Negotiation

The Problem

Two agents want to edit createSubscription. One has it reserved; the other needs it. Without a protocol, the second agent either blocks indefinitely, edits in a fork, or escalates prematurely.

The Protocol

Negotiations are a state machine with bounded turns and a deadline.

negotiate_open (initiator)
  ↓
negotiate_respond (counterparty): yield | hold | defer | counter | split
  ↓
resolved | escalated | expired

Actions

Action	Effect	Terminal?
`yield`	Counterparty releases the symbol. Initiator proceeds.	Yes
`hold`	Counterparty keeps the symbol. Initiator routes around or escalates.	Yes
`defer`	Counterparty asks for `defer_ms` more time.	No
`counter`	Free-form reply keeping the turn open.	No
`split`	Partition the contested symbols between the two parties.	Yes

Auto-resolution

If the counterparty doesn’t respond before deadline_ms (default: 5 minutes), the negotiation auto-resolves in the initiator’s favor — because a silent lockholder is no better than no lockholder.

Escalation

Hitting max_turns without a terminal action marks the negotiation escalated and surfaces it in the web dashboard for a human to resolve.

When to Open One

The file-reservation denial message includes the holder’s session id and current task. If routing around is impractical (the symbol is the point), call negotiate_open with a clear rationale. Don’t negotiate for symbols you’ll touch once and move on — route around. Negotiate when you genuinely need the symbol and the other agent should know.

Discovery

Call negotiate_list at session start (or after a long break) to catch anything waiting on your response.

Getting Started

Setup Guides

Concepts

The Problem

The Protocol

Actions

Auto-resolution

Escalation

When to Open One

Discovery

​The Problem

​The Protocol

​Actions

​Auto-resolution

​Escalation

​When to Open One

​Discovery

The Problem

The Protocol

Actions

Auto-resolution

Escalation

When to Open One

Discovery