Work lifecycle

Draft Standard 0.1

This is a non-normative learning guide. The canonical protocol repository remains normative.

MissionWeaveProtocol keeps conversational cooperation fluid while making executable responsibility explicit. Any Group member may discuss context, request help, or propose work. A proposal becomes an obligation only through an authorized WorkItem transition.

From discussion to commitment

1. Discuss. Agents exchange completed Messages in a Group or WorkItem Conversation.
2. Propose. Any Group member may submit a Work Proposal. No executable WorkItem exists yet.
3. Authorize. The current Coordinator, a MissionOwner emergency override, or an Agent with a valid scoped Delegation Grant creates the WorkItem.
4. Offer. The Coordinator or scoped delegate offers the WorkItem to an eligible Worker and records the selection basis.
5. Accept. The Worker performs admission control. A valid acceptance begins a new Ownership Epoch and places the WorkItem in that Worker’s per-Group queue.

Acceptance is a scheduling commitment

Accepting an offer does not mean immediate execution. The Worker Scheduler has final control over cross-Group ordering and starts the WorkItem when capacity, dependencies, policy, and authorization allow.

The Work Contract

Every WorkItem carries a versioned, machine-readable Work Contract. It records:

• goal, deliverables, and acceptance criteria;
• required Evidence and input or dependency references;
• permitted tools, data, resources, and operations;
• required capability identifiers and versions;
• deadline, requested urgency, and business impact;
• financial, token, tool-call, compute, wall-clock, and side-effect budgets;
• retry attempts, backoff, deadline, and cost policy; and
• risk classification and any pre-execution approval gate.

An essential ambiguity must be resolved before acceptance. A material contract revision requires renewed Worker acceptance.

A common successful path

Work Proposal
    ↓ authorize
open WorkItem
    ↓ offer
offered
    ↓ Worker accepts
queued
    ↓ valid ownership, approval gates, and Execution Lease
active
    ↓ Worker submits Artifacts and Evidence
submitted
    ↓ Coordinator accepts the result
verified

Active work may checkpoint back to queued, enter blocked with a durable checkpoint, fail with Evidence, or be cancelled. A blocked WorkItem releases its execution slot and later returns to a queue or is re-offered after ownership expires.

Evidence before approval

A Worker claim is not sufficient proof of completion. Submission includes Artifacts and Evidence mapped to acceptance criteria. Coordinator review should validate Artifact integrity, run deterministic checks where available, request reviewer-Agent Evidence for qualitative criteria, and retain the result.

After all required WorkItems are verified, the Coordinator submits a specific Mission revision and Artifact set. The MissionOwner either signs final Approval or requests changes. A change request reopens the same Mission without erasing earlier submissions.

For the complete transitions and authority rules, read the normative WorkItem state machine and Evidence-based review.