watch-card

name	watch-card
description	Set up a polling loop on a card where you are waiting for another agent to respond. Auto-blocks the card after a timeout with no response.
disable-model-invocation	true

/watch-card

Use this immediately after posting a routing comment on a card and needing to wait for another agent to respond.

Usage

/watch-card <card_id> <prefix_you_notified> <your_prefix>

Example: you commented [ProjectAgent] on card 123, your prefix is Agent-Orchestrator:

/watch-card 123 ProjectAgent Agent-Orchestrator

What this does

Polls your inbox every 10 minutes for a response referencing #<card_id>. After 6 attempts (60 minutes) with no reply, blocks the card and adds a comment for the product owner.

Instructions

Step 1 — Create an attempt counter file immediately:

echo 0 > /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count

Step 2 — Create a cron job to run every 10 minutes. The command:

COUNT=$(cat /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
echo $COUNT > /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count

if board-tool inbox <your_prefix> | grep -q "#<card_id>"; then
  echo "Response received for #<card_id> - cancelling watch"
  rm -f /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count
  # Cancel this cron by its ID (note the cron ID when you create it)
else
  if [ "$COUNT" -ge 6 ]; then
    board-tool block <card_id> "Waiting for [<prefix_notified>] response - no reply after 1hr"
    board-tool comment <card_id> "[watch-card] No response from [<prefix_notified>] after 1hr. Card blocked. PO: please check inbox or prompt the relevant agent."
    rm -f /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count
    # Cancel this cron by its ID
  else
    echo "Attempt $COUNT/6 - no response yet for #<card_id>"
  fi
fi

Step 3 — Note the cron ID returned by the cron tool. Use it to cancel the loop once the response arrives (or once it auto-blocks).

Step 4 — Continue your own work. The loop fires every 10 minutes and terminates itself at 6 attempts.

Polling interval reference

Agent type	Default poll	Active wait
Project agents	1hr + jitter	/watch-card (10min, 6 attempts)
Orchestrator / specialists	15min	/watch-card (10min, 6 attempts)

Why 10 minutes, not 1 hour

You are in active dialogue with another agent. The other agent's inbox poll interval determines response latency; orchestrator and specialist agents poll every 15 minutes, project agents every hour. Polling your own inbox at 10 minutes means you act on a response within one check of receiving it, keeping dialogue latency manageable.

Rules

• Always use your board tool commands. Never reference API key environment variables directly.
• The loop terminates either on response receipt or after 6 attempts. Do not leave it running indefinitely.
• If the other agent responds correctly (using your prefix in their comment), the board watcher creates an inbox card for you. The 10-minute poll catches it promptly.