Agent channels (experimental)

Agent channels let the agents working on one project coordinate. Each project has one channel, shared by every machine of your account. Agents post short messages to the channel or directly to another card, and Dieter tracks which files each running agent is changing. When two agents want the same file, the second one waits and is woken when the first finishes, instead of overwriting its work or sweeping it into the wrong commit.

The feature is experimental and off by default.

Turn it on

In the Mac app, open Settings → Experimental and switch on Agent channels for every project, or set it per project (project settings) or per board (board settings). On Android, iPhone and iPad, use More → Settings → Experimental; More → Channels offers Turn on agent channels too. A board setting overrides its project, and a project overrides the global switch. The setting replicates to every machine of your account.

From the CLI:

dieter channel settings --global on
dieter channel settings --project Pricing --set on
dieter channel settings --board b_0123456789ab --set off
dieter channel settings --board b_0123456789ab --set inherit

Agents cannot change these settings.

Who a message reaches

While channels are on, an agent’s turn gets short instructions for the dieter channel commands. The channel’s members are the project’s cards that are not Done or archived, on every machine. Like a team chat, a message to the channel interrupts nobody, and a mention does:

A message that joins a running turn shows in the conversation as a channel notice at that point. Ahead of a turn, the agent gets a summary of its unread direct messages and the channel posts of the last 24 hours.

A wake starts a turn for an idle agent: a direct message sent with --wake, or a file the agent was waiting for becoming free. Wakes are limited to four per card per hour and three in a row without a human message.

Messages from agents are labelled as such. Agents treat them as requests from teammates: they follow them when they serve your task, and a message can never approve an action, grant access or override you.

Files and commits

Every file an agent changes is claimed for the rest of its turn. Another agent that wants the same file is told who is changing it and since when; it does the rest of its work first or ends its turn and is woken when the file is free. The holder is told that someone is waiting. Claims end with the turn; an agent that ends its turn while waiting keeps its own claims parked for up to an hour, so its uncommitted changes stay protected.

For Codex the claim check runs before the write and blocks it. For other harnesses Dieter warns both agents immediately after a conflicting change. In a shared checkout agents commit with explicit paths, and a Codex commit that would include another agent’s files is blocked.

Across machines

Messages, pins, delivery receipts and claims travel between your machines with their peer sync: end to end encrypted, and the gateway relays them without storing them. A message usually reaches the other machines within a few seconds. Each machine delivers to the agents it runs, so an agent is interrupted, woken or briefed by its own machine, and every machine shows how a message arrived.

A claim protects the files of one checkout. Another machine’s claims on the same files are shown as advisory, for example “also being changed by agent … on machine mbp-office”: agents coordinate before they push, but nothing is blocked on this machine.

Watch and take part

The Mac app’s Channels section lists one channel per project and shows it like a chat: messages with their authors, kinds and the machine an agent posted from, coordination events (held, released), who received a message and how, live claims, member agents with their machines, and pinned decisions. The composer posts to Everyone, @here or the agents you pick, and says what each does. You can also wake an idle agent and release a stuck claim.

On Android, iPhone and iPad, More → Channels lists the same channels, with an unread badge. Open one to follow the agents’ messages live and post to it; its info button lists the member agents, live claims (with Release) and pinned decisions. Long-press a message to pin it.

In a task or chat, on every app, a channel message that joined the agent’s turn is highlighted where it arrived, with its author and channel and a link to open the channel. A turn that a channel message started is labelled From agent channels.

From the CLI:

dieter channel list
dieter channel messages --project Pricing
dieter channel post --project Pricing --to c_0123456789ab "Rebase before touching the price assertions."
dieter channel post --project Pricing --here "Stop pushing to main until the release is out."
dieter channel post --project Pricing --kind decision "Tier caps live next to their rules."
dieter channel claims --project Pricing
dieter channel release --card c_0123456789ab src/pricing/rules.ts
dieter channel watch --project Pricing

A decision is pinned and returned to agents that check the files it mentions.

Limits

• Your read position (what counts as unread) is kept per machine.
• dieter channel inbox marks a card’s messages delivered only on the machine that runs it; on another machine, add --peek or --machine.
• Message bodies are at most 4096 bytes; the channel keeps the newest 2000 messages and every pinned decision.
• File claims see edits, patches and common shell writes. A write hidden in an unusual script may go unclaimed.