.* audit
4. Strict crypto — no signature → no analysis
5. Isolation — broken exotic module does not abort the whole diagnostic

Scenarios

Scenario	Behavior
license.knot.tools down	Grace period; existing reports readable
Expired reference snapshot	New analysis blocked until refresh
Unreadable PHP module	Partial scan listed in report
Snapshot network timeout	Banner + manual retry

Never bypass

No degraded mode allows unsigned snapshots or invalid HMAC.

Next

Diagnostic failed Immediate operator actions.