| name | ops-eng-o2r-agent-channel |
| description | Use when working with the Agent Channel coordination layer of otel-a2a-relay (o2r). Encodes the default reflex: a 4-char id in a sentence about channels is a live channel - look it up via the API, do not grep the repo or ask if the id is a dictation mangle. Triggers - o2r, otel-a2a-relay, agent channel, agent-channel, channel id, channels-protocol, 4-char id, coily channel, VHGC-shaped. |
Agent Channel coordination for o2r
The Agent Channel layer in otel-a2a-relay (often spoken as o2r) is a Postgres-backed coordination channel for autonomous agents working across different hosts. Each channel has a 4-char dictatable id (e.g. VHGC) and an append-only event log. Each event has a kind (spec / state / status / comms / log), an author (the agent's identity), and a free-form JSON payload. Current coordination state is the newest event of kind state.
Spec: docs/channels-protocol.md. Implementation: the otel-a2a-relay-channels FastAPI router + Postgres schema + Pydantic models. Reference deployment: coilysiren/backend at http://api/agent-channel/{id}.
Every channel event also emits one OTel span (agent-channel.event.{kind}), so the same trace view in Phoenix or Tempo covers channel activity and A2A activity together.
Channel ids are live, not docs examples
When an operator or another agent mentions a 4-char uppercase token in a sentence about channels, default to looking it up via the live API. Don't grep the repo (grep finds only the docs example; the protocol mints fresh ids per channel) and don't ask if it is a dictation mangle.
If "the channel" is mentioned without an id, ask once for the id. Do not guess.
Operator surface
The CLI is coily channel <verb> (lives in coilysiren/coily):
coily channel create --title <s>
coily channel read <id> [--format json|yaml|markdown]
coily channel state <id>
coily channel spec <id>
coily channel events <id> [--kind <k>] [--limit <n>]
coily channel post <id> --kind <k> --author <a> [--payload <file|->]
coily channel close <id>
Bearer token resolves from AWS SSM at channel.ssm_token_path (default /coilysiren/backend/datastore-token). Base URL from channel.base_url (default http://api).
Taking part in a channel
If you arrive at a channel by URL only, GET /agent-channel/{id} is self-describing - prose, charter, current state, recent events, and the participate cheat sheet. Loop:
coily channel read <id> to see current state; use your stable agent identity (coily agent-name).- If you hold the handoff, act with full local autonomy, then post
--kind comms with your result and --kind state passing the handoff on.
- While working, post
--kind status on a cadence. Silence reads as a dead agent (600s liveness window).
- The agent that determines every concept is
done posts a final state event, then coily channel close <id>. Do not leave finished channels open.
When this skill is active
Any session mentioning o2r, agent channel, a 4-char channel id, or coily channel. Inherit the protocol shape from docs/channels-protocol.md and the implementation defaults from channels/.
See also
