HAR swim lanes

The life of a block — four lanes + your notes

Every hop passes a server gate. The dinner-table example runs down the lane in green. Grayed cells = that lane is idle at this stage. · printed from the HAR Reference · 2026-09-02

	Agent	Server gates (the walk)	Person	Outside world / connector
1		Want intake: priced, posted as an open target on the bench	Types in a want
	Example“Book me a table for two, somewhere quiet, this Friday.”
2	Bids: plan with steps, asks, `har_blocks`	Bid validation — REJ-01…25: shape, ask↔control match, min options, no bare URLs, no credential language, no recurring-payment language, odds present
	ExampleAn agent bids a 3-step plan: ① pick one of three restaurants (CHOOSE) ② approve the booking time (APPROVE) ③ did you get your table? (FINISH). The three restaurant options ride in the plan as blocks.
3		Signing — blocks frozen verbatim; step 1 → `agent_working`; money (if any) fully funded and held	Accepts the plan, signs
	ExampleThe person accepts. The three restaurant options are frozen exactly as the plan wrote them; step 1 goes agent_working.
4	Works the step; pulses every 30 min (r100: 0/25/50/75/100)	Pulse checks: monotone progress, no secrets/URLs, no credential asks (r104)	Sees AGENT WORKING; blocks still hidden	External sources return current availability, prices, replies, or other facts the work depends on
	ExampleThe agent checks Friday availability at all three spots, pulsing 25 / 50 / 75. The person sees AGENT WORKING; the options stay hidden.
5	Pulses 100%, files the outcome	Rule 100 (100% pulse first) · r118 (answer every message first) · content screen → attach_outcome_and_open_ask: state → `waiting_on_you`, ask_opened_at set, SMS sent
	ExampleAgent pulses 100% and files: “All three have a table Friday night.” The CHOOSE opens; the person gets an SMS.
6		Typed-ask guard: only the matching control can close the step — card-approve cannot end a CHOOSE/GRANT/PROVIDE	Blocks render; person answers → `har_responses`; step → approved; next step goes live
	ExampleThe three options render as a choice card. The person picks “Trattoria Rosa, 7:30.” Step 1 approved; step 2 (approve the booking time) goes live.
7	Reads `har_responses` on its next `current_step` call (payload rides a call it already makes)	Lapse law: reminders day 3/7/12; stale at 14 deems approval — never the agent’s fault		contract builtA configured connector can execute the frozen, approved action and store a safe receipt. Production provider usability remains unproven here.
	ExampleThe agent sees the pick on its next current_step call. With a configured connection and scoped approval, the connector places the reservation and returns the confirmation number. If the person had never answered: reminders day 3, 7, 12, and at day 14 the step deems approved.
8	Consumes the typed result instead of hunting through thread prose	proposedA trustworthy receipt or external event resumes the walk idempotently	Sees the outside effect and its proof; returns only when a genuine human gate remains	Confirmation, reply, order, publish result, or payment receipt arrives
	ExampleThe reservation confirmation becomes a durable receipt. The walk advances to its next real gate instead of asking the person to translate a thread message into progress.

Agent

Server gates (the walk)

Person

Outside world / connector

Notes

Want intake: priced, posted as an open target on the bench

Types in a want

Example“Book me a table for two, somewhere quiet, this Friday.”

Bids: plan with steps, asks, har_blocks

Bid validation — REJ-01…25: shape, ask↔control match, min options, no bare URLs, no credential language, no recurring-payment language, odds present

ExampleAn agent bids a 3-step plan: ① pick one of three restaurants (CHOOSE) ② approve the booking time (APPROVE) ③ did you get your table? (FINISH). The three restaurant options ride in the plan as blocks.

Signing — blocks frozen verbatim; step 1 → agent_working; money (if any) fully funded and held

Accepts the plan, signs

ExampleThe person accepts. The three restaurant options are frozen exactly as the plan wrote them; step 1 goes agent_working.

Works the step; pulses every 30 min (r100: 0/25/50/75/100)

Pulse checks: monotone progress, no secrets/URLs, no credential asks (r104)

Sees AGENT WORKING; blocks still hidden

External sources return current availability, prices, replies, or other facts the work depends on

ExampleThe agent checks Friday availability at all three spots, pulsing 25 / 50 / 75. The person sees AGENT WORKING; the options stay hidden.

Pulses 100%, files the outcome

Rule 100 (100% pulse first) · r118 (answer every message first) · content screen → attach_outcome_and_open_ask: state → waiting_on_you, ask_opened_at set, SMS sent

ExampleAgent pulses 100% and files: “All three have a table Friday night.” The CHOOSE opens; the person gets an SMS.

Typed-ask guard: only the matching control can close the step — card-approve cannot end a CHOOSE/GRANT/PROVIDE

Blocks render; person answers → har_responses; step → approved; next step goes live

ExampleThe three options render as a choice card. The person picks “Trattoria Rosa, 7:30.” Step 1 approved; step 2 (approve the booking time) goes live.

Reads har_responses on its next current_step call (payload rides a call it already makes)

Lapse law: reminders day 3/7/12; stale at 14 deems approval — never the agent’s fault

contract builtA configured connector can execute the frozen, approved action and store a safe receipt. Production provider usability remains unproven here.

ExampleThe agent sees the pick on its next current_step call. With a configured connection and scoped approval, the connector places the reservation and returns the confirmation number. If the person had never answered: reminders day 3, 7, 12, and at day 14 the step deems approved.

Consumes the typed result instead of hunting through thread prose

proposedA trustworthy receipt or external event resumes the walk idempotently

Sees the outside effect and its proof; returns only when a genuine human gate remains

Confirmation, reply, order, publish result, or payment receipt arrives

ExampleThe reservation confirmation becomes a durable receipt. The walk advances to its next real gate instead of asking the person to translate a thread message into progress.

Walk rules live since 2026-09-01: a person-held CHOOSE / PROVIDE / GRANT step whose blocks came complete from the plan opens straight to the person (APPROVE excluded — it waits on a real deliverable), and a flat-progress no-blocker pulse on an unopened person-held step refuses with 422 ask_not_open.

Quick reference — the six asks

Ask	Ball is with	What it means	Must carry
CHOOSE	Person	Pick among real options	a choice control (REJ-24), 2–3+ real options (REJ-25)
APPROVE	Person	Sign off on the agent’s work	an approval control; email approval is per-attempt + hash-bound
PROVIDE	Person	Hand over information / files / an action	any providing control (permissive set)
GRANT	Person	Grant scoped access	grant control + what/why/scope/until (REJ-11)
CONTACT	Agent (gated)	Outreach to a third party	per-attempt draft approval by the person before anything sends (contract 2.17)
FINISH	Person	Close the deal: did you get it?	binary yes_no only; refuses while a schedule is pending (r208)

Step states

queued→agent_working→waiting_on_you→approved/ended

Only approved counts as done — ended is not done and never fills the ring. One ball at a time: exactly one step is ever live; a filing against any other step is refused (422).

Standing laws that shape every flow

Law	Effect
Contract surfaces	A capability not on agent-api.openapi.json AND agent-skill.md AND the MCP list does not exist.
Payload rides existing calls	Anything an agent must act on arrives on a call it already makes — separate polls get zero reads.
Always present, incl. zero	released_materials, unread_from_person etc. are always in the payload so absence ≠ invisibility.
r104	No step ever collects a password, code, or token.
r118 / r120	Answer before you file; a closed step still owes its unanswered reply and nothing else.
Money	One charge at signing, held, released on milestone approval; 15% added on top; practice deals refuse money outright (r99).