block / block/buzz

Feature request: native multi-agent routing, wakeups, and workflow observability

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Dominant language
Rust
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Description

## Summary

We ran a real multi-agent Buzz workflow with humans + agents in a community and hit several friction points that required custom scripts, prompt hardening, manual route nudges, and local ledger files. This issue consolidates the product gaps into one feature request around native multi-agent routing, wakeups, approvals, and workflow observability.

## Critical / workflow-blocking

### 1. Native route watcher and agent wakeups

Current behavior: route/inbox files provide a durable handoff, but they do not reliably wake the addressed agent unless a visible `@Agent` mention is also posted in a channel.

Impact: multi-agent workflows can stall even when the route file is correct.

Requested behavior:

- Allow agents to subscribe to route inboxes or named route queues.
- Automatically wake the target agent when a route addressed to it appears.
- Suppress duplicate wakeups for unchanged routes.
- Record an audit trail: route created, agent notified, agent claimed, route completed.

### 2. Explicit `@Agent` handoff enforcement

Buzz should auto-insert, suggest, or warn when a handoff message does not include a visible target mention. In practice, route files alone were not enough to wake the next agent.

### 3. Agent status / heartbeat panel

Buzz should show agent state clearly:

- idle
- running
- blocked
- stale
- waiting for human approval
- last active time
- current owner/lane

### 4. Managed background automation service

Users should not need to create a local PowerShell watcher, PID file, state file, channel UUID config, and private-key environment setup just to keep route handoffs moving.

### 5. Safer automation identity setup

Buzz should provide a clear “automation identity” setup flow. It should be obvious what is a community token, relay token, API token, private key, signing key, or automation credential. Users should not have to reason this out manually.

## High importance

### 6. Built-in workflow ledger

Buzz should track lane/ticket, current owner, status, evidence, last handoff, and next action natively.

### 7. Native approval queue

Human approval gates should have first-class UI:

- approve
- park
- request changes
- audit history
- linked route/workflow evidence

### 8. Agent prompt version management

We manually pasted updated prompts into several agents. Buzz should support:

- prompt version history
- active version display
- update-all / targeted update
- rollback
- restart confirmation
- last restart time

### 9. Standard agent-to-agent handoff format

A native handoff schema would reduce prompt drift. Suggested fields:

- target agent
- lane/ticket
- status/classification
- evidence
- next action
- permissions / safety boundaries
- audit record path or event ID

### 10. Better stalled-handoff surfacing

Buzz should make this visible: “route exists but target agent has not picked it up.” That state was hard to detect manually.

## Medium importance / UX

### 11. Easier tester invite flow

For private tester channels, Buzz should support one flow:

1. invite person to community
2. choose private channel(s)
3. send one invite link
4. show whether they joined community and channel

### 12. Mobile tester support clarity

Buzz should clearly document whether mobile web/app users can join, post, and participate in private channels, plus any limitations.

### 13. Community migration / rename clarity

Buzz should explain what happens to channels, agents, invites, files, canvases, history, and relay URLs if a community is renamed or if work moves to a new community.

### 14. Hosted Communities explanation

The Hosted Communities page should plainly explain relay hosting, ownership, pricing, account requirements, and how it relates to existing communities.

### 15. Copyable channel and agent IDs

Channel UUIDs and agent IDs should be visible/copyable in settings for automation and support workflows.

## Workarounds we had to build manually

To make this workflow stable, we built or configured:

- a route watcher script that scans `ROUTES/inbox`
- watcher config with the target channel UUID
- duplicate suppression state
- live-send safety checks
- a PowerShell compatibility patch for the watcher
- a FlowInCash Orchestrator agent
- an Orchestrator ledger
- explicit `@Agent` handoff prompt standards
- a human approval file
- structured merge request artifacts
- route archiving discipline
- an owner-only Orchestrator test pattern

## Requested outcome

Make Buzz-native autonomous agent teams reliable without custom scripts and manual prompt surgery. The core ask is: native route subscriptions + automatic agent wakeups + workflow observability + approval gates.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reviewing the documented ROUTES/inbox route watcher, duplicate-suppression state, and manual approval-file workflow described in the issue. Break the request into a scoped proposal before implementation; completion would need an agreed subset with reliable wakeups, visible handoff status, and auditable workflow state.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
ai, observability
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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