Governed Fallback Path. A declared alternative route a system may take when the primary automated path cannot continue, preserving the same truth, safety, policy, audit, and approval constraints as the normal path.
A fallback path is not a bypass; it is a named mode of operation with its own admission decision. Local media, network retrieval, interactive handling, rollback, or overlay operation may all be valid fallback shapes only when they preserve validation, safe execution, audit, result recording, and the same truth boundaries as the primary path. When a circuit breaker opens, the fallback path defines what the system may still do without pretending the primary dependency is healthy. A rollback plan is one governed fallback shape: it defines how the system gets back to a safe state without bypassing truth, policy, or audit.