| name | mail-async |
| description | Durable asynchronous messaging channel for inter-agent communication. Implements write-once read-many filesystem mail using atomic writes and directory-based mailboxes. |
| type | skill |
| category | state |
| status | stable |
| origin | tibsfox |
| modified | false |
| first_seen | "2026-03-06T00:00:00.000Z" |
| first_path | .claude/skills/mail-async/SKILL.md |
| superseded_by | null |
Mail Async
Filesystem-backed durable messaging for multi-agent orchestration. Every message is a JSON file written atomically into a per-agent mailbox directory. Messages are never lost -- the write-then-rename pattern guarantees that a reader sees either a complete message or no message, never a partial write.
Purpose
Mail is the high-bandwidth, durable communication channel in the Gastown chipset -- the PCIe equivalent. It carries work assignments from the mayor, completion reports from polecats, merge notifications from the refinery, and coordination messages between any pair of agents. Because messages persist on disk, they survive process crashes, agent restarts, and network disconnections.
Filesystem Contract
.chipset/state/mail/{agent-id}/{timestamp}-{from-agent}.json
Each agent has a dedicated mailbox directory. Incoming messages are named with the creation timestamp and sender ID, guaranteeing unique filenames and natural chronological ordering when listing the directory.
Example paths:
.chipset/state/mail/polecat-alpha/2026-03-05T10-30-00Z-mayor-a1b2c.json
.chipset/state/mail/polecat-alpha/2026-03-05T10-31-00Z-witness-d3e4f.json
.chipset/state/mail/mayor-a1b2c/2026-03-05T10-32-00Z-polecat-alpha.json
Message Format
{
"from": "mayor-a1b2c",
"to": "polecat-alpha",
"type": "work_assignment",
"subject": "Bead gt-abc12 assigned to your rig",
"body": "Implement the auth middleware as specified in the convoy plan. Priority P1.",
"timestamp": "2026-03-05T10:30:00Z",
"read":
