The platform is up, but one dependency path is not.

Use this when Apple systems fail in scattered ways because the startup disk no longer has room for normal update or temp-space behavior. These issues are easy to misread because the operating system still responds while one control path, runtime dependency, or trust assumption is already out of alignment.

The symptom usually appears downstream from the real change.

• macOS assumptions are often changed indirectly by updates, policy, hardware changes, or cleanup work that looked harmless at the time.
• Storage assumptions are often changed indirectly by updates, policy, hardware changes, or cleanup work that looked harmless at the time.
• Updates assumptions are often changed indirectly by updates, policy, hardware changes, or cleanup work that looked harmless at the time.
• Recovery assumptions are often changed indirectly by updates, policy, hardware changes, or cleanup work that looked harmless at the time.