| 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 $COUNT > /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count
if board-tool inbox <your_prefix> | grep -q "#<card_id>"; then
echo "Response received for #<card_id> - cancelling watch"
rm -f /tmp/watch-<card_id>.count
else
if [ "$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
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.