---
id: wiki-2026-0508-improvisation
title: Improvisation
category: 10_Wiki/Topics
status: verified
canonical_id: self
aliases: [Improv, Adaptive Response, Spontaneous Decision-Making]
duplicate_of: none
source_trust_level: B
confidence_score: 0.85
verification_status: applied
tags: [meta, decision-making, agentic, exploration]
raw_sources: []
last_reinforced: 2026-05-10
github_commit: pending
tech_stack:
  language: python
  framework: general
---

# Improvisation

## 매 한 줄
> **"매 plan 의 die 매 first contact, 매 improv 매 take over"**. Improvisation 매 real-time adaptive decision-making 매 incomplete information 매 unfolding situation. 2026 LLM agents 매 nontrivial improv capability 의 exhibit — 매 tool failure / unexpected output 의 recover 가능.

## 매 핵심

### 매 Components of improv
- **Situation awareness**: 매 current state 의 fast read.
- **Repertoire**: 매 prelearned moves / patterns.
- **Risk gauge**: 매 reversible vs irreversible 의 distinguish.
- **Commitment**: 매 hesitation 의 X — 매 decide 의 act.

### 매 Plan vs Improv spectrum
- **Pure plan**: scripted, deterministic, fragile.
- **Plan + improv**: skeleton plan + adaptive details (best for most tasks).
- **Pure improv**: jazz solo, emergency response.
- 매 majority production system 매 plan-with-improv-edges.

### 매 LLM agent improvisation
- 매 tool returns unexpected error → reformulate vs fail.
- 매 user gives ambiguous instruction → ask vs guess vs proceed.
- 매 token budget 매 exhaust → compress vs truncate vs delegate.

### 매 응용
1. Incident response (production outage).
2. Live coding session (pair programming).
3. LLM agent error recovery.
4. Customer support edge cases.

## 💻 패턴

### Pattern 1: Repertoire of moves
```python
from typing import Callable

class ImprovKit:
    """매 prelearned moves — 매 situation 의 match 의 dispatch."""
    def __init__(self):
        self.moves: dict[str, Callable] = {}

    def register(self, situation: str, move: Callable):
        self.moves[situation] = move

    def respond(self, context: dict):
        for situation, move in self.moves.items():
            if matches(situation, context):
                return move(context)
        return self.default_move(context)

    def default_move(self, context):
        return {"action": "ask_for_clarification"}
```

### Pattern 2: Reversibility check before commit
```python
def is_reversible(action: dict) -> bool:
    irreversible = {"delete_file", "send_email", "db_drop", "git_push_force"}
    return action["type"] not in irreversible

def improv_decide(action: dict, confidence: float) -> str:
    if is_reversible(action):
        return "act"  # 매 try 의 cheap
    if confidence > 0.95:
        return "act"
    return "pause_and_verify"
```

### Pattern 3: LLM error recovery loop
```python
def call_with_improv(client, prompt: str, max_retries: int = 3):
    history = [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        try:
            return client.messages.create(
                model="claude-opus-4-7",
                max_tokens=2000,
                messages=history,
            )
        except RateLimitError:
            time.sleep(2 ** attempt)
        except OverloadedError:
            # 매 fallback 매 smaller model
            return client.messages.create(
                model="claude-haiku-4-7",
                max_tokens=2000,
                messages=history,
            )
        except Exception as e:
            history.append({
                "role": "user",
                "content": f"Previous attempt errored: {e}. Try a different approach.",
            })
    raise RuntimeError("매 improv 의 exhaust")
```

### Pattern 4: Yes-and (improv principle)
```python
def yes_and(user_input: str, context: dict) -> str:
    """매 improv 'Yes, and' — accept premise, build on it."""
    return f"Acknowledged: {user_input}. Building on this: {extend(user_input, context)}."

# 매 LLM system prompt 의 embed:
SYSTEM = """매 user 매 partial information 의 give. 매 yes-and 의 follow:
1. Accept what they said as fact (yes).
2. Add useful structure (and).
3. Avoid 'no, that's wrong' unless 매 hard contradiction."""
```

### Pattern 5: Bounded improv (safety rail)
```python
class BoundedImprov:
    def __init__(self, max_actions: int = 5, allowed_ops: set = None):
        self.max_actions = max_actions
        self.allowed_ops = allowed_ops or {"read", "search", "summarize"}
        self.actions_taken = 0

    def attempt(self, op: str, *args):
        if self.actions_taken >= self.max_actions:
            raise RuntimeError("매 budget exceed — escalate 의 human")
        if op not in self.allowed_ops:
            raise PermissionError(f"매 {op} 매 not in improv allowlist")
        self.actions_taken += 1
        return execute(op, *args)
```

### Pattern 6: Postmortem of improv
```python
def improv_log_entry(situation: str, move: str, outcome: str) -> dict:
    return {
        "ts": time.time(),
        "situation": situation,
        "move_chosen": move,
        "outcome": outcome,
        "would_repeat": outcome in ("success", "partial_success"),
        "alternatives_considered": [],
    }

# 매 weekly review 매 add successful patterns 의 ImprovKit.
```

## 매 결정 기준
| 상황 | Approach |
|---|---|
| Reversible action, < 1min | Pure improv. |
| Irreversible, high stakes | Plan first — improv 의 X. |
| Ambiguous user request | Yes-and + clarifying question. |
| LLM tool error | Bounded retry + reformulation. |
| Production incident | Plan (runbook) + improv on edges. |

**기본값**: 매 80/20 — 80% plan, 20% improv 매 unforeseen edges. 매 irreversible 매 strict plan only.

## 🔗 Graph
- 부모: [[Decision-Making]]
- 응용: [[Pair-Programming]]
- Adjacent: [[Risk_Management|Risk-Management]] · [[Bounded_Rationality|Bounded-Rationality]]

## 🤖 LLM 활용
**언제**: Tool error recovery, ambiguous user input handling, edge cases not covered by training data, multi-turn agent self-correction.
**언제 X**: Compliance-critical workflow (deterministic pipeline only), safety-critical irreversible action.

## ❌ 안티패턴
- **Improv on irreversible action**: 매 prod DB drop 의 wing 의 X.
- **No repertoire**: 매 from-scratch every situation — slow + inconsistent.
- **No reversibility check**: 매 acted 매 then-realized too late.
- **Ego improv**: refuse 의 ask for help — 매 stuck-but-improv-ing.

## 🧪 검증 / 중복
- Verified: Keith Johnstone "Impro" (1979), Karl Weick "Organizing for Reliability" (1987), OODA loop (Boyd).
- 신뢰도 B (academic-soft + applied agentic literature).

## 🕓 Changelog
| 날짜 | 변경 |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-08 | Phase 1 |
| 2026-05-10 | Manual cleanup — full content with LLM agent improv patterns and reversibility framework |